Description: A free-for-all fight pits two schoolgirls against the serial killer dressed in a clown suit -- but then there's a special condition to follow also! (Winner: Freeman; 2nd: Sakura)
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.
Man, what a flight! ... Okay, really, the flight from Okinawa isn't bad in and
of itself -- but rather, that getting up at early-o-clock in the morning to
straggle to the airport, hop on a plane, and fly back here, only to be snookered
into a day of chores with parents... well. It got to be a bit stressful for
young Sakura Kasugano. Luckily, all that's over now, and she's in the middle of
Dream Amusement Park, looking for a good time.
That's all good and well, except Sakura hasn't quite made it to the ring yet.
It's set up all nice and sturdy, waiting for the three fighters to make their
appearance for the Saturday Night Fight, but Sakura hasn't... quite... checked
in yet.
Nope. She's haggling with the cotton candy merchant, a couple hundred feet from
said stage. "C'mon, man, I gotta GO! They're gonna be callin' my name any
minute now, can't you speed it up any more? Geez..."
Megumi has had her own stresses, of a different sort. She didn't even pay
attention to who the crew told her she'd be fighting; she just got a cab ride
over here once she was told she was scheduled to fight today. Sakura's not quite
in the arena yet, but neither is Megumi. She's just...walking, going through the
amusement park and heading to where she was told to go. Doesn't look
particularly energetic, as she just steps in and looks around, waiting...
And one particular fighter, someone whom appears to have absolutely no name
in any known fighting arena, finally slithers through the crowd and into the
ring. There's no real dramatics, or even an inclination of head in either
direction during the stout walk. But that's not exactly the case for the people
who notice Freeman's current ensemble -- although it's definitely one that fits
within the themepark setting.
Currently, Freeman is wearing... A clown outfit. A white mask with a
brilliant red afro, with heavy frown and tears coming from the eyes, is pulled
down to the neck. His outfit is simply a pearl jumpsuit with blue spots, red
frill around the neck, wrist, and ankles. There's giant red buttons down the
front almost obscenely sized, and only black half-gloves over his loping fingers
offset the theme. He simply stands a few meters past the designated line,
lurching forward a moment as if drunk and then managing to lean backwards in a
slouch. Both arms dangle at his side, and he appears to be attempting in vain to
suppress rather creepy giggles. Which is really not in character with the 'Sad
Clown' act.
Yet for now, nobody would have any idea this is Freeman. The name on his
badge... is Mr. Giggles.
Finally, Sakura liberates her cotton candy from the vendor, palming over her
payment and taking a big chunk out of it as she dashes towards the ring. It's
blue -- much more brightly so than her blue skirt. And it's already half gone
by the time she rushes up to the stage. Sugar rush much? Apparently, she
thinks she'll be needing the energy for this fight.
Slipping under the ropes of the ring, she looks back across the ring at Mr.
Giggles. She'd heard him sign up that way, but still, she can't believe it.
"I've fought a lot of clowns here in SNF, but you take the cake!" Readjusting
the fit of her handguards, she hops from one foot to the other as a kind of
warmup, while the announcers go through their schpiels. "Didn't keep you
waiting long, did I?"
Megumi was...not pleased to find an apparently literal clown getting into the
ring. "Great. Sad clown. Rubbing it in a bit much, aren't you?" An actual
wrestling/boxing ring...well, it gives her some benefits. She's bouncing her
back against a set of ropes, then walking over to test out the corners... not
saying much to Sakura or 'Giggles' during this, though.
There's absolutely no reaction to Mr. Giggles being addressed, althoug his
attention visibly shifts towards Sakura. His eyes are covered by a fine black
mesh, although there might be something vaguely familiar about the way he holds
himself. Megumi isn't given much notice at all; It appears the schoolgirl is the
brunt of the sad clown's focus, at least at the onset. His hands flex and
unflex, but that is the extent of his warmup for the time being. It appears to
be more a joke then anything else -- maybe some low-class fighter lost a dare
and had to enter like this. Both arms then raise, and gesture towards the
opponents in a 'come hither' manner. One way or another, Mr. Giggles wants to
get the ball rolling.
COMBATSYS: Freeman has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Megumi has joined the fight here.
Glancing between Mr. Giggles and Megumi, Sakura's not really sure what to make
of the fight. She hasn't quite placed the face behind the clown mask yet, but
there's a good chance she -will-... but the fact that Megumi seems to be quiet
and stuff doesn't fill her with happiness. "C'mon, why's everyone gotta look
all grumpy and everything! It's not like we're here to punch each other's
lights out or anything... right?" Following that with a brief snicker, she
shuttles her glance between the two, concentrating on... well, the other two
opponents!
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
The statement of not punching each other's lights out appears to make Mr.
