SNF 2004.12 - Two on Three Battle

Description: Megumi and Rock are matched against Sakura, Jacob, and Kensou in this uber-long Saturday Night Fight. (Winners: Sakura, Jacob, and Kensou)


The crowd is -packed- into Howard Arena tonight.  Nothing better to do on a
Saturday night, anyway -- why not watch four teenagers and a suit pound each
others' faces in?  It's wholesome entertainment for the whole family!  Most of
the fighters would have a contingent of fans by now: even Jacob has the Tall
Dark Stranger factor going for him, and a small band of housewives to carry the
banner.  The local rock station has been filtering over the PA system for a
while, but it soon fades out, replaced by the booming voice of the announcer.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!  It's time for the match you've all been waiting for.  A
brutal gauntlet of fighters testing their mettle against one another: two
accomplished tournament fighters versus three rising stars!  Ladies and
gentlemen, you're in for a treat tonight!  On the east side of the arena: the
energetic Megumi Andou and the crafty Rock Howard!  And on the west side: local
schoolgirl Sakura Kasugano, the dark and mysterious Jacob, and the mighty
meatbun-eater Sie Kensou!  Everyone give them a hearty round of applause!
Sakura proudly enters the arena in her bright sailor-style uniform, waving
excitedly to the crowd!  She passes an especially bright welcome to the folks
waving the "GO SAKURA" banner -- the fans that stick with her even though her
only tournament victory was as Rock's partner.  Cheerfully, she strides into the
arena, with a quick motion for Kensou and Jacob to at least make a brief
appearance to the audience before the real fight begins!

COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here on the left meter side.

"Crafty?" Muttering a little bit as he walks out into the arena, Rock seems a
little displeased with the label the announcer has applied to him. "I'm not
'crafty'. Am I? That's Seishirou's job. ... Oh, by the way. I asked him about
that thing we were talking about. He's in." Tightening his gloves with a quick
tug as he approaches the arena, Rock squints just slightly as the rafter lights
catch him the eyes, emerging from the locker rooms on his way deeper towards the
ring. "Tch. Well, I'd show them wrong, but the only way to do that would be to
act like an idiot. I try to avoid that." Keyword: Try. Ambling up to his spot on
the edge of the ring until it's turn to fight, the red-eyed scion of Howard
crosses his arms, fidgeting a little bit. "Are you sure you want to go in first?
It doesn't matter to me, either way."

Megumi steps out of her side as these introductions are done. Rather than her
usual sprint, she's going for an easier, more relaxed pace with her arms behind
her head. "Ahh, looks like it's time to get this going. And he said crafty
y'know, not shifty. Bein' smart isn't so bad..." A consolation to Rock as he
heads out as well. She gets to the arena floor and jumps up onto it, making a
few quick hops. "Yeah, I'm sure. I want to do this, see how far I can go against
them."

And who knows, Kensou might be a bit more of a draw than usual, after somehow
managing to make it past the second round of the schools tournament; since, it's
true, he /is/ fighting alongside Sakura this time, the energetic Chinese fighter
steps out along with his teammate for the night, grinning broadly and giving a
thumbs-up at the crowd.  Yes!  He's psyched (and psycho), he's pumped...!
Coming off of his recent string of victories, Kensou's filled to the brim with
delicious confidence...  Even if he /is/ the one fighting last for his side.
"Oi, Sakura," the Psycho Soldier asides to the fighting schoolgirl.  "Kick some
ass, but try an' leave some for the rest of us, 'kay?"  See?  He's got
confidence to spare!  Confidence enough for the whole team, no matter who
they're fighting.  

COMBATSYS: Kensou has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Megumi has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

Jacob strolls into the arena, letting the cheers of the crowd wash over him.
Most of it isn't for him, of course, but he does briefly wave to a few
spectators who actually watch him as he enters. He's not really in this for the
fame, anyway. He enjoys the fight, and the chance to improve his skills. It also
doesn't hurt to get to know other fighters, and their strengths and weaknesses.
Right now, though, it's more for enjoyment. Helping to cover up Balrog's
pleasures isn't exactly a fun job. Neither is trying to keep an eye on what's up
with the Southtown Syndicate, for that matter. Getting up to the side of the
arena, he crosses his arms and settles in to watch until his turn to go.

COMBATSYS: Rock has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
COMBATSYS: Jacob has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

The announcer goes on to explain the details of the fight, and its similarity to
the King of Fighters order, just to make it painfully obvious to the crowd.
Sakura passes Kensou a friendly smirk -- she'll be trying to kick as much ass as
possible, herself!  Looking wholly bored with the announcer's needless
exposition, she takes the opportunity to stretch her legs, crouching low and
leaning first to one side, then the other, then flexes her arms in preparation.
The Taiyo schoolgirl flashes a friendly smile to Megumi, before walking up to
the center of the ring and offering a proper bow back to her opponent, then
tightens the grip on her handguards with a pleasant grin.  While the announcer
continues on, Sakura leans close to her friend, "This'll be fun!  But don't
expect me to go easy on you in front of all these people, Megumi!"  Kasugano may
not have won too many fights, but she's had a bit of training since the two last
fought off-stage -- she hopes it'll be interesting, at least!   The announcer
continues: "-- Wild Flower versus Wild Flower!  Round One begins with Sakura
versus Megumi!  Are the fighters ready?"  After waiting for confirmation --
Sakura's, in the form of a nod -- the announcer continues, "Fight!"

    Aaaaand - music.

    Not the rock and roll station that was on before the announcer spoke, but
classical music. /Familiar/ classical music, now that Krauser's been in town for
a few weeks and has fought a few battles in the arena.

    Except this time, more. There seems to be more of the orchestra here,
including a thumping drum that may or may not have been included for Sakura.
After considering how much Krauser would care about Sakura's requirement for a
drum, the answer is most likely (and sadly) 'may not'.

    And where is herr Krauser? Enjoying the spirited classical piece from a sky
box, of course.

Megumi is likewise friendly and heading to the center of the arena. "I wouldn't
expect it, of course. If you show up here and hold back, nobody likes that...and
I'd feel insulted anyway." Then she's introduced further, and...laughs. "Wild
Flower? Well, not quite." 'Fight' is called, and she flings herself right into
it. Making a lunging step toward Sakura, she tries to grab an arm and make a
pivoting sidestep to yank Sakura off balance, then crouch and fling her past one
knee. A typical Aiki throw, and one she seems quite fond of using in past
fights...

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Megumi's Aikido Techniques.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Having slipped into her traditional fighting stance -- left fist leading, right
fist trailing by her cheek, bobbing lightly to the drums of the orchestra --
Sakura would normally consider herself ready for an attack.  Unlike most fights
in which she's apt to charge forward and start the first blow, she's hanging
back, watching Megumi's reaction instead.  As such -- the schoolgirl throws up
her left arm to block Megumi's charge, unwittingly offering the arm to her as a
gift.  But once Kasugano sees the error of her ways, the smile fades in
intensity.  Rather than let herself be flung around, the Ansatsuken disciple
pushes herself into the maneuvers instead -- Megumi would find it -entirely- too
easy to flip Sakura.  But, as a consequence, Sakura lands on her feet -- and
quickly lunges back at Megumi in an attempt to reverse the hold and lock her
arms in a stranglehold around Megumi's neck.  "Nice one!" she calls back, lest
there be any implied ill will... all's fair in love and Saturday Night Fights!

COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Sakura's Sakura Strangle.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi demonstrates a superior grasp of, well, grappling. Sakura's attempt to
reverse her throw is negated in a flurry of hand motions and a shove at one of
Sakura's wrists to force the arm away, then Megumi jumps back to 'reset' the
situation. She holds her hands in front of her, "You too...", and then sparkling
red energy forms between them, taking a spherical shape that sticks to her right
hand. She pulls it back behind her head, way back...then flings it forward with
a sharp yell. It's on a collision course for Sakura's chest at high velocity,
incidentally.

