SNF 2004.11 - Ralf and Sakura vs Krauser

Description: In this two-on-one fight against Krauser, Sakura learns the value of teamwork: it means someone else jumps to her rescue! (Winner: Krauser)


Howard Arena
   Cavernous and huge, Howard Arena is the epicenter of public display
within Southtown. A multi-billion dollar venture by Geese Howard, the arena
paid for itself within the first two years. The enormous arena is able to
seat hundreds of thousands for any variety of spectacle--the most common of
which being sports, concerts, and of course, martials arts competition. The
latter has made Howard Arena famous, as it hosts various tournaments and
exhibitions each year.

   There's only one primary arena, and every effort has been made to make it
impressive. The overall atmosphere of the arena is that of solemn magnitude.
Thousands of seats ring the main central stage, the front row seats dropping
to eyelevel of the flat stage. The stage sits in a large depression, with
enough space between it and the seats to allow for trainers, officials, and
other such people to run back and forth. These and exits in the stands lead
off to countless corridors for spectators and competitors to travel in and
out with ease. Naturally enough, these corridors are filled with vendors,
peddling everything from food to Ralf-style bandanas to authentic Mai
Shiranui thongs.

   The stage itself is a massive rectangular block of stone. Six-inch thick
flat slate tiles cover a much harder core of reinforced granite, giving the
stage the look of a weathered, timeless mountaintop. Stairs on opposite sides
provide a dignified way for the fighters to approach the center, the stairs
appearing to be carved directly into the rock. Here, some truly spectacular
battles are fought under the eyes of an entire city and, indeed, the world.


My god, this is something! Ralf seems to have stopped being such a lazy ass and
prepared for the event in advance for..what, the second, third time in a row? On
top of that, this is the third straight duke'emout the mercenary has had as the
main event, much to the delight of his increasing number of fans..and growing
number of naysayers, especially after the cheap win his team had over Ryu last
week. That's why this week, the Ikari is totally ready to get right in and go
toe to toe with his opponent, all up in his face and ready to take the big hits.

Turning around to face the people, he lifts both hands in tight fists, making as
much a spectacle of himself as any pro wrestler worth his salt would. His
bandana is already on his head again, laces triple-checked and gloves tightly
secured. His jacket still bears a couple of scorch marks, but it's still
perfectly functional. Good thing too, 'coz he just doesn't know what he's in for
against the big purple-haired wonder tonight.

Ralf's not the only one psyched up for this fight.  Fresh from a late-night
battle with a certain Rindoukan prodigy, Sakura Kasugano is close on Ralf's
heels. Not because she's any less eager to be up on stage at the Howard Arena,
but because she'd rather he take all the big hits from the purple guy when the
fight comes.  For her own part though, she jogs in place, getting her energy
level up for the fight.  Headband in her hands as she approaches Ralf's spot,
she waits until she's in the ring to tie it onto her head, pulling the knot snug
with a brief moment of solemnitude before turning back to the crowd, flashing
her fingers in V-for-peace signs at the audience!  Team battle -- it's what's
for dinner!

    And then...

    The classical is hooked up to the stadium's speaker system this time. Then
again, this /was/ Krauser.

    Accompanied by what seems to be a larger portion of his orchestra than his
usual two violen-toting minions, the imposing head of Strolheim enters without
making even a cusory notice of the crowd. Striding directly towards the ring,
cape swirling around him, Krauser arrives with nothing to say except: "Good
luck. You'll need it."

    Not the most sociable fellow.

    In one practiced motion, the noble shrugs off his ceremonial armor, leaving
him bare-chested and minus his cape. Forgoing prefight warmups like cracking his
knuckles, he stands impassive.

COMBATSYS: Ralf has started a fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Krauser has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ralf             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Krauser
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/-------|

What.. Ralf, strip down? ..Why, what a wonderful idea! It's not often that Ralf
finds someone actually BIGGER than him, and with more mass to boot. It's..it's
just not right! "Hah.. You just watch, you royal ass!" With a wide, shit-eating
grin, the Ikari shrugs his shoulders back, letting the heavy jacket slide down
off his arms. With a half-turn, he throws it into the crowd, much to the delight
of some fans that just..ouch. They just stomp all over each other for it! Then
comes the shirt, peeled off and tossed just outside of the ring for later,
bearing his badass physique (though, with a small number of scars across the
back and front) for all to see. ..While not as obscenely huge as the German,
he's nothing to scoff at!