Giggles unhappy. His shoulders tense a moment, before being rolled heavily
backwards in order to loosen the muscles. One hand adjusts the frills on his
wrist, similarly maneuvering a large button into a better place. This particular
quirk might also twinge distant recognition in Sakura, but it's not nearly as
distinctive as his crimson chi. And he doesn't seem to be about to reveal it
just yet; A few steps are taken towards the beskirted girl, still ignoring
Megumi. But then Mr. Giggles snaps into motion, seeming to lurch in a quick
stumbling fall more then a run. Only he then twirls, unleashing a spiraling kick
towards Sakura's head with an extreme amount of force and fluid accuracy. Well,
that at least is a good hint; He does know how to fight, looks deceiving or not.
Megumi sees Sakura's ready, but doesn't say anything back to her. Then the
clown's moving to attack, but at least he's attacking someone else. Okay. Megumi
takes one step to rush in, then realizes...who? Who should she bother hitting?
Sad clown? Sakura? Not entirely sure yet. So Megumi's waiting at her end of the
ring, and watching very closely...
COMBATSYS: Megumi focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Freeman's Swinging Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
Well, Sakura -was- being flippant -- the entire POINT of an SNF is to punch each
other's lights out. Hence, the snicker, which should pass in Mr. Giggles'
vocabulary. Still -- she notices something odd about the stumble, and wisely so
-- for it's not long before Freeman lashes out with a kick towards the girl's
head. Luckily, she was paying attention -- which is how she's able to flip her
arm to the side, swinging her upper torso out of the way while her padded
handguard absorbs the brunt of the attack. Before she really gets too carried
away with a strategic withdrawal, though, she coils up tightly, suddenly
springing into the air! Flipping through one quick somersault, she snaps out of
the maneuver with both fists aimed towards clocking poor Mr. Giggles square in
the head. Obviously, he's here -- he can take the beating, right?
"Yuut-ttaaah!" cries Sakura!
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Freeman with Sakura Otoshi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/-----==|
The beginning of the battle doesn't appear to be going well for sad, sad
Mr. Giggles. He's severely off-balance, something that doesn't appear to be
bothoring the combatant. That is, until he belatedly trails his masked face --
likely not condusive to visibility -- as Sakura lets out her battle cry. Both
fists impact him despite an attempt to slither away. Closing the bar door after
the horse is stolen in this case, as the motion only causes him to collapse
against the rope with arms thrust over. Sinking to his knees a moment, he takes
a moment to adjust his mask before weakly raising to his feet. That was
apparently more then a love-tap, as a sidestep is taken before Mr. Giggles
sharply retreats to the side, attempting to regain some manner of sense.
COMBATSYS: Freeman focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/-----==|
Megumi keeps her distance for the time being, watching clown and Sakura go at
it. Watching that guy get nailed dead on by Sakura wasn't entirely unexpected,
his mannerisms however are drawing some confusion for Megumi. Still not sure
what to do about this, she's...still watching, keeping away from them. Go after
Sakura, she'll just be taking 'cheap shots'. Go after the clown, same deal. Go
after both, they'll both turn on her, or so she figures. So for now she's
keeping uninvolved, trying to decide on what to do.
COMBATSYS: Megumi focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Freeman 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/-----==|
Rebounding off from Mr. Giggles' head, Sakura continues flying on towards the
center of the ring. Sneakers squeaking as she skids to a halt on the canvas
ring, she glances back to look at the other two fighters, her hands cupping by
her sides all the while. "Uh, guys? The last I checked, this was a =fight!="
she notes, a steady flood of cerulean energy swirling into the gap between her
palms. Her gaze flickering between the two, she soon realizes the position
she's in here -- and then she changes targets. With a rapid swing of both
hands, she brings her aim to bear upon Megumi, shouting, "HADOOOOOUKEN!" as a
three-foot-round orb of blue chi rockets its way towards the pink-haired
fighter.
"Heh."
This sharply leaves Freeman's lips, apparently more subconscious then
anything else. Newly focused, his attention is fully upon Sakura as she appears
ready to assault him with a familiar attack. But as her attack changes, causing
a hesitation in the mock clown's statue, he eyes the blue ball of energy
flickering towards Megumi. And then he unleashes a flickering ball of black and
crimson chi towards her as well, in a rather cheap little double-feature.
Apparently he noticed her own lack of participation in the fight as well -- it
can be called incentive! Besides, Sakura rang his bells pretty soundly just
there.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Medium Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Freeman successfully hits Megumi with Overkill.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/----===|
Megumi gets what she figured would happen anyway. She's building energy on her
hands as Sakura prepares her Hadouken, and Megumi was about to fire a shot right
back at her, when near-simultaneously, Freeman joins in. And her eyes shoot wide
at his technique; she recognizes it. The shock is enough that she's struck
dead-on by both shots, knocked over the ropes and onto the ground outside the
ring. "Damnit..." Getting up, she continues building up that energy, and sending
it forward as a tall, thin wall. It goes ahead, then begins floating back to her
as she begins walking back to the ring, frustration showing.