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Sakura with Crimson Comet.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Sakura smiles a bit -- but perhaps her speed is getting to be a bit too much of
a liability here.  By that -- she's reacting too -fast- against Megumi, and not
really thinking things out too well.  No... the fact that Megumi was able to
outmaneuver Sakura's throw signals a marked advantage in that particular field
-- one the Ansatsuken disciple had her doubts about before.  Ah well -- plan B!
She hops back as well, snapping her fists back into their ready posture -- and
yet when the blood-red attack rockets forth, she still finds her responses a bit
tardy.  It's a fast attack, after all -- and not one Sakura has a whole lot of
defense against.  Howling with pain as she staggers back, Sakura locks her jaw,
placing her foot steadily onto the ground, fists once more at the ready.  The
smile is all but forgotten -- she's determined to stand her ground, this time.
Shaking slightly from the pain still coursing through her veins, the fighting
fangirl simply readies herself for the next attack.

COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi also holds her ground, though this doesn't mean much when you're a fair
distance from your opponent. It would seem however that she is quite content to
battle from afar. Her hands come back in front, another sphere forms...and it's
pulled behind her, then thrown at Sakura. This is indeed what she did just
seconds ago, but when at range, attack from range.

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Sakura with Crimson Comet.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Attack at range, eh?  Sakura must think she's ready for the attack, even as far
away as she's gotten from her opponent -- but, as she dives to the side to avoid
the attack, the blast still nails her in the hip.  "KYAA!" she cries, continuing
the roll with no small amount of displeasure.  Still, she pulls out of her roll,
slapping her cheeks lightly to keep the feeling in them.  She really -hates-
getting hit with those.  Slightly dizzy from the blow, she makes heavy strides
to bring herself closer, howling with the rage of a berserker. "GRAAAAAAAAH!"
she cries ferociously, seeming to throw a wild, unfocused haymaker at Megumi --
but instead using the punch to wind her momentum into a low spinning kick at her
opponent's shins.  Her sneakers glow blue from the effort, as the schoolgirl
hopes to deliver four low kicks, before standing to deliver a high roundhouse --
with a smile!  Hopefully her feint was enough to deliver the move...

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Haru Ichiban.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi looks rather tired suddenly after the second sphere-fling, tired enough
that even with Sakura taking a moment to get her momentum back, Megumi's efforts
to evade are focused on the hand. The hand doesn't quite arrive as planned
though, and Sakura's spinning down to kick Megumi's legs successfully. Megumi
staggers, tries to hop away only to be hit again, then starts to fall as the
four low kicks conclude. The final kick sends her sprawling away to the edge of
the ring, by Rock.

"Not your turn yet, in case you were figurin' it is." That took a lot out of
her, but Megumi pushes back up to her feet and sprints towards Sakura. She jumps
and inverts herself, trying to plant her hands on Sakura's shoulders while
descending, to push her to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Megumi's Medium Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Grinning somewhat as the final kick connects, Sakura keeps her foot in the air
for a few moments, clenching her fists tightly as she recenters herself.  It's
important for the schoolgirl to keep from getting too smug about her successes
-- especially since she's already been placed at a marked disadvantage in this
fight.  Still -- she can smile, at least.  Settling back into her stance, she
finds herself -better- prepared for Megumi's next attack -- if not completely
so.  As Megumi jumps over top of her, the Kasugano girl steps forward, crouching
lightly to mitigate the effect of the handplant.  It looks like gymnastics in
action, at first -- especially from the way Sakura swivels about 180 degrees,
charging back to intercept Megumi as she's landing.  Skirt swishing aside as she
brings her leg in a wide arc, Kasugano then guillotines her foot down onto her
opponent, vocalizing her exertion with a "Hriii---HA!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Flower Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Sakura           0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi lands rather off-balance, since she kind of expected Sakura to fall down
with her exactly as planned. So her handspring-landing is halfway abortive,
wrist twisting as she tries to flip back upright and raise her arms to block
Sakura's kick in mid-air.

Nice plan. She gets as far as hand-jumping and flipping. The kick catches her as
she's raising her arms, and smashes her head down to the ground with a rather
hurt noise coming out of her. Too much fancy movement in too short a time, she
knows better than to do something swift in getting up and instead rolls
backwards to return to her feet. Then she crouches down very deeply.

Sparkling red energy forms on her feet, then suddenly Megumi leaps up towards
Sakura, feet first. The energy goes ahead of her, shooting off her feet to stop
inches short of Sakura. It expands into a wide, spiralling cone with the open
end wide enough to hold Megumi inside, which is convenient since that's where
she's heading. Once she's inside the cone, it shoots forward the rest of the way
in an effort to smash through her opponent. Hit or miss, it will fade after
flying a few more feet and drop Megumi to the arena floor.

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Megumi's Exceed Charge.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Sakura           0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Sakura has fought Megumi enough by now to know that she -really- doesn't want to
be in the way of anything colored -red- from Megumi.  Hands and feet, she can
handle, but especially after those last two blasts, the last thing she wants is
a repeat. Even if it -is- in a different shape.  So... rather than try to dive
to the side and leave herself open to a follow-up, Sakura strides sideways and
back, keeping her head level.  It's pleasant timing, as the Ansatsuken student
is placed out of range for Megumi steamrolling by.  And, conveniently enough,
Sakura's left herself with space for her own counterattack, thrusting a kick at
Megumi's side in an attempt to spin her out of control.  In the process, the
skirt obscuring her view proves a quick reminder to the schoolgirl of why it
might be better to fight in a traditional karate gi, instead...

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Medium Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Sakura           0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi drops out of her energy cone, only to be met with a kick in the side
before she can even put her feet to the ground. She tries hard to flip away from
that kick in mid-air, but that just makes the problem worse. She smashes to the
ground in a heap, and with the way she cried out upon landing, it's probable she
twisted something or otherwise took some noteworthy harm. "...Damnit!", is her
summary of the situation as she slaps a palm on the arena floor. Staggering back
up, she rushes at Sakura, stumbling every few steps but nonetheless keeping up a
good pace.

Fists and feet are on the menu tonight. Megumi's hand begins glowing in the same
color as the rest of her energy assaults, and as she gets closer to Sakura, her
hand swings out and slightly upward in a chopping motion at Sakura's rib and
chest area, hoping to bat her aside forcefully.

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Sakura with Crimson Blast.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Sakura snaps her foot back down once more as she lands the kick, breathing
becoming increasingly ragged as the fight wears on.  Even though the schoolgirl
hasn't been leaping about as fast as usual, Megumi's still been siphoning her
energy away with those punishing attacks.  The Taiyo schoolgirl grimaces a bit
once she sees Megumi get up -- though, really, it's more out of concern for
Megumi than because the fight is continuing.  Pulling back into her ready
stance, she narrows her eyes at the red -- though, rather than pull out of the
way, she braces for impact -- only that it really doesn't -matter- once that
chop catches her hard in the ribs, saturating her in a wash of red and swatting
her aside like a plaything.  Even while flying to the side, Sakura's feet
struggle to touch ground -- like a pool wader trying to find the bottom of the
deep end -- before finally being rewarded with a solid landing just next to
Jacob and Kensou.  Smirking as her hand touches the arena floor, she notes back
to her opponents: "Try not to get hit by those, mm'kay?"  Grinning, she rises
back to her feet, slamming her elbows to her side as she shakes off the residual
splash effects with a swirling torrent of her own characteristic blue chi, her
uniform and headband rippling in waves as she summons forth what she can in
retaliation.  "C'mon, Megumi!  I'm tired of this red stuff, so let's try for
some =purple!="

COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Sakura           1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi chases right after Sakura even as her strike lands, though her breathing
is getting quite heavy now and there's still that limp to her run. The energy
fades from her hands, and it seems Sakura's going to get her wish to some
extent. "Go down!" She yells as she chases Sakura and overtakes her once the
chi-building begins. Megumi's trying to tackle Sakura down, and then if she gets
that done successfully, she'll pick her up off the ground, holding her up high
and spinning, spinning, spinning...and then driving Sakura down into the arena
floor, back, shoulders, and head-first before letting go. It all hinges on the
tackle as an 'if', however.