Fist clench as Ralf cranes his neck in a short circle, immediately breaking out
in a fast dash toward the bigger man, his wavy bangs flowing on either side of
his head in his haste. One you're in the ring, you're ready! That's why Ralf has
no concerns as he tries to slide just a foot /past/ Krauser, arms already
reaching out for the grab and, if successful, subsequent skyward launch.

Again with the violins!  Sakura really should have expected it when she heard
she'd be fighting the eccentric champion -- on -three- separate occasions the
past week, she'd run into him, and the micro-orchestra was present all three
times.  So really... she's already started to get used to it.  Add to that the
fact that Sakura's been training this week with a soundtrack of her own, rather
than just practicing her moves as rote.  So the classical isn't as distracting
as it could have been, say, -last- week.

Sakura finds it a bit hard to keep from smiling as Ralf flings taunts at Krauser
-- she's not the one earning his ire.  If anything, she should be on his good
side, right?  -Right?-    ...  Though really, she's finding that she's seeing
more of her mercenary teammate than she really wanted to tonight, covering her
eyes -- more to draw laughs from the crowd than anything else though.  "Oh...
NOOO! The testosterone!  It's unbearable!  I can't take any more!"  Oh, the
melodrama.  She takes a few steps back, quietly biding her time as Ralf launches
into an attack against the big man.  For her part?   She'll be standing over
here, fists clenched as she surrounds herself in a spiral of blue flames,
cautiously gauging the big German.  She'd watched him fight just earlier this
week, so she does have -that- as an advantage.

COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ralf             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Krauser
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Krauser fails to counter Super Argentine Backbreaker from Ralf with
Atemi Nage.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Ralf             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0          Krauser
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/---====|

Laughs, mockery, whatever.. The fact is, Ralf got results! Though his opponent
is a bit heavier than he expected, his wrestling experience apparently wins out
against the big guy's attempt to throw him off. Digging his heels in with a
heavy grunt, Ralf actually manages to LIFT Krauser, though not as far up as he
can chuck most people. With hands raised to catch him (right on top of his head,
mind you), he's ready to fling the purple-haired warrior to the ground like so
much refuse. Again, both fists lift up, inciting the cheering members of the
crowd.

    Krauser watches Ralf come - his body tenses, he gets ready and... he
misjudges exactly what his foe was trying to do. Reaching to grab for the
smaller combatant, the noble finds himself suddenly outmanuevered and thrown to
the ground.

    Grunting, he stands, brushing hair out of his eyes and reaching a fighting
stance.

    And then he grins a little bit more feral than good nature would allow.

Heaving a short puff of air after the effort of throwing Krauser around, Ralf's
arms drop to his front, wiping the..he's not sure what it is off of his hands.
Might be sweat, might be body oil that...oh god. No, he'll not think of what the
regal guy rolls around in before fighting. Turning quickly to his left, he dips
his right shoulder and lets his right fist hang down, but clenched tightly
nonetheless. The momentum is put to good use, his left shoulder now dipping to
give his overhand punch that much more power, knowing he's gonna have to land
some big stuff to topple this mountain. Even so, there are tactics at play. The
more Ralf stays up in his face, the more of an immediate threat he ties to make
himself, the more room Sakura will have to do her thing. At least..that's the
plan.

Sakura's more than happy that Ralf's able to upend Krauser as planned -- more
damage that she doesn't have to deal!  She throws up a fist after the blow,
grinning brightly.  "Yeah!  Nice one, Ralf!" she shouts, careful not to taunt
the Happy Fun Krauser any more than she needs to, preferring to stay on his good
side if she can manage.  Though, from the looks of that grin... eh.  Whatever!
It'd be silly to stay in this one spot though, and as Ralf's still acting as the
meat shield from this angle, she decides to try and circle around for a better
vantage point.  With Ralf at 12-o-clock, she takes the 2-o-clock position,
planting her feet, and focusing intently on creating the bestest little fireball
that could, pumping droplet after droplet of ethereal blue energy into the
burgeoning fireball.  It seems ridiculous that a tiny little schoolgirl could
create anything the size of a rather large truck tire, but that's exactly she
does!  She considers warning Ralf, but figures that the attack should be its own
warning: "HADOOOUUUKEN!"  Shoving her fists forward, she sends the well-formed
orb of energy hurtling across at Krauser.  It's not moving all that fast -- but
boy howdy will it hurt if he can't manage to avoid it.  Or Ralf, for that
matter, if he can't get out of the way in time.