The unusual intermingling of jet black and crimson is not one that goes
unnoticed by Sakura either -- she found herself encountering it personally not
too very long ago. Just before her trip to Okinawa, as a matter of fact!
Gritting her teeth, she glances back to Megumi, only to doubletake at the
pink-haired girl as she's already moved to her trademark. "So soon, Megumi?"
she asks -- perhaps it's a bit louder to hear considering that Sakura's closing
her distance to the healing fighter. "It's too early in the fight for that!"
But, just before crashing into Megumi, Sakura takes flight, letting her momentum
carry her forward as she enters a wide spin. "SHUNPUUUU-KYAKU!" she cries, her
foot spinning around one, two, three times -- if given the chance!
And thusly, of all things, Freeman actually slinks backwards as Sakura
takes the battle into her own hands with Megumi as opposed to someone else. He
appears to be attempting to gather his wits for the time being, at least long
enough to further gauge the pair of fighters currently engaged. But then, as
quickly as it was begun, he begins to run towards Sakura. His right arm reels
backwards, fingers splayed, as the entire arm flares with crimson energy.
There's a loud snarl uncharacteristic for Freeman's appearance before he
unleashes a driving impale of energy, attempting to strike Sakura dead in the
back with his assault. The force of it literally slides him along the ground,
tugged more by the motion then his own conscious effort to go forward at this
point.
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Megumi with Restoration Aura.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Megumi blocks Sakura's Shunpuu Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 0/-------/---====|
Megumi walks through her 'wall', which does a fair job of undoing the injuries
she'd taken. When Sakura vaults out to meet her, Megumi brings her arms up,
taking the kicks that way. "Shut up, and get out of the way!" She's /not/ in a
playful mood. In fact, she looks downright angry and tries to sidestep then dash
past Sakura. Her right hand clenches into a fist, more energy forming on it.
Right as Freeman tries to strike Sakura from behind, Megumi's rushing in to send
a straight punch at one of his ribs. If her hand connects, the energy wrapping
around it will blast out into Freeman. She recognizes him now, and she does not
like him at all.
COMBATSYS: Freeman successfully hits Sakura with Phobia.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/-------/=======|
As much as she's focusing on Megumi, Sakura has for a moment forgotten about the
fact that Mr. Giggles -- no, Freeman -- is in the fight too. She's got lots of
things going on in her fight, most of which was due to what happened -before-
the fight. At least she'd finished her cotton candy, though some more
perceptive types in the audience might notice a few flecks of blue-colored sugar
staining her lips. Whoops.
Where were we? Oh, right, Sakura's getting =nailed= in the back by Freeman,
slammed forward. The Ansatsuken prodigy actually makes for a funny sight for a
few audience members, arms and legs windmilling out to the side as she flies
forward, just before the ropes rubber-band backwards, saving her from a fate of
involuntary stage-diving. Landing unceremoniously on her behind, she vaults
back to her feet, breathing heavily from the sudden impact. If she weren't sure
it was Freeman before, she's sure =now=.
It's worth mentioning, though, that Sakura's not turning her attention onto
Freeman yet. Nope -- in her mind, Megumi seems to have forgotten this is a
free-for-all battle, so her plea to 'back off' is to go unheeded. Yep. So
rather than press with something =super= large, she instead thrusts a really big
fireball at Megumi. "HADOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Freeman blocks Megumi's Crimson Blast.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/-------/=======|
Megumi's assault is rather smoothly stopped by Freeman -- as her fist flies
towards him, the crazy clown strikes out with an open palm. He catches her hand,
and the explosion of chi flies through his fingers. But there's no apparent
discomfort beyond this. ...And for some reason, Sakura isn't assaulting Freeman.
He would of thought he earned a bit more hatred in the fight thus far, but he
doesn't appear to be bothored. In some manners, it's pleasing; Megumi is most
starkly out for his blood, and as such he won't again press on past the gouging
backstab thrown towards Sakura.
As such, Freeman attempts to wrench Megumi further towards the Hadouken,
trying to twist as hard as he can in a solid attempt at breaking her arm like a
twig. Given his raw strength and manic fervor, it'd not be a bad attempt. One
way or another he skips backwards, not wishing to stray near that particular
attack. His crimson afro bounces wildly on his clown-masked face, right wrist
fringe incinerated neatly. And for those who are further lacking in knowledge.
Freeman is not here. He's dressed as a sad clown, complete with white jumpsuit
with blue polkadots. Which might be absolutely more frightening in comparison.
All will fear Mr. Giggles.
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Sakura's Large Hadouken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Freeman successfully hits Megumi with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
More of an 'almost Shinkuu Hadouken.' Close enough to be worth worrying about,
though. Megumi hits the ground rolling, letting it just barely pass over her and
slowing her charge at Freeman, since she doesn't /stop/, but rolling is not as
fast as running, even if she does smoothly exit the roll into an upright stance
and continues rushing. It gives Freeman enough time to stop some of her attack
nonetheless. It seems to be two on one.