COMBATSYS: Sakura endures Megumi's Rebound Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                                < >  //////////////                ]
Sakura           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

By this point, Sakura's pretty much accepted that Megumi's pretty darn fast.
Maybe even faster than her.  ... But it hardly matters, because the Ansatsuken
student's been practicing a little thing called 'tactics'.  She knows that,
above all else, her steadfast resolve and adrenaline will let her do -crazy-
feats of strength in exchange for a little minor thing called 'pain'.  The
harder she's pushed -- the harder Sakura can push back.  It's just a matter of
letting her brain take a backseat to the instincts she was blessed with!  And
while her brain may be screaming 'flight' as a response to the older teenager
rushing her way, her instincts are shouting 'fight' instead.  As such -- Sakura
simply braces for impact, drawing the blue energy into her with a bright flash
of light just before Megumi leaps into her.  There's a thin, tight smile upon
Sakura's face as she practically -lets- Megumi heft her up, spinning her about
and tossing her into the floor -- but she -does- throw her arms up, deflecting
the weight from her head.  Not to say it doesn't -hurt-, but breaking her spine
can be kinda fatal and all.  But -- for as much as the schoolgirl's been spun
around and slammed, it hardly seems to slow her down -- for the schoolgirl
springs right back to her feet afterwards, face torn into a rictus of agonizing
pain as she shouts, "SHIIIN!", jackhammering her left elbow at Megumi with a
blazing fast rush, before following it up with a rushing diagonal uppercut:
"SHOOOOOOU'OOOOU KEN!"  Gee -- wonder who she's following in the footsteps of,
here?

COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                        \\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Midare Zakura.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                        \\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi stays down low for several moments after slamming Sakura, all these
haymakers taking a toll on her. "...Just...go...down!" No, it seems Sakura won't
do that. Sakura's elbow smashes into her just as she's standing up, and then the
uppercut sends her flying. Megumi lands crumpled several feet away, and doesn't
get up right away.

It takes a good five seconds or so, but just as she's about to be declared out,
she forces herself up to her feet. And with a loud, aggressive yell, she vaults
at Sakura. Her intent is to wrap her legs around Sakura's head, then twirl
around with enough force to take her down to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Megumi's Flood Reversal.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                        \\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Sakura's been tapping into her primal instincts a bit too much to form a verbal
reply to Megumi.  Her body language, naturally, replies 'No' to the demand that
Sakura just keel over and concede -- that's all it takes, really.  In case
Megumi wants a more definitive retort, though, Kasugano swings her head back and
out of the way of those flying feet, backpedaling a bit just for safety's sake.
But... just in case there's any real doubt of Sakura's true intentions towards
the fight, she delivers a clear message to the spinning Megumi with a simple,
direct punch that she'd find it easy to block if she weren't moving so fast --
maybe less so now.  It's nothing fancy or flashy -- but that's not the goal
right now.  Winning is.  "HRAAAAAA!"

COMBATSYS: Megumi counters Medium Punch from Sakura with Tornado Slam.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[                             \  < >  ////                          ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi finds herself unable to land on Sakura, and hits the ground instead. She
handsprings back up, but winces right after it and shifts her stance backwards
some. Sakura's advancing by then, and with a sharp "There!", Megumi catches
Sakura's arm by the wrist and forearm, negating the punch. Then she begins
spinning to take Sakura off her feet, dangling by that arm.

Spin, spin, spin...leap, raise Sakura up, and throw her down! Megumi does that
as hard as she possibly can, then falls down upon landing. She's already
starting to get back up though, eying Sakura with grit teeth and a very tense
look on her face. "Stay...down..."

And the wheels on the bus go round and round!  Sakura finds herself whirled
about like a plush animal in the spin cycle, spiralled up and high into the sky
-- landing dramatically upon her shoulder and taking a rather bad tumble
afterwards.  But... the look of pensive determination is still cemented upon her
features as she picks herself back up, against Megumi's oft-repeated wishes.
Laughing a bit, she shakes her head, elbows once more slamming towards the
ground in an empowering gesture.  "No!  I'm not giving you any less than my
absolute -best!-" she cries in reply, charging full-bore right back for Megumi.
And the spinning apparently got to her: practically -bleeding- cerulean blue in
her high-speed dash, she screams out -- whirling about with a fast roundhouse to
the midsection. But it's not the end -- Sakura has left the ground!  Instead of
a ground-level whirlwind kick like the one she delivered before, she's
attempting to funnel her chi into a torso-level barrage, foot spinning about to
rain kicks upon her time and time again.  Has she mastered the Tatsumaki Senpuu
Kyaku?  ... Well, no, because she's still losing elevation as she kicks... but
the rest is up to Megumi!

COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has left the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Megumi

COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Sakura's Haru Ichiban.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Megumi

When it becomes clear that Sakura is no longer in the fight Jacob walks forward
to take her place. He feels a bit bad about fighting a teenage girl, especially
one who's already been beaten up quite a bit. He saw how much her attacks were
knocking Sakura around however, so he's not planning on holding back. Sparing a
quick glance at Sakura, he settles into position to get ready for the attack
that is surely coming.

Megumi makes it quite clear, actually. She waits for Sakura's approach, and
rolls right underneath the first kick, rising in the same smooth motion that
took her into the roll. As Sakura's technique winds down, Megumi lands a quick
take-down, enough to ensure Sakura stays down.

Then Jacob's here. "Ahh...ugh..." Yeah, Megumi's tired. But she suddenly and
completely tries to act as if she's fine. Not a bad act, but anyone can tell
it's untrue. "I'm ready. Any hits I land on you will make it easier for him to
win." Her hands go wide, then high and low, creating a thin red energy wall. It
goes out a few feet, then starts heading back towards Megumi...

After that enormous expenditure, all it took was a quick shove to the shoulder
to send the Taiyo schoolgirl crashing to the floor.  Her head slamming into the
stone with a resounding thud -- and her resultant refusal to move any further --
yeah.  That's a good sign she's down for the count, even if the light smile on
her face is oddly misplaced.

As the energy wall forms Jacob tenses, preparing to leap away if it starts
coming towards him. He's not expecting it to start heading back toward Megumi,
but it's not hard to figure out that whatever it is, it's probably going to be a
problem. While his opponent is occupied with whatever it is she's doing, Jacob
takes the opportunity to rush her, hoping to perhaps interrupt her plans. As he
gets close to her he suddenly pivots on one foot, spinning around the energy
wall, just in case. He lashes out with the back of his fist, then suddenly drops
low, switching his motion to an attempt to drive his elbow into Megumi's
stomach.

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Megumi with Aura Mend.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Megumi

COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Jacob's Cipher.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Megumi

Megumi isn't there to hit. As Jacob spins around the wall, she sprints towards
it. He can try to feint and then elbow, but she manages to dash past the blow
anyway and crash through her wall. It has one immediate, obvious effect; her
left leg no longer seems to be limping. And with a sharp "Haaa!", she turns
around and flings herself at Jacob, sideways. She's trying to wrap her legs
around one of his shoulders and continue onward in a takedown, and if she gets
it, applying an armbar and quick wrist-lock.