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Ralf's Strong Punch.
COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Large Hadouken.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Ralf             0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0          Krauser
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|

    Krauser remains rooted to the spot, raising one arm to simply ward away
Ralf's blow with his forearm. Luckily he's not focused entirely on Ralf - the
ball of energy making its (eventual) way towards him is met much the same way.
It's easier not to give up ground.
    With a sharp intake of breath, the head of Strolheim /backflips/ away from
Ralf, skids to a halt on the ground and... charges? Yes, and with another mighty
leap that doesn't quite match his size, Krauser takes to the air and brings both
feet crashing down towards Ralf.

COMBATSYS: Ralf blocks Krauser's Kaiser Kick.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Ralf             0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0          Krauser
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|

And so it is that Ralf's mighty, mighty blow pings off of the "kaiser's" guard
like so much ammo from a pea shooter! Color him suitably impressed as the big
man gives no ground at all, even able to halt Sakura's big mess of blue-colored
pain with little effort. Pulling his right hand back, the merc flexes it a
couple of times to get the distant stinging sensation out of it, his left arm
raised and turned in front of his body defensively. As an example of size versus
speed, he himself is caught off-guard only for a moment with the sheer precision
of the retaliation, both arms now lifted as he moves TOWARD the big guy. Ralf's
meaty arms catch the brunt of the blow under the calves, rather than the
faster-moving pair of destructive force that is Krauser's feet.

Even so, Ralf is toppled over, landing with a roll and finally righting himself
in a low crouch. Wasting no time in bounding back, his strong legs push his body
up and forward, shoving his booted feet out as his body spins lengthwise, along
with a loud, excited, "RALFU KICK!"

Sakura takes a deep breath after her fireball thuds into Krauser's iron
defenses.  Or his, er, fleshy guard.  Whatever.  She's taking advice from 'that
man' to heart though, disregarding the failure to deal damage, calmly focusing
instead upon the sounds of the orchestra playing, her head slowly bobbing with
light correlation to the music.  It's not the drum-beat she'd asked for in her
match with Rock, but she has to go past that, sense the underlying rhythm of the
fight.  She's little more than an aggressive spectator at this point, but to
waste this valuable preparatory time would be foolish -- she uses it as a
meditative opportunity.  She does draw a bit closer, though she still keeps her
distance, walking a bit more to the side.  Once more, her hands pull to her
side, and once more she draws forth the mystical blue flames she'd cloned out of
a certain Ansatsuken champion's fighter -- and once more she fires off at the
'kaiser'.  Though this time, it's just a -bit- slower, in order to give Ralf
more opportunity to push himself out of the way afterward. n.n

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Ralf's Ralf Kick.
COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Large Hadouken.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Ralf             0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0          Krauser
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/-======|

    Rebounding off Ralf, Krauser extracts himself from the immediate melee and
sends a burning glare Sakura's way. He had to take care of her right now -
rather than fighting one opponent at a time, why not bring the fight to both?

    Throwing his shoulder into Ralf's blow rather than take the hit where it
might hurt more, the nobleman lashes out with his hand to absorb the shock of
the second hadouken. While these hits individually were not very damaging, a
constant barrage would end in a loss.

    Not letting Ralf take the time to gather his bearings, Krauser slips behind
him and makes a grab for the smaller fighter. Not bothering to stop his assault
whether he succeeds or fails, the kaiser pushes off the ground with his powerful
legs and backflips /all the way across the arena/, falling like a comet straight
towards Sakura. If Ralf is along for the ride, he'll find his head being used as
a battering ram for the ground or his teammate, whatever comes first.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Ralf with Kaiser Suplex.
COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Sakura with Kaiser Suplex.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Ralf             1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

The feeling of Ralf's boots colliding with Krauser's solid mass is reassuring at
first. He can't immediately see the impact, but it soon becomes apparent that
he's just kind of pinging off of the guy's incredible defense. In fact, he's
already trying to twist so he lands on his feet when he's grabbed! Arms
flailing, he gets pulled along for the ride, made into a makeshift weapon
against his own teammate! How evil! There's not much he can do except for brace
for impact, and when he's let go, all he does is kind of roll off to the side,
taking a moment to collect his wits. He would have little stars or peeps flying
circles around his head until then, if he were of Capcom!