Megumi doesn't look like it's really distressing her, though. Freeman's attempt
to send her back into the Hadouken fails; she's gripped and arm-twisted, but
rolls with it to avoid an outright break and hits the ground to once again avoid
the shot from Sakura. Not too bad. "Spiral..." Megumi handsprings to her feet,
then launches into the sky, inverting to divebomb towards Freeman headfirst,
fist once again energy-wrapped as her body twirls, "Knuckle!" She's descending,
trying to plant her fist on his face.
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Freeman with Crimson Spiral Knuckle.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
More like a Hadouken malfunction -- Sakura still can't exactly see how this
particular fireball missed its mark so badly. The fact is, though, neither of
the two fighters is really pressing an attack on the Ansatsuken prodigy, which
means she can pretty much pick her target, right? And... well, considering the
circumstances, she =knows= she can't beat Megumi yet -- so she'd rather watch
the two duke it out from a distance. At least, until the two can separate and
give the girl a better shot.
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
Mr. Giggles slides backwards further, but doesn't manage to evade the
knuckle. It impacts him right in the face, the explosion of chi scorching off
his mask, the afro curling into black in a puff of smoke. His knees buckle
downwards, shoulders slouching, but he doesn't fall. Instead, despite the likely
vicious pain, both hands strike upwards in an attempt to grasp Megumi by the
shuolders roughly before she can retract from the close proximity -- in fact,
before she even touches the ground, while her hand is still imbedded in his
face. If such works, he'll then drive his forehead forward, still streaming with
grey smoke and droplets of fresh blood, attempting to drive his forehead against
her own face. Very, very hard. Now however, long threads of red hair and a
single deep brown eye can be seen upon his singed features. Ouch. "You seem
unhappy with me." Freeman purrs towards Megumi in a ragged tone, sounding both
amused and pained in equal measure.
COMBATSYS: Megumi counters Gore Fest from Freeman with Flood Reversal.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
Megumi is pretty good at grapples. Freeman (she knows full well who he is, even
if the SNF crew doesn't seem to) won't even get his hands on her. She lands on
her left hand, springs up, flips upright, and lands to meet his attempt to grab
her bare shoulders. Her hands thrust up to catch Freeman's at the wrists, then
she sets her fingers on his palms, and her thumbs on the back of his hands,
brings them in close to her. Then she twists them sideways, a conventional
Aikido wrist-lock move, made a little more damaging by the fact both hands are
subjected to it, crossing bones in the forearms together. She maintains the hold
for a few seconds, then lets go and leaps back into the actual fighting ring;
ever since she got launched out of it, she'd had trouble returning with the
fight being as it is.
And through this all... Sakura's still pretty much untouched after that hard
blow to the back. She seems like she's pretty much dealt with the pain, the
adrenaline high allowing her to ignore it for the time being. And... since she
sees the start of an opening, she starts preparing herself to take advantage of
it. She steps forward quietly, her sneakers providing a bit of an advantage due
to their, uh, sneakiness, closing in on Megumi, who just happens to be bringing
herself closer as she leaps into the ring. And when she does, she should be
greeted with a cerulean bloom of flame, named, predictably, "HADOOOOOUKEN!"
And thusly, Freeman is rather brutally grasped, and then hurled aside. He
simply stumbles away after a grunt, but Megumi would know that despite an
absolute perfect execution, pressure down to each joint in his arm that should
of snapped them, he bent. Didn't break. And scarcely looks sore. But despite a
lack of physical effect, something's changed in his demeanor. His stance manages
to spread, gaining some matter of mobility. His back is to the other fighters
now, hands reaching up almost oblivious to pull the mask off his head and allow
it to fall to the ground. A sort of dazed expression is given to the crowd,
forearm reaching to smear the sea of blue circles and white tide with his newly
flowing blood. And licking the excess off his lip. Eyes shift to blank, mouth
spreads to a grin, and a small laugh begins deep in the serial killer's throat.
Some people have wide eyes. Some security folks are now talking on two-way
radios. The jig is up -- and for Freeman... That makes the carnage absolutely
thrilling.
COMBATSYS: Freeman takes a breather.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Freeman 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Megumi with Large Hadouken.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Freeman 1/--=====/=======|=======\=====--\1 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/----===/=======|
Megumi lands in the ring just in time to be met with a perfectly timed, built-up
Hadouken...which launches her right back out of the ring and crashing into the
ground outside. Megumi slaps a palm against the ground, then gets up very
quickly. That shot hurt a great deal, but she's pushing herself on mostly
through anger. Freeman's backing off...good. Flicking her wrist to the side,
Megumi's hand is the starting point for a small line of red energy. It flows up
her arm, down her chest, hip, over her right leg...and ends at the bottom of her
shoe.