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Jacob with Storm Hold.
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Megumi

Having his opponent suddenly stop limping wasn't something that Jacob was
expecting. It throws off his read of the incoming attack, and he gets taken down
to the floor, one of his arms now immobilized behind him. He's no stranger to
grappling, however. He's already shifting his limbs in an attempt to get free,
and in the meantime lashes out at Megumi with his free arm. It's hard to launch
a very powerful blow from his position, but any good hit will probably give him
a chance to break free.

COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Jacob's Quick Punch.
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Megumi

Any non-hit will also give him that chance. Even as Jacob moves to try and punch
her, Megumi lets go of her hold and scoots back to get out of the way. Getting
up, she begins backpeddling from Jacob as her hands go in front of her. It's
that time again: a sparkling red sphere forms between them, her right hand
brings it back, way back, and then zings it towards him. It's aiming low, in
case he's not fully up by the time she finishes this...but what are the odds of
that?

COMBATSYS: Jacob dodges Megumi's Crimson Comet.
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Megumi

As he's getting up, Jacob spies the glint of red light forming in Megumi's
hands. He briefly reflects that it'd be nice if he knew how to pull off energy
attacks like that, but only briefly. As the sphere flies out toward him Jacob is
already leaping away from his crouching position, landing neatly away from the
impact. He's fast, but he's quickly noticing that Megumi is really fast. He's
going to have to be very careful here...

COMBATSYS: Jacob focuses on his next action.
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Megumi

Megumi waits to see what's going to happen with her attack, then begins charging
when it's obvious it will miss. She's trying to overtake Jacob, and once she's
fairly close she cartwheels forward so that she's in a handstand, trying to wrap
her legs around his neck and bridge backwards to take him up, back, and then
into the arena floor.

COMBATSYS: Jacob counters Strong Throw from Megumi with Black Bag Job.
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1           Megumi

Jacob watches Megumi extremely carefully as she charges in toward him. Charges
make for good attack openings, but tend to hurt a lot if you mess up. When
Megumi springs into her handstand Jacob springs into action, reaching out and
grabbing one of her legs as she lashes out at him. Using his grip for leverage,
he spins around to her side, then lashes out with a painfully accurate kick to
the ribs.

Megumi is caught and kicked, crying out. It does much to kill her aggression,
though she manages to get up, stumblingly. "C'mon...that didn't hurt." Lies,
considering her vocal reaction to the strike. But she keeps at it, trying to
grab Jacob by the leg that kicked her. If she gets it, she's going to start
spinning and raising him up, slamming him to the floor several times like a
doormat. She'll eventually let go, panting, posture sagging...she's /trying/ to
stay up, but has no real defense to speak of; any follow-up hit will probably
succeed.

COMBATSYS: Megumi can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Megumi has left the fight here.
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Jacob with Tornado Slam.
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jacob            0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Sakura stirs with a jolt from the kick delivered to Megumi's midsection.  It's
just that loud?  Nah... it's just that Sakura was that far out of it.  She rubs
the back of her head sorely, sitting up and turning around to find Megumi just
as exhausted as before -- and Jacob making a pretty good showing!  Smiling
weakly, she rolls back to her feet and scrambles to relative safety at the side
of the ring, patting Kensou firmly on the shoulder.  Sure, she's hurt -- but
she'd rather show it -out- of the ring than inside it.

"Looks like it's my turn, now." Tugging on his gloves, Rock watches as Megumi
goes down, before he himself steps forward and takes a leap straight ahead over
the partition separating him from Jacob and the falling Megumi. Landing in the
ring, the blonde has just enough to brush a large lock of hair away from crimson
eyes and adjust his jacket a little, stepping forward and making sure Jacob
knows what's what. "Looks like I'm your dance partner, now. Not as cute as the
last one, but you'll have to make do."

Jacob certainly felt his kick drive home. And then he feels arms wrapping around
his leg, and the world suddenly starts moving and spinning as he is heaved into
the air. The world then suddenly resolves into the grey stone of the arena.
Several times. Eventually his face stops being introduced to the floor, and he
gets back to his feet. Megumi is down, but now he's got a new threat to deal
with. His heads is still pounding a bit, but that doesn't stop him from heading
right toward Rock. This opponent he doesn't need to feel bad about fighting. He
opens up with a punch aimed at Rock's stomach. If that hits, he tries to use the
opening to grab Rock by the shoulders, and bringing him slamming down to the
floor.

Megumi has had enough. She's done what she can, and her body says
'fuggedaboudit!'. She falls to one knee, staring at Jacob...then Rock's coming
in. He's right, in any case. A step at a time, she begins leaving the arena to
watch from the sidelines. "Sorry I couldn't do more...", she says while going.

COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Jacob's Bang and Burn.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Jacob            1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Rock manages to block the punch, calmly bracing himself and raising his arms to
soak the force of Jacob's blow with relative ease. Still, he felt that -- and
he's been pushed back a few inches. "Not bad, pal... I've never seen you fight
before, but you look like you might interesting. Put on a good show for me, eh?"
Almost instantly, Rock's entire person surges forward, his arms sweeping across
the ground and driving two waves of chi at Jacob. Lobbing these two balls over
the ground, the twin blasts link together en route and cut the distance between
them almost instantly, carving a groove into the arena floor as they streak
towards Jacob. "DOUBLE REPPUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Jacob dodges Rock's Double Reppuken.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jacob            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

As soon as his punch is blocked, Jacob is already backing away from Rock, trying
to get some room before the other fighter responds. This gives him just enough
time to realize what's happening as the blasts of energy begin tearing their way
through the arena floor toward him. He just barely manages to move out of the
way, and then immediately begins to follow their trail back towards Rock.
Charging directly at Rock doesn't seem like a bright idea, so rather than
following through with a punch or kick, Jacob keeps going past his opponent,
trying to flank him. Hooking out with his foot for Rock's legs, and grabbing out
toward's one of his arms, Jacob tries to bring the fight down onto the floor, to
see if he can get an advantage that way.

COMBATSYS: Rock dodges Jacob's Quick Throw.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jacob            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Rock isn't going to let Jacob seize any sort of advantage like that. If he wants
to take the fight to grappling? That's Rock's hint to avoid grappling, if he
possibly can. Hopping up and over Jacob's foot and jerking both his arms away,
Rock coasts backwards for a moment before slamming both feet down, propelling
him straight ahead and towards Jacob. With one arm outstretched, Rock's goal is
simple: Stuff his fist into Jacob's face as hard as he can, and hopefully reduce
his tooth count. "Not bad, not bad... but you're going to have to try a whole
lot harder!"

COMBATSYS: Jacob fails to counter Fierce Punch from Rock with Brush Pass.
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jacob            1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Normally, a simple, head on attack is easy to counter. You just grab the
incoming limb, and use the opponent's momentum to damage them instead of you.
Indeed, this is what Jacob tries to do, grabbing for Rock's arm. He doesn't
count on just how much force is behind the blow, however, and his grip isn't
good enough to redirct Rock's fist away from his face. So indeed, he staggers
back, a nice trickle of blood leaking from his mouth where the punch connected.

"You're preaching to the choir with stuff like that..." In recent months, Rock
seems to have become a bit of a master on turning people's attacks around on
them. Driving Jacon back a few paces, Rock doesn't even give Jacob a moment to
breathe -- his left fist is fired straight ahead even as Rock continues to drift
forward, with an aim to sweep across his opponent's face in a one-two
combination.

Megumi eventually gets to the sidelines, clearly disappointed and tired. It's
likely she'd remain in a rather unhappy mood...right until Rock /nails/ Jacob
like that. She's sitting down, but does pump a fist into the air and cheers.
"Keep it up!"