COMBATSYS: Ralf focuses on his next action.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Ralf             1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

Okay, it's one thing when a man backflips.  Sure, it's not the most masculine
thing to do, but there's people who get paid millions of dollars to do it in the
Olympics, and that's cool too.  Point being, the -last- thing Sakura expected
Krauser to do would be to not only backflip at -her-, but take Ralf along for
the ride!  She was all set on getting a third Hadouken ready, but when this
comes along -- well, -that- just shot her concentration all to hell.  There's
just enough time for her to mouth, "OH C-" before Ralf's thick head plows right
into hers.  The resultant 'KLONK' is heard round the arena, having slipped in
through the lilting music of the orchestra.   Head swimming from the attack, she
catches a brief glance of Ralf rolling to thhe side -- her eyes screwing shut as
she lets her instincts do the walking.  Or the punching, in this case, as she
whips her leg around to sock Krauser with the full momentum of her 98-pound
frame.  Not the best thing to do when she's already -dizzy-, perhaps, but she'll
burn that bridge when she comes to it.

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Strong Kick.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Ralf             1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

    Out of the two, Sakura was simply the lesser threat. He'd seen her fight
Rock, and though the girl had made a valiant effort, she simply didn't match up.
The fact that there were two combatants made her more of a presence. Krauser
could say without ego that his instincts were sharper than most people's,
especially on the field of battle. He could tell that Ralf was nearer to
collapse. Better to eliminate one than to fight two.

    Once again using his shoulder to aggressively parry, Wolfgang dimisses
Sakura with a low growl - unbefitting of a nobleman but, frankly, perfect for a
Krauser - and promptly spins on his heel to face Ralf. Using his momentum as an
advantage, the so-called Dark Kaiser brings his knee up for the attack.

    And, with his height, Ralf's already abused head is the perfect target.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Ralf with Knee Smasher.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ralf             1/-======/=======|=======\====---\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

If Ralf weren't nearer to collapse before, well..christ, he sure the hell is
now. He had JUST gotten back up, shaking the cobwebs from his head, attempting
to focus his blurred vision. In his sight is..the hell is that? He realizes all
too late that Krauser just came at him with a WORLD OF PAIN. While his arms lift
up to try and block the attack, it's just too late. The mercenary's body is
lifted violently up and back, sailing in a faint arc before crashing back into
the ground on his shoulders. From the smattering of blood on the kaiser's knee,
you can be damn sure that it hurt like hell. Despite that, Ralf manages to roll
over, pushing himself up to his feet to the surprise of many a spectator. He
stays hunched over, his right arm dangling limply between his knees, though his
right hand is balled up into a tight fist. With a few heavy breaths, he actually
takes his nose in his left hand, and with a harsh twist and sickening crunch and
subsequent pained yell, re-sets the broken protrusion. ..Can you see the
audience grimacing?

Shaking his head some more, trying to lift the haze from his vision, the Ikari's
right fist tenses up. A few blinks gives him a general idea of where his
opponent is and, running mostly on autopolite and with a deep, throaty, feral
yell, he ..stumbles at first, then continues in a mad dash, his right arm
pulling back just before it swings forward in the mother of all vicious
haymakers, putting enough power behind the swing to cause the merc to fully spin
around, whether he hits or misses.

Oh, he's -growling- now.  Should Sakura be calling the animal patrol?  Shivering
a bit, she withers and withdraws in a slow regaining of her senses, slapping her
cheeks lightly in an attempt to reaccustom herself to the fight.  Focus on the
music, focus, she tells herself.  As Krauser just walks off and leaves her
though, she narrows her eyes -- "Oh, come ON, bigshot!  Where you goin'?!"  And
then she blinks for a moment, and remembers she's in a fight, and she's supposed
to be keeping her distance.  "Right... I gotcha..." she notes, eyes narrowing to
slits as her hands clap together at her side.  Spreading her palms, an arc of
electricity crackles between them -- a wee bit different from the last attack,
to say the least.  "Shinkuuu----"  Ralf should know the warning well, at any
rate.  But rather than actually -throw- the thing, she just sits there, biding
her time... letting it grow even -larger- with a grin.  

COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ralf             0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Ralf's Galactica Phantom.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Ralf             0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

    The amount of strength that Ralf puts behind that single blow is mind
staggering, for a fighter of his level. The sheer power that strikes would
topple anyone.

    Except for Krauser.

    When the proverbial smoke clears, the Dark Kaiser remains rooted to the
stop, standing tall, face as calm as a statue's. His right arm remains extended,
palm outwards. The only indication that Ralf struck is the discoloration evident
on the nobleman's hand. That would leave a bruise.

    Brushing his hair out of his eyes, Wolfgang seems to stand even taller,
taking several wary steps backwards. And with a sudden gust of wind, brilliant
purple-white flames burst into existance around him. He lifts his other hand, as
if conducting an orchestra, an the aura surrounding him disappears in a flash,
only to give way to a huge spark of energy centered between the kaiser's
outstretched hands.

    "Kaaaaiser..."

    The presence is not so much intimidating as confusing - could such a
powerfully built, physically aggressive man be a titan at controlling chi as
well? Judging from the way the wind suddenly shifts from going /away/ from
Krauser to flowing /towards/ him, the answer is a definate 'yes'.

    Then, a deathly calm. The spark slows its seemingly random mini-explosions,
looking like a nearly frozen picture of some star. And then: "...WAVE!"

    To put it simply, that star goes supernova. It explodes outwards,
blossoming into a giant wall of energy that rises up like a tsunami over the
arena, rushing towards Sakura and Ralf with increasing speed and power.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Ralf with Kaiser Wave.
[                                < >  //////////////                ]
Ralf             1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

- Transferring Kaiser Wave to Ralf.
COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Ralf with Kaiser Wave.
[                                < >  //////////////                ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

Well, this..this is it, isn't it? For all of Ralf's bravado, all of his claims
of what a god-awful tough son of a bitch he is, every time he said he could
stand a nuke..it's time to finally make good on all of that trash talk!
Immediately after the Ikari come around after the unfortunately blocked
haymaker, he's already got his fist up again, ready to go for a second strike.

...That is, until the German nobleman literally lights up in a brilliant violet
display. His strike is held back, his eyes wide, though still teary from the
sharp pain of resetting the broken nose, franticly hopping backwards out of the
big man's immediate reach. "You have GOT to be shitting me!"

Certainly no master with chi, he's at least had the experience in this dumpy
little town to be visibly intimidated..no, downright threatened by the purple
swell. Even so, he's still thinking of his team; his experience in the field is
too deeply ingrained to not be. It's a few short strides to get between Krauser
and Sakura, planting his foot down hard as he faces the German monster, hunched
over as the overabundance of chi begins the deadly crescendo.

...Shoulda kept his jacket on, shouldn't he have? Despite lifted arms for a
crossed guard, the mercenary's body is slashed from head to toe by the
relentless attack, his body eventually lifted with the sheer chaotic force of
it. If he can't take something like this, how the hell is Sakura going to fare?
His arms open as he's blasted toward her, literally tackling her (and hopefully
not eating the Shinkuu hadouken in the face, oh please oh please) and attempting
to shield her from the horrible, horrible wave. The merc eventually comes to the
ground, but not before being slammed into the thick wall around the ring itself,
leaving a nice dent in it and assuredly more than a few fractured ribs in his
own body.

COMBATSYS: Ralf takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Ralf has reached second wind!

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|
[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|