Kicking at the empty air between herself and Freeman, Megumi sends that thin ray
at him. It stops just a few inches short of Freeman, expanding into a wide,
spiralling cone with the tip pointed at Freeman. Screaming, Megumi charges at
the cone and jumps into the open end feet-first, as if dropkicking it. Once
she's in, the cone resumes its movement in an effort to smash right over
Freeman.
Aaaaand, since no one is attacking Sakura, she feels completely justified in
keeping her distance, and sending more pain towards her opponents. She =did=
wince as her Hadouken had slammed into Megumi, but... well. A little
conversation just before the fight goes a long way, after all. It might seem a
little cruel to keep pouring on the punishment towards her former teammate, but
the Ansatsuken prodigy has her reasons! Besides, she already knew it was
Freeman under that disguise, and Megumi's got him covered. Cupping her hands by
her side once more, she grits her teeth, taking calm, measured breaths as she
focuses on Megumi, getting a bead on the spiralling cone of energy and trying to
aim a Hadouken -- the size and form much more like that of her master's usual --
right through the back end of that cone. "HADOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Freeman blocks Megumi's Exceed Charge.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Freeman 1/=======/=======|=------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/----===/=======|
Slowly, Freeman twists himself towards Megumi, still looking to not be
quite with the current opponents. The end of her crimson line is observed,
including when it is thusly kicked towards the air. He appears to be more
fascinated then anything else, standing there stupidly within his clown costume
looking more like a mockery then any manner of disguise. This expands as does
the cone, but he finally realizes Megumi's approaching presence with the loud
scream. His hand had actually begun to reach out to touch it, but now it braces.
Megumi impacts the cone. The cone impacts Freeman's palm, the second time
he's defended in this manner.
And he's driven backwards, feet half-buckling beneath, striking one of the
corner posts hard enough to snap it in half and cause the entire section of
stage to collapse limply upon the ground. But then Megumi's force is fully
stolen, and he teeters rather then falling back, shoving her away with an almost
feeble manner. He actually looks remarkably unhurt; Jarred by the force of
impacting the rod, and his palm is horribly mangled and seeming to weep blood,
yet he merely focuses on Megumi with an uneven blink. And then a very slow grin,
as he begins to walk towards her unsteady.
The world appears to change, but just a bit. The entire area stinks of a
black, horrendous chi of still enormous power. The world darkens, a slight
shimmer begins to flow over his languid form, and both arms are held limp at his
sides with back fully straight.
"Time to finish what you ran away from last time, doll..." He sounds flat,
monotone, and he doesn't seem to quite be seeing Megumi. "Time for you... to
bleed..."
COMBATSYS: Freeman focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Freeman 1/=======/=======|=------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Sakura's Medium Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Freeman 1/=======/=======|=------\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/---====/=======|
Megumi is surprised. She expected to just smash right through Freeman, but it's
not happening. Eventually her cone fades away, dropping her to the ground.
That's when Sakura sends another Hadouken at her, and Megumi backflips to clear
it. "Bleed? Later. I'll bleed later all you want, I need to take care of this
first. Sakura..."
Megumi is looking back to the ring, yelling Sakura's name now rather than just
saying it. "Spiral..." She launches into the air, body twirling towards Sakura,
fist extended, "Knuckle!" By the look on her face, she's not treating this as a
friendly match; she's furious about something. Perhaps unreasonably so, with
just the context of the fight to go by.
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Sakura with Crimson Spiral Knuckle.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Freeman 1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/=======/=======|
Aha! Kasugano seems to have struck a nerve! Grinning as she backs away from
Megumi, hands held up, she chirps, "Oh, good! It was starting to feel too much
like training!" Apparently, Megumi's not taking well to the humor, though, from
the way she plows her fist forward, slamming it into the Ansatsuken prodigy's
sternum without so much of an attempt to defend -- it was just too quick to deal
with! "Gggyuh!" But, as she plummets backwards, she's already moving to cup
her hands together -- for she knows that, at least in one sense, trying to
out-muscle Megumi just ends in a lot more pain.
Which is why Sakura opts instead to reach her palms up towards Megumi's stomach
while she's close, foregoing the process of forming a true 'Hadouken' in
exchange for the surprise of having the bloom of chi form up close and personal
-- and hopefully past Megumi's guard. "Hadoooouken!"
"Heh. You sicken me. Weak. This time I don't want you to give a message to
Rock. This time, I only want you to die."
Freeman raises his injured arm, muscles trembling in the process. His
fingers widen with a distance grimace of pain, but not one to break him out of
his reverie of sheer focus. The serial killer very rarely achieves this, and
it's enormously fragile; But he can be dangerous to an uncanny level when he
does. He actually aims rather carefully, head slowly inclining, as Megumi leaps
about in the air. And then there's a loud crack as he fires off a sizzling shot
of energy once more, attempting again to capitalize on Sakura's abuse of
projectiles to intersect Megumi with his own. The shimmering remains, and the
world still darkens, but both warble at the expenditure. A less productive
distraction flickers over his features, half-veiled mouth turning into a
grimace. He's losing it. He just grasped it! He can't!