COMBATSYS: Jacob fails to counter Medium Punch from Rock with Restricted Area.
[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.' If he knew who came up with
that phrase, Jacob would be sending his hospital bill to them. At any rate, he
attempts to stop Rock's punch combo, well aware that if he keeps getting knocked
around he's not going to have a chance to recover. At first it actually looks
like he'll succeed, managing to get a grip on Rock's wrist... But then his foot
slips on the edge of the groove that was earlier cut in the floor by the
Reppuken. Thrown off balance, Jacob takes another two hits to the face. Things
aren't looking very good as he tries desperately to back away from Rock so that
he can put his defense back together.

     Then comes a pop, about 20 inches to Megumi's right.

     It's not quite clear just how Seishirou Ryouhara got into the fighting
arena without alerting any of the various security making sure crazed fans don't
get into the field, but when a sudden, contained burst of smoke clears by the
beaten girl, there he is, hands in pockets and watching the fight.

     "He probably will. You didn't do half bad. --That guy," Seishirou notes,
nodding at Jacob, "--better turn it around pretty quick if he wants to stand a
chance though.... mnh. Raisinets?" Seishirou offers an already-opened box to the
injured fighter.

Rock isn't giving Jacob so much as an instant to recover. One punch hit... and
then a second. And now to cap everything off. With Jacob reeling, Rock cracks a
momentarily smirk, his entire body whirling around on one heel. His other heel
rises into the air and comes across towards Jacob's battered face in a rather
standard-looking roundhouse kick. No bells, no whistles... but it's still going
to hurt like a mother if it connects.

COMBATSYS: Jacob dodges Rock's Strong Kick.
[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

The break provided by Rock turning around for his kick, although brief, gives
Jacob just enough time to recover. Quickly dropping to one knee he lets the kick
pass over his head, rather than connecting violently with his face. This also
provides him with a possible opening, and as soon as the kick passes overhead he
pops back up, grabbing for Rock's leg. If he can get a good hold it'll provide
him with enough leverage to pull up, hopefully tugging Rock off balance enough
to then slam him down into the floor. It's not a good position to set up a
clinch from, but at least the impact might hurt.

COMBATSYS: Jacob successfully hits Rock with Strong Throw.
[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

"Not right after a fight." Megumi's declining of the raisins is not
immediate...she is surprised to see Seishirou here, but not outright alarmed and
so it takes a second for her to reply. "So you've been watching the whole time,
huh? I'm kind of sorry I couldn't do more to help him."

Rock finds himself struck solidly for the first time in the fight as Jacob sends
him straight to the ground with one well-timed snatch. Hitting the floor in a
manner that human bodies are not meant to, Rock is momentarily stunned as he
rolls slightly to the side and around Jacob into a crouched position. "That's
better. You like throws, huh? I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime... Try
this!" Taking advantage of his already-lowered position, Rock flips /forward/,
towards Jacob... and upwards, driven by some self-generated force as he whirls
around and around, driving one foot into Jacob's midsection. "RISING... TACKLE!"

Leaning her shoulders against the ring, chin cradled snugly in her palms,
Sakura's been watching the fight with rapt interest.  She hasn't seen Jacob
fight before, aside from a recording of his fight with Iori Yagami... and
honestly, that wasn't the most flattering view of him.  But this... wow.  "Yeah,
you show 'im, Jake!"  She didn't uphold Rock's request, per se, but she still
wants to see her teammates succeed in this -- it means more money for fixing
Kim's broken window, after all.  Her attention is drawn from the fight by the
showy appearance of a certain ninja though -- one she's not seen in person
before.  Narrowing her eyes, she wonders what he's doing here... but soon finds
her attention wandering back towards Jacob and Rock.

COMBATSYS: Jacob dodges Rock's Rising Tackle.
[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Jacob is starting to get the idea that Rock has a lot of techniques that involve
propelling himself forward at high speed. Thus when he sees his opponent
flipping forward he immediately tries to gauge what direction the attack is
going to lead in. Guessing correctly, he manages to roll out of the way as Rock
goes spinning by, and takes the opportunity to lash out with a kick aimed at the
other fighter's head, although it's difficult to aim well with him whirling like
that.

COMBATSYS: Rock just-defends Jacob's Light Kick!
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Rock wants to end this fight, and he wants to end it fast. As he finds himself
being propelled gradually upwards, he realizes that he's in a poor position to
evade. Inverted and in mid-air, that is to say. So he doesn't. As Jacob's kick
flies for his head, Rock's arm snaps out just in time to push the attack right
back, not only soaking it but downright shoving Jacob's foot right back in the
direction from whence it came. "I don't have time for this! REPPUKEN!" This
time, Rock sweeps one arm forward... but over his head. Were he not upside down,
he'd be waving an arm above him, but since he's still inverted, everything works
out and a burst of chi rushes at Jacob's knees, intent on ripping his footing
right out from under him. Meanwhile, Rock is gradually righting himself in
mid-air, and should be landing on his feet momentarily. Hopefully, this fight
will be over by then.

     "Wouldn't worry about it too much. He's a good fighter." Seishirou shrugs
at the refusal of the raisins, tucking them back into his jacket. Taking a seat
on the bench quietly, he folds his arms across his knees, and watches the fight
intently. "I've been here for long enough," he explains, briefly. "Wanted to get
a better view. Figured this is the best place." While not exactly a social
butterfly, Seishirou is being a touch more talkative than he usually is. Though,
from the intent in his eyes, it doesn't look like he's much wanting to talk
about that particular topic. At least, not right now. As for the sailor scout..
well, Ryouhara's given her a look or two in return. Farbeit for him to miss
something like a suspicious glance.

COMBATSYS: Jacob dodges Rock's Reppuken.
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Jacob            0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

As the arm comes out, with the ever more familiar glow of chi, Jacob leaps back,
getting showered with bits of the arena floor as the Reppuken plows into the
spot he was just standing a moment ago. It's a close call, and his leg took a
few painful chunks of flying rock, but he's still on his feet. His escape
doesn't give him a chance to go after Rock while he's still in the air, but it
doesn't take long before he pushes on the attack again. He knows he's not going
to defeat the other fighter, but he might at least give Kensou a better chance.
Charging in, he suddenly drops low, keeping his momentum as he aims for Rock's
legs, trying to knock the other man down, so he at least won't be flinging
ground chewing energy attacks anymore.

COMBATSYS: Rock fails to counter Quick Throw from Jacob with Gedan Crack
Counter.
[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Jacob            0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

Megumi doesn't have all that great a reply. "Yeah...I know he's good. It just
felt kind of bad of me to leave him with two of them still on their feet. Wanted
to take two of them down so he could win more easily." She taps the ground
beside her, "Sit down?"

It seems like Jacob is finally beginning to come to life. Reaching for Rock's
legs once again, this time Jacob manages to make solid contact, sending Rock
flying right to the ground with a harsh bit of impact. Rock hits the arena floor
with an uncomfortable-sounding thud, and remains there for several moments. ...
Is he going to get up?

Sakura throws up her fist as her teammate utterly plows through Rock's attempts
to counter... "Yeaaaaah!  Go Jay-CUB!  You show 'em how it's done!"  She's
genuinely -delighted- at how well this fight is coming along -- even in her
demoted position as spectator, she's still cheering vicariously with every
success and shuddering with every failed dodge -- the fact that Seishirou is
sitting ringside is just a slight blemish.  Who is this guy, and what is he
planning here?  Does he know Megumi?  She'll have to ask her, the next time they
chat...

     Looking down at the proffered ground, Ryouhara shrugs mildly, before
dropping down beside Megumi, arms remaining folded over his knees. "Think you
coulda beaten him, then? This guy's proven pretty difficult for Howard to put
down." Squinting coldly, Seishirou does /not/ call out support.