With a calm heart, Sakura allows a faint smirk, grounding her feet broadly upon
the arena floor as the burgeoning cerulean sphere grows larger and larger.
Crackling with electricity, surging to the implied beat of the orchestra,
Sakura's creating her own flawless symphony in light and power -- and it's all
thanks to Krauser's willing musical accompaniment. ... That's -until- Krauser
unleashes his devastating Kaiser wave, anyway, at which point Sakura's eyes
widen into saucers.  How did she miss that?  How did she not see that he was
lining her and Ralf up into one neat firing arc?  How could she let herself be
so sloppy?  How... come Ralf is COMING STRAIGHT FOR HER?!  "W...what are you
doing?!" she cries, lobbing the miniature sun up into the air, letting Ralf
crash into her, thrown backwards both from the impact and the mercenary's
tackle.  "Get... OFF me!!" she shouts, pushing him off her as she flies, freeing
himself from the entanglement just before he crashes into the wall.  Rolling
back to her feet, she dusts herself off, glancing back to Ralf.  "... Oh
-snap-."  she comments, before turning her attention back to Krauser.  In the
-meantime-, the suction of her nearly-complete Shinkuu Hadouken had drawn the
remnants of the Kaiser Wave that weren't absorbed by Ralf's sacrifice, the two
countering energies cancelling out into a flash of light.  "You... killed
him..." she slowly mouths, staring at Krauser.  "I can't believe it, you KILLED
HIM!"  Mouth a rictus of rage, she's already charging at Krauser, though, her
hands are glowing a brilliant blue, in an attempt to rechannel what's left of
her potential into another blast -- the second time, it's a bit more chaotic,
but a hell of a lot quicker in her rage.  "You killed Pooky!" she cries, corner
of her mouth pulling into a smirk as she fires off the blazing Shinkuu Hadouken,
Mk-II at Krauser.  "HADOUUUUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0          Krauser
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/-----==|

    Krauser pants once, then regains his composure, showing hints of a frown.
Not at Ralf's hard landing - but at the fact that Sakura is still on her feet
and launching an attack. With nothing else to do, he brings his arms up to slow
the incoming blast, grunting at the force that threatens to bowl him over. When
the Shinkuu Hadouken is just a fading memory, the nobleman has been driven back
several feet, but is still standing.

    Visibly bruised and worn, he refuses to show any signs of fatigue, and
keeps his face a mask of neutrality. There was no more time for games, /now/ is
the time to stop this girl from moving. Breaking into a run, he closes the
distance with speed not suitable to his impressive height. Halfway, the head of
Strolheim tenses and then /leaps/ spinning in mid air to bring his foot
downwards in a powerful blow.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Krauser's Leg Tomahawk.
[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0          Krauser
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/---====|

It takes a little bit, but Poo--er..Ralf isn't quite dead, not like Sakura's
fireball so dear that she NAMED it. ..Really, what would Ryu think of that? At
first, it's a twist of his body, but the sharp jolts of pain up his back stop
that action cold. So there he lies, on his side with Sakura right in front of
him (and no, he's not looking up her..you know, nevermind) and Krauser coming in
on the offensive. Try as he might, he can't do much but inch over like a
pathetic little worm. As soon as the giant lands, Ralf can at least snap his
'top' leg out for a swift kick, hoping to topple him at last, if nothing else.
Even that takes a tremendous amount of effort however, and the following loud
(but utterly manly) yell of pain marks the end of even the Ikari warrior's
willpower. If he tries any harder, he's sure to puncture a lung, or at worse,
both!

It's not that Sakura's ungrateful for Ralf's assistance -- just that a certain
someone warned her to keep her head in the fight, rather than letting
sentimentality drag her down, to win -- if not at all costs, rather for the ones
that matter.  Ralf's tough enough to take the blast, even if it -was- two
portions of it -- and besides, she was a little unsettled by the whole exchange.
She's been practically unscathed throughout this whole fight, thanks to Ralf --
and she'll be sure to buy him a drink for it later!  (A cheap drink.)  Sure,
some could question why she wasted effort showboating rather than, y'know,
-thanking- the mercenary who saved her from frothy Kaiser Wave doom, but the
charge was something she needed to capitalize on.  Even if it didn't hurt the
big man much.

When said big man comes flying at her though, Kasugano finds herself a bit
closer than she wants to be.
 
Throwing up her forearms in a hasty block, she absorbs the brunt of Krauser's
blow, arms knocked downward into a squat from the sheer force, complaining with
a muffled, "Nnf!"  But she takes the light delay as an opportunity to out of the
way of the falling Krauser -- but it's not long before her own foot snaps back
up at Krauser's chin, throwing her right hand down to counterbalance herself,
hoping that her high kick acts in concert with Ralf's last-ditch move to knock
the big man down a notch.

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Ralf's Heavy Kick.
COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Strong Kick.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Ralf             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0          Krauser
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Ralf has left the fight here.
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Sakura           0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0          Krauser

    They were like cockroaches! Krauser admired their drive to succeed, but at
the same time, he had taken a serious beating while trying to deal with both the
attackers. The sooner this was over, the better. Noticing at the last moment
Ralf's movement, the nobleman throws his weight onto the