COMBATSYS: Megumi blocks Freeman's Overkill.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Freeman 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Sakura's Small Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Freeman 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/-======/=======|
Megumi finds herself struck from behind in mid-landing. She has to prop herself
up on one hand after striking Sakura, starts to flip upright...and that's when
Freeman's own loud, red shot hits her right in the back. She staggers, but dives
sideways and rolls to avoid Sakura's Hadouken. "Shut up!" She's pretty much
screaming at Sakura in response to that taunt/joke. Provoked? Quite. This time
it's not her hand that's energy-wrapped, it's her shoulder. Getting up from her
roll, she charges at Sakura, shoulder set to try and ram into Sakura's chest as
hard as she can. No refined technique, just brute force and bull-rushing
tactics.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Crimson Blast from Megumi with Small Hadouken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Freeman 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Megumi
[ \\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/-----==/=======|
Sakura's a bit concerned about the no-longer-disguised clown coming around to
take Megumi down, but... well, that =is= the whole point of the fight, after
all, right? She really can't tell why Megumi's so darn upset about it -- it's
not like the girl can't heal herself. Then again, maybe it is -- broken bones
and lacerations still take some recovery time and all. But even still, once
Megumi starts shouting back at her, Kasugano's smile fades. "Lighten up,
Megumi..." she says, frowning slightly at her sudden change of mood. To
Sakura's credit, she =does= back up a bit, but her hands are still kept out in
the defensive position -- like maybe she'd try to grab a knee and fling it out
of the way, ala Kanzuki-ryuu.
Except that she's not quite good enough to do that to a shoulder. Instead, she
turns to the side, taking the hit hard to her shoulder -- but leveraging the
proximity to her own advantage, attempting to do =now= what she couldn't do
before: plant the Hadouken in Megumi's midsection and let it bloom from there.
And this time, it =works= -- even though Sakura goes flying backwards from both
the blast and the shoulder-check afterwards. "Gnnh!" she cries, skidding across
the canvas on her derriere for a few dozen feet before stopping.
With an immense flux of concentration, Freeman manages to reclaim whatever
grasp upon his inner chi that he attained through his prior catalyst of sheer
pain and thirst for violence. The world darkens once more, his darkened chi far
more prevalent, as his other hand raises and slowly presses against the back of
his other. One eye narrows, although the aim wavers. It shifts from Sakura to
Megumi in their private little battle, Freeman apparently unsure of which is the
better target. As Megumi is impacted by the strike of the hadouken, it seems to
trigger instinct more then anything else.
And as such, Megumi is once more the merry target in his ranged sniping,
trying to drop her once and for all in this sudden blow. She's been focused upon
since Megumi struck at Freeman earlier on, as their priorities in the battle
appears to have jointly shifted.
But it's significantly stronger, an enormous eruption of energy that raises
from a simple crack to thundercracks. Two enormously condensed yet enormously
powerful points of chi, so black that it hurts to look directly upon them,
scream towards the Aikido practicioner with unerring precision.
"Boom..." is mumbled under his breath.
COMBATSYS: Freeman successfully hits Megumi with Double Overkill.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Freeman 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Megumi
[ \\\\\\ <|
Sakura 1/-----==/=======|
Megumi wasn't looking at Freeman's shots, however. As Sakura blasts her with the
Hadouken, she keeps going and lands her shoulder-ram, even if it did lose a lot
of momentum. She drops to her knees, clearly just about out of stamina. Then
Freeman's shots strike her in the head dead-on, sending her to the mat. For a
moment, she doesn't move. "Lighten up...calm down...settle down..." Megumi
really should stay down, muttering to herself like that.
She doesn't. Getting up, Megumi flicks her wrist off to the side again. She
winces as the energy-ray forms on her hand, as if it hurts to do that. Maybe it
does. But the line's going up her arm, then down her body and leg, ending on her
foot. Usually when she's beaten, Megumi takes one last strike to take down. She
usually doesn't exert herself into unconsciousness. This is going to be
different. Jumping onto a turnbuckle, she uses that as a launching point to go
even higher into the air. She's going above Sakura, and once she's overhead, the
ray shoots out off her foot.
It's telegraphed as hell. Megumi's spent several seconds setting this up. The
ray expands into a cone above Sakura's head, and then Megumi's descending
towards it, screaming the whole way down. Once she's in, the cone descends even
more. She's hoping to smash through Sakura. If she does, she'll keep going and
punch a hole through the ring. If she misses, that hole's simply going to be
bigger. Regardless of the outcome, Megumi is /out./ Completely unconscious, and
utterly spent.