Jacob certainly isn't going to waste this opportunity, now that he's gotten Rock
down to the floor and has an apparent opening. He tries to establish a hold on
one of Rock's arms, attempting to twist it up behind his back and perform a
submission hold on him. He hasn't actually managed to succeed with this very
often against any professional fighters, but hey, there's a first time for
everything, right?

COMBATSYS: Rock counters Strong Throw from Jacob with Gedan Crack Counter.
[                         \\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Jacob            1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kensou           0/-------/-------|

If at first you don't succeed... try, try, again! As soon as one of Jacob's arms
is within grasp, Rock latches onto it with his own forearms, sending himself
flying forward like a shot and hammering Jacob on top of the head with the force
of a runaway train. That, hopefully, should end this fight... unless Jacob has
any more tricks up his sleeve. "You did good, man... But your turn's over."

A well-dressed Chinese man really wouldn't stand out in the crowd.  Sure, it's a
custom-designed jacket, but it's also black, so it really shouldn't stand out
much at all amongst the throngs of spectators.  ... By design.  A small pair of
binoculars hovers in front of this particular spectator's face -- he's somehow
managed to get front-row seats to the spectacle, and has been watching through
the lenses for most of the fight, really.  Though, as Jacob is introduced to the
low Crack Counter, the bartender whistles, lowering the binoculars and wincing
in empathy.  ... Not really much for tournament fights like this, though he can
certainly appreciate the sportsmanship.

Sees stars for a few moments. He knows he's not going to be able to stay on his
feet for much longer, but with Rock right up next to him he at least has one
last chance. The fact that he's already starting to fall to the ground actually
works in his favor here, since he manages to catch himself on his hands,
summoning up the last of his strength to propel himself upwards, attempting to
drive his foot into Rock's jaw. He's a bit too woozy to catch himself on the
landing though, although he's still barely retaining consciousness, despite a
probable concussion.

COMBATSYS: Jacob can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Jacob has left the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1             Rock
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1             Rock

Megumi's response to Seishirou is, at first, just one word. "No. I knew I was
finished after taking out Sakura...but I really wanted to help him out. It
sucks, sitting back here and watching like this." She's been pretty quiet as
Rock gets unloaded on by Jacob, but that successful catch-and-strike prompts a
quick whistle on her part and "Go!" Encouragement. Yours for four monthly
payments of $Fig.ht.

COMBATSYS: Rock endures Jacob's Restricted Area.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1             Rock

Sakura gives Kensou an encouraging pat on the shoulder as Jacob finally falls to
the floor.  "Well... there's still plenty of ass left for you to kick, Kensou!
Just as you requested!"  Laughing a bit, she points her finger at Rock -- and
then lowers her thumb. "Bang!"

     That's better. Seishirou seems to start utterly ignoring the fight right
at about the time Jacob takes that hit. It's over. "Watching is how you learn...
that guy could've stood to watch a few more fights. Seemed like he didn't know
how to throw a proper punch." At this point.. the ninja seems to be focusing on
Sakura over there and her 'six shooter,' along with the new entrant, Kensou.
Even while Megumi cheers nearby. He's a wet blanket. But wet blankets are good
for survival in the desert.

Of course, the whole time, Kensou has been psyching himself up!  Cheering for
his teammates, getting himself in 'the zone', you know the drill.  Just about
now, though, the Chinese fighter was just about to get started on a pre-fight
meatbun, to make sure he wasn't going into battle on an empty stomach, when...
Jacob falls?  "Ah?" Kensou says, as Sakura turns to him.  "Tch...!  I'll show
him!" he says confidently, hopping into the ring with meatbun still in hand!
Yes, he is defiant!  The piping-hot porkbun is tossed into his gaping maw, and
Kensou starts chewing...  But apparently not thoroughly enough, as he's, uh,
choking.  And turning blue.  The Psycho Soldier hammers his chest with one hand
as he tries to swallow, finally getting the meatbun down, whereupon he takes a
gasp of air.  "Whew...  I-I thought I was gonna die..."  Shouldn't he be paying
attention to Rock, now?

As Kensou hops into the ring, Rock is already moving, his fingers crackling with
the tell-tale shimmer of purple chi as the blonde steps forward confidently. He
waits until Kensou is done choking to death; he really does. But then, there's
nothing keeping him from acting.

Once Kensou recovers, he IS slightly distracted. But there's nothing notable
about Rock to pay attention to, really. Now, the massive wave of chi that's
flying over the arena floor towards Kensou is something to pay attention to.
Let's hope Kensou is.

"Double... REPPUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Kensou with Double Reppuken.
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Kensou           0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1             Rock

"Whoa, hey, that ain't coo--AGH!" Kensou yelps as he's unable to avoid the
purple wave in time, his attempt to dodge to one side defining the course of his
flight away from the projectile, where he slams to the arena floor.  "Keh...  So
that's the way you like to do it, huh?" he says, getting to his feet a bit
shakily, the pain from the Double Reppuken still stinging his body.  Breaking
into a run, the Psycho Soldier tries to close the distance between himself and
Rock, before - despite the pain - launching into a short series of reckless
overhand punches, his whole weight behind them, with the intended finisher of a
double-handed axe-handle to the chin.  "But it ain't enough yet!"

COMBATSYS: Rock counters Ryuu Renda from Kensou with Gedan Crack Counter.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Kensou           1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1             Rock

Megumi's disappointment started to go away as Rock downed Jacob. It's completely
annihilated when he gets off to such a good start against Kensou, and she stands
back up, pumping fists, calling out to him, "Rock! Keep it up! You'll get him!"

"You're right... it isn't." Sliding low to the ground, Rock ducks a little
underneath Kensou's chain of punches, but still manages to snatch Kensou's last
axe-handle between his forearms. Locking Kensou in place momentarily, Rock
abruptly flings himself forward to deliver a harsh kick to Kensou's shoulder,
trying to prevent him from being able to break out any more punching combos like
that again. Pushing off of his opponent with his leg, the blonde flips over
backwards again, trying to land on his feet and minimize his recovery time
before Kensou can follow up with another attack.

Jacob makes a point of dragging himself back to the side of the arena where
Sakura is. It wouldn't do to be hanging around, since he's not in much condition
to dodge any stray energy blasts right now. Once he reaches relative safety he
hauls himself up to a sitting position, just in time to wince in sympathy as
Kensou takes a nasty blow from Rock.

Sakura's more than content to stay on the sidelines, patting Jacob -very-
-lightly- on the shoulder.  "Hey, you did great out there, man.  Good job!
Megumi's pretty tough to bring down, but hey... you did pretty darn well against
Rock too!"  Grinning, she turns her attention back to the fight.  Really ought
to take something for the nasty headache of hers, but she's too interested in
the outcome here.  ... And in that ninja guy on the other side of the arena, but
she tries to keep from staring. Really, she does.

Yeow, that kinda hurt.  Kensou crumples on the side he's kicked, dropping down
to one knee, with a very noticeable grimace.  "D...  Dammit," he mutters, one
hand resting on the floor of the arena.  This is not turning out to be a very
good situation; he pretty clearly can't compete with Rock for speed.  So, what
options does he have left open to him?  Not a whole hell of a lot!  No point in
giving up, though for the moment he actually bides his time, hoping to find some
sort of opening in the red-eyed youth's defenses.

COMBATSYS: Kensou focuses on his next action.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Kensou           1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1             Rock

Rock is clearly fond of his projectiles tonight. Perhaps a result of fighting
with Sakura not too long ago. As Kensou bides his time, Rock realizes that to
close in while he's prepared is probably... unwise. Rock would much rather send
something to him that moves at a faster clip than he does. So, once again, the
blonde whips one arm across his person, firing off one blast of chi in Kensou's
direction. "Sitting there and waiting isn't going to do you any good! You came
here to fight... so fight! REPPUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Kensou dodges Rock's Reppuken.
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Kensou           1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1             Rock

     Looking more than a touch interested in the fight in general, Seishirou's
ceased paying a LOT of attention to Sakura. As Kensou comes out though.. and
projectiles start to get thrown? THe nin-spectator allows himself a very
enthused 'heh.'

The diminutive Chinese man makes himself comfortable in the arena seating.  ...
Easier said than done.  But he's long used to being in uncomfortable situations
-- otherwise he'd be a pretty lousy bartender.  Every so often he lifts the
binoculars for another close-up view of the fight proceedings, but for the most
part, he's content to spectate like anyone else.  Eyeing the bag of popcorn in
his lap, he hums lightly and takes another bite.  Obviously, he doesn't plan on
finishing the snack.

Nobody is more surprised than Kensou is, though, when he manages to avoid Rock's
new attack.  The Chinese fighter's solution is to leap rather acrobatically
/over/ it, and in fact towards Rock in general...  Curling in midair, and then
descending towards the blonde.  "Haaaa...."  Can you feel it?  The sudden
movement of /something/ in the air, as the debris of the earlier fights shifts,
and even lifts slightly off the ground?  A breeze that doesn't exist seems to
ruffle the Psycho Soldier's hair and clothes as he descends, untucking with both
hands extended towards Rock and an intent look on his face.  "....EAT THIS!!"
Man, is he gonna look stupid if something goes wrong, but...  In front of his
hands, and ideally centered on young Mister Howard himself, there's the sudden
appearance of a massive blue-white sphere of power, filled with a collection of
secondary Psycho Power explosions, with the intent of rocking (ha!) and
buffeting the red-eyed fighter, before Kensou finally loses control of his power
output and a final explosion would then hurl the pair of them away, Kensou
especially getting some nice airtime.

COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Rock with Senki Hakkei.
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kensou           0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2             Rock

"... Wait. This isn't normal chi." There's something weird about whatever the
hell it is that Kensou is doing. Something really weird. Something that Rock
doesn't very much like. Primarily because it's sending Rock flying, like a rag
doll, nearly to the very edge of the ring. Hitting the arena floor and sliding
several feet, Rock tumbles to a stop at the very edge of the ring... looking
downright battered. Leather pants tattered, shirt with one large hole from the
chi burn... the jackal, though, is absolutely unscathed. Somehow.

"... that... really... really... hurt." Limping a bit nearer to the center of
the ring, Rock takes off into a sprint, forcing himself to shrug off fatigue to
drive straight ahead towards Kensou. "But I've got something like that, too!"

     Even Seishirou winces at that one hit. "So he's not just weird after
all.."

"He can fight," Megumi offers. Yeah, it's probably obvious. But that hit did
some to curtail her enthusiasm, but not all of it. "Rock, stay up! Keep on him,
you're still in this!"

COMBATSYS: Kensou endures Rock's Deadly Rave Neo.
[                        \\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Kensou           0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0             Rock

And, indeed, Rock does have something of the same caliber as whatever Kensou
just throw at him. Rock arms and legs dissolve into a blur of movement, each one
driving into Kensou's body like a hammer. Blows strike the Psycho Soldier in the
chest, face, arms, and legs, each one streaming into the next like some sort of
elaborate dance. The final hit, though, is the big one: One tremendous sphere of
raw chi, swelling between Rock's outstretched palms like some sort of angry sun
-- As big as Kensou's Senki Hakkei moments ago, driving into Kensou with enough
force to total a car.

Jasper shuffles into the stands. A bit late, but you know how it is. Saturday
night, there's lots of punks around, and Gedo High needed to show justice. The
young, slightly bruised boy makes his way carefully up the stands to a place he
can 'feel' is empty, apologizing to anyone he bumps into with a few mumbled
words, then takes his seat. While it might've been hard to 'see' how the fight's
going with all the people around, he manages just fine. After all, the two
fighters are flinging bolts of energy around, and the others are just sitting
there. Not that hard to detect where he needs to pay attention. Hands fold up,
and he settles in to "watch" the end of it.

Jacob watches the fireworks show, suitably impressed by the massive attacks the
two fighters have used on one another. He comes to the conclusion that he really
needs to train more. He's done a lot of work on his body, but he still doesn't
know much at all about how people pull off these energy attacks... or how he
might be able to defend against them. Dodging is all well and good, but taking a
direct blow from attacks like that looks like it'd cause some serious damage,
and he knows he can't dodge forever.

Sakura clenches her fists as Kensou gets swallowed up in Rock's attack...
"C'mon, Kensou!  Fight it!  I'll... I'll =totally= buy you dinner at the Pao Pao
if you pull this off!  You can do it!!!!"  Throwing up her fist, she starts
pumping it fervently in the hopes he can hear her.

Landing in a crumpled heap after the Senki Hakkei, Kensou lays there for just a
moment, dazed and exhaused from the powerful, almost painful, output of Psycho
Power.  Shakily, the kenpoist gets to his feet, both his hands quivering
noticeably, with a bit of smoke rising from their palms.  "Hoooo...  That was
really clo--Oh, crap."  Looks like the Chinese fighter is caught between a Rock
and a hard place, on this one.  But rather than trying for a dodge, Kensou takes
a different track, taking a slow, steadying breath and standing his ground.
Rock's powerful strikes draw a cry from Kensou with each one, and the final
blast, well...  That REALLY hurts.  Hurled away again, Kensou skids along the
arena stage painfully, before, for the second time, getting to his feet shakily.
"Heh...  What, is that all you got?" Kensou wonders with a grin, despite looking
beat right to hell.  "I will...  Absolutely not give up!"  His hands come up in
front of his face, collecting power again, before he hurls a (much smaller than
the last) sphere of blue-white Psycho Power at Rock, ideally while the blond is
still recovering from his powerful attack.  At which point, Kensou starts to sag
back down to the ground...

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

COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Rock with Choukyuu Dan.
[                         \\\\\  < >                                ]
Kensou           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0             Rock

Rock isn't even going to give Kensou the opportunity to drop to the ground.
Before he drops -- and before he gets up -- Rock is already launching himself
forward like a rocket. With one elbow extended straight ahead, the blonde rips
straight /into/ and /through/ the Choukyuu Dan, the chi dissipating over his
person but leaving a noticeable hole in his elbow -- not just the jacket,
either. That looked like it seriously stung. But Rock is still coming, intent on
hitting Kensou one more time.

COMBATSYS: Rock can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Rock has left the fight here.
[                         \\\\\  <
Kensou           1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Kensou dodges Rock's Hard Edge.
[                         \\\\\  <
Kensou           1/-------/=======|

Rock misses... and simply soars right past Kensou, his legs slipping out from
beneath him as Rock simply tumbles to the arena floor, totally spent.

As soon as Rock falls, the Chinaman's quick to make an exit, in as unobtrusive a
manner as possible.
(Chen, not Kensou)

But, not this time!  Kensou looks pretty shocked as Rock hauls ass towards him
again, prompting a quick last-minute cartwheel to one side, the shorts-clad
Psycho Soldier landing in a seated position.  "Whaaaa....!  That was /way/ too
close," he says, as it's actually not quite registered to him that they just
won.  Getting to his feet carefully, Kensou looks back over his shoulder, seeing
the fallen Rock.  Wait a minute, guys, it's settling in...  "...Huh?  We won?"
he says, blinking, before more loudly:  "Ha ha!  Of course we won!  Woohoo!"
Kensou shouts, doing a bit of a flip which, uh, ends up with him tripping and
falling on his rear again.  So much for looking cool, huh?