COMBATSYS: Megumi can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Megumi's Exceed Charge.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Sakura
Wincing as Megumi sucks down the assault from Freeman, Sakura holds out her
hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa..." she says once Megumi starts climbing towards the
turnbuckle. "Just stay down already, it ain't gonna be good for you to--" But
it doesn't seem Megumi's in the 'listening to reason' mood this evening. And...
well. Sakura's lip curls up in disbelief at the wildly telegraphed attack --
and indeed, as Megumi rockets towards her, Sakura backflips out of the way. She
had an innate idea of where the ring was, so she knew the -general- area of
where the other corner turnbuckle was -- one of the few remaining -- and as her
feet come down, one of her soles manages to snag it. A quick teeter to one side
shifts her weight back to a balanced position -- and after a brief glance down
at Megumi to confirm her unconscious condition, she looks back up towards
Freeman. "Man, it looks like I'm fighting =two= psycho serial killers tonight,
what's up with that?"
Some audience members might laugh at the quip, even not understanding the
background behind it, but some of the closer guys are too busy looking up
Sakura's skirt, from her high vantage point on the turnbuckle.
"Looks like it's just you and me, big boy!" she shouts over the gaping hole in
the ring. And... well. Either she's run out of energy, or she's charging up
the main cannon. Fists clenched by her sides, Sakura summons forth gobs more
chi into her form, her skirt whipping about from the swirling wind that kicks up
in the process. Smirking faintly back at Freeman, she probably has no idea that
her local fanboy numbers have practically doubled with this one innocent
sequence of events.
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Freeman 0/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Sakura
That's not right. Megumi should be dead. He struck her straight in the
skull with the strongest concentration of chi he could manage. There's an
annoyed grimace. One that seems to fuel his current aggravation rather neatly,
as Freeman then whirls around to face Sakura. The darkness begins to grow once
more, black lightning crackling over the murderer's less then fearful frame of
white and blue with red frills. But the aura of this particular clown is
particularly more menacing, and he then flashes towards Sakura with a ripple of
motion. He flies through the air, twirling around and doing multiple sideways
flips as afterimages in dark grey trail behind before then unleashing a
double-onslaught of crimson chi right towards Sakura's chest. Only to fly past,
landing deftly upon a turnbuckle and crouching down much like the name of his
move. His back is to Sakura, and he appears to be deceptively open as per
usual...
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Freeman's Crow.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Freeman 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Oooh, pretty colors! Though, after that particularly long fight with Megumi,
Sakura's not in the =best= mood to just stand around and watch stuff. That, and
she just accumulated a whole lot of energy that would otherwise go to waste. As
it is, though, she decides to put it to good use -- the blue aura suffusing into
her arm and letting her take the blow there instead. Her padded handguards are
pretty useful for defense too -- you should probably invest in them if you
haven't already.
As it is, though, once Freeman turns his back to the girl, she looks back at
him. Any time a fighter turns their back on you, that means they're either
really darn stupid, or planning something. Kasugano's betting on the latter,
and as such, she holds her ground, extending one palm towards Freeman in
anticipation of what she just might need to do next. "Haaaaaa...."
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Freeman 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Slowly Freeman stands up, perched upon one of the remaining upright rods
holding up the last two corners of the area's ropes. He turns towards Sakura
thusly, looking to be far from fearful or intimidated. His shimmering continues,
before he seems to be looking past Sakura. The extension of the palm triggers an
explosion of motion. The world begins to darken even more, his chi boils in an
explosion outwards, and he then extends both palms towards the schoolgirl as he
unleashes every ounce that he has built up. There's a spark of crimson light,
that then balloons into an absolute explosion.
The stage below erupts in a flash of growing red, blowing away the
remaining turnbuckles and shattering the supports, causing the entirety to sink.
The flash doesn't completely dissipate upon reaching the crowd, a flash of
heated chi blasting many over who have remained too close to the fight; They are
not badly injured, but there's a milling panic. Security begins pressing
forward, seemingly intent on breaking up the fight, but are losing against the
tide. This fight has progressed beyond a simple bout; It's likely only absolute
luck that Freeman's assault was not aimed at Megumi -- she might of been killed
for the effort...
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Full Blast from Freeman with Small Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\ < > /// ]
Freeman 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sakura
And when her patience is rewarded by -not- being =anywhere= close to Freeman
when that happens... Well, Sakura smiles a bit. She leaps high into the air,
pivoting upsidedown in midair so that her red sneakers are high, while her hands
(and omg her skirt) remain low and aimed towards Freeman. She can sense the
wavefront sweeping both underneath her, and around her, but at the apex of her
inverted leap, it still hasn't quite crested -- through the crimson explosion,
she focuses just about all her energy into one all-or-nothing shot, aimed to
punch right =through= the explosion and needle Freeman. "HADOOOOOOUKEN!" The
tiny fireball that erupts from Sakura's outstretched palms is so fast that it
practically shoves the air out of the way =as= it travels, nailing Freeman as if
nothing else were in its path.