Jacob gets to his feet, wincing slightly at the pain in his head as he does so.
He still flashes Kensou a grin and a thumbs-up, however. Walking over to Rock,
he bends down slightly to check if the blond fighter is still conscious. If so,
he offers him his hand, to help him up. "Hey, good fight."

What, that's it? Ah. Shame. Japser had looked forward to seeing a bit more of a
fight, but it just wasn't to be. Not that he hadn't seen fighting tonight, but
it was always interesting to "watch" those better than him. He doesn't stand up
and leave immediately, instead hanging around a bit to listen to post-fight
chatter. After all, he didn't have to be home for awhile, yet, and perhaps he
could piece together some info of the fight from that.

     "Huh. Came so far, only to fall.."

     Getting up quietly, Ryouhara wordlessly wanders into the ring, walking
over to Rock... and past Kensou, murmuring as he does so. "Don't make an idiot
of yourself." You can almost feel the eyeroll. Rock he'll .. poke once, twice.
"Hey. You need to get up."

Sakura totally -leaps- up on stage, fists held triumphantly high!  ... Though
she stumbles a bit as she lands.  Not as goofy as Kensou, though!  She points at
the Meatbun King, snickering for a bit before leaning over to offer him another
hand up.  "Congratulations!  We totally did it!"  She's mostly rested up from
her bouts with the red stuff -- enough to where she's only favoring one side of
her ribcage, anyway.  ... She does pass Ryouhara a glance though.  Megumi,
though, she smiles at.  "Hey, good fight, you two!" she calls out, just in case
Rock's listening.  "It was fun!"

Megumi...loses her steam as Rock goes down. But she's also heading over towards
Rock, though she's going directly to him with no comments from others. "Hey...we
almost did it, even in a handicap match. C'mon." She's offering a hand to Rock,
and doesn't seem to be returning Sakura's post-fight 'good game' comments just
yet...

Rock rolls over onto his back after taking a tumble, looking a little woozy.
Poke. Poke. "Ma, I don't want to get up for Reppuken Class... just a few more
minutes..." Eventually, Seishirou manages to wake him up, his eyes sliding back
open. He accepts Jacob's hand and Megumi's all the same, though, climbing his
way slowly to his feet with the help of each. "... ow. That's... weird. That
stuff doesn't feel right." It's like he was hit under the skin, by Kensou's
attacks. He'll have to look into it. Once on his feet, Rock wobbles a little
bit, but manages barely to keep his balance. "Yeah. Tch. That blue energy hurt.
It felt... I dunno. Different."

After helping Rock up, Jacob nods to Megumi as well. "You, too. Nice fight." Not
sure who Seishirou is, he just gives him a polite nod, then heads back over to
tonight's teammates. "Hey, great job guys."

"Yeah," Rock nods, in agreement. "You've got some fast footwork and faster
throws. Do yourself a favor, though. Don't hold back so much. Sometimes it helps
to let loose."

And yes, Kensou can use the hand up!  Getting to his feet with Sakura's help,
the Psycho Soldier wobbles a bit.  "Damn, he's pretty strong!" Kensou comments,
having been caught completely offguard at the start of the match.  You'd think
someone who is so often underestimated for not looking like much wouldn't return
the favour to anyone else, but Kensou's logic often does not resemble commonly
accepted Earth logic.  Seishirou's quiet comment goes quite unnoticed, though,
since Kensou is far too busy with the thrill of victory.  "But yeah, that was
great!" he says to his teammates, before grinning and waving over at Megumi and
Rock.  "Nice work!  I was really worried, there!"

Megumi backs up once Rock's up, and...now looks to the other team. "...Yeah.
Well, looks like it's over." She gives little nods to Jacob, Sakura, and Kensou
in turn, then props her arms behind her head. "I'm outta here. Rock, mind
stopping by sometime so I can talk to ya?"

Sakura smiles cheerfully, nodding.  It -was- a good fight, as far as she was
concerned -- pulse-pounding action on all fronts. Sure... Megumi and Rock had a
handicap in this match, but from how close it ended up being -- it was hardly an
-unfair- fight, to say the least!  Besides, even the underdogs should win sooner
or later, right?  "Yeah, Rock hits pretty hard..." she notes to Kensou --
obviously speaking from experience.  Quirking an eyebrow at Megumi's cold reply,
she shrugs it off -- it's not like Sakura can say -she- hasn't been in a sour
mood after a loss, really.  Or even a win, in some cases.  Still, it's not like
she can't at least be cordial about it.  "Oh... now I remember!  You're the guy
from the menswear store, right?  How's it going?"  She grins back at Jacob, the
sight of his face finally clicking in.

     "Huh. Different?" Ryouhara takes a look over his shoulder at Kensou. An
indifferent gaze at both Sakura and Jacob--though to the latter, a faint nod is
offered, before he occupies himself with other things; such as, Megumi and Rock.
"You two had an .. interesting chance of winning that." He shrugs the thought
off now, though. No use analyzing useless data. "See you, Andou... mnh. I'll be
getting ahold of you later."

Rock limps along, turning down offers from the medics for some help. "Sure, any
time. I'm living in an alley behind Pizza Hut." He's probably not serious about
that; he and Terry should have something a step above THAT, at least. "My number
is (000) 000 - 0000. Whenever you want, I'll be available. Catch you later. You
two, Seishirou."

Sakura scratches the side of her cheek.  "Yeah... good fight you two."  Wind,
sails, not meeting... yeah.  Geez, some people gotta take this 'fighting' thing
all personal and stuff.

Jacob returns Sakura's grin, although with a slight wince. "Well, my head's been
a bit better, but otherwise things have been going pretty well. Just recently
started fighting in this circuit." He glances at Kensou for a moment.
"Definitely looks like I've still got some stuff to learn." Oh, yes. Kensou has
definitely made it onto the list of fighters that Jacob is taking an interest
in, after tonight's little fireworks display.

Megumi was about to leave. But what Rock says just kind of...well. Then she
figures he's probably joking and responds with, "Real funny, man." Then there's
Seishirou's comment. "Later? Heck, now's good. I'm getting a cab ride home. Come
with and we'll talk?" Then she's on her way out, walking. She's not limping like
Rock is, having had enough time to rest up.

And you know, despite being beatened and fried, Kensou is feeling pretty damn
good!  Though he's already worked off that almost fatal meatbun from the
beginning of the round.  "I dunno, you fought some pretty tough contenders
there," the Psycho Soldier replies to Jacob, grinning and giving a thumbs-up.
"An' you held your own, there!  I think I've just been in a bit of a 'groove'
lately..."  At least, that's how he feels after what he considers to be now
/two/ surprising victories in a row.  "An'--" whatever Kensou's next thought is,
it's cut off by something really rather predictable, when his stomach lets out a
very audible, gurgling growl.  "...Eheh.  Fightin' always makes me hungry."
That and everything else.  

     Seishirou doesn't exactly bid Rock a fond farewell. The most of a goodbye
he'll offer is a slight tilt of the head. Not much else is necessary, even for
someone who's limping--however, the phone number is mentally noted.

     As Megumi walks off, Ryouhara takes a moment to think about her offer.
Then, of course, he looks back towards the winners. Good fighters, apparently.
But weird. He trails off after Megumi, without another word to the opposing
group. "Won't take that long," is the longand short of what he has for Megumi.

Rock limps out of the stadium, looking just a touch under the weather. Maybe he
shouldn't have turned down medical help.

Sakura pats Kensou on the shoulder.  "C'mon, then!  Let's get something to eat
before my hair starts looking like a tasty morsel!"  She motions to Jacob as
well, grinning brightly.  "And I've got juuuust the place in mind..."

Log created by Kobun, and last modified on 19:32:27 04/28/2005.