Which isn't to say that it helps Sakura's position much, though -- except for
the fact that the very recoil from such a high-velocity blast sends her back
upwards a bit, neatly tossed over the wave as it rides along beneath her,
annihilating most in its path. "Whoa...." she says, eventually righting herself
so that her feet aim downwards -- and adding =even= =more= to her fanboy legions
with her aerial skirt-flapping antics. She's focused on finishing this fight
properly, rather than her modesty, though!
Damn. Now Freeman can't steal Sakura's skirt.
In more important news, he just got impacted in the chest by a
hyper-velocity Hadouken that pierces through his inferno. He unleashed too much
power and not enough concentration; Such is one of his dozens of tactical errors
this battle, but he makes up with it with stubborn tenacity. It explodes against
his torso thusly, blasting him off the turnpike and out of the ring while
exposing his lean chest in a ripple of blue flame. But he manages to land upon a
crouch, much akin to a cat. His back pops multiple times as he arcs upwards,
tearing off the sleeves and neck-frill of his ridiculous costume as if abruptly
annoyed by it. "JUST DIE! WHY ARE YOU STUBBORN!"
This is shouted over the boil of the crowd, and Freeman then notices how
close he might be to something truly bad. Such as being beaten with SNK guard
batons and taken into custody. As such, it's condusive to finish this battle
quickly. Whirling around, Freeman bolts towards Sakura while leaping on the
crumpled wreck of a stage. Both hands arch backwards, before he unleashes a trio
of flashes; They are aimed towards what little remains of her clothing, but
apparently more out of coincidence then anything else. Apparently he doesn't
care for her modesty, either.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Vision of Death from Freeman with Sakura Strangle.
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\ <|
Freeman 0/-------/---====|
Alighting upon one of the fragments of the stage, Sakura turns towards Freeman
with a hungry grin in her eye. She'd just done a feat which she herself didn't
think possible, and yet she's still alive to brag about it! "Haha! How about
this, huh? Now I get to fight you on -my- terms!" Thrusting a V-for-victory
sign back at Freeman as he approaches, she grins smugly as she gives her reply:
"I'm just a bit tougher than I look, that's all!"
Oh, she's digging her own grave there. To her credit, she does parry aside most
of the damage from the trio of blows aimed her way, letting them slice up her
forearms instead of her uniform. Even though the shirt gets a few cuts to match
the charring from just a few seconds prior. ( Foo, and that was a fresh new
uniform too! ) But the whole objective of her rushing -towards- Freeman, rather
than running away, is for the weaselly girl to sneak in close, slipping around
Freeman's side and latching her arm around him from behind.
"Nngh..." she grumbles lightly, that last hit having done a bit more than she
thought -- but nevertheless she holds on tight, bravely attempting to squeeze
the last ounce of spirit from the serial-killer-turned-clown-and-back-again.
She groans with complaint at her ailing body, knowing that she has to keep
holding on, squeezing tightly until he passes out, any other blow she receives
doing seemingly little to dissuade her from that task...
The lack of direct contact is somewhat annoying to Freeman. Moreso given
he's being strangled from behind, eyes bulging and for a few moments clawing
ineffectively at her forearm guards. But just before he passes out, granting
Sakura a victory -- or a double knockout, which will probably end in him getting
sent to Death Row -- a vicious elbow is launched backwards. His limb contorts,
and he manages to strike a bone-crunching blow to Sakura, hard enough to knock
any sense of wind from her. The grip loosening, he grasps the strangling arm and
But Freeman is not done yet. He then proceeds to give Sakura many heavy
kicks, just about as hard as he can do, and looks ready to claw her head off in
his mad, violent lust for her to, well, die. But then he glances up. Guards are
on the stage. All around. Police coming. A sneeze will take Freeman out, who is
already starting to see in black. And thus, he does the one thing he can think
of.
He reaches down, attempting to yank off Sakura's pink scarf -- it will go
well with his yellow one -- and then bolt towards a corner. A flash of chi
strikes down one of the guards, and he begins to cut through the newly screaming
crowd that retreated. He actually manages to vanish within it despite the
attempts to run every which way; Confusing the beginning of his pursuit, and
causing him to get lost in a wonderland.
How a red-haired, blood-covered man in a tattered clown suit clutching a
pink scarf can do that is truly something of legends.
Gyeh. Sakura didn't expect Freeman to have -that- much fight left in him -- but
she's quickly proved wrong as she's flung over his shoulder, slammed into the
torn, busted-up mat... and then brutalized worse than a sleepy bargain hunter in
the midst of a department store on Black Friday. She's out after the second
hit, though... perhaps he just continues because he likes seeing the
schoolgirl's frame finally yielding to his aggressive wishes.
At least it's only the -scarf- he takes.
Not that the now-unconscious Kasugano has anything to say on the matter.
Log created by Kobun, and last modified on 06:28:29 05/06/2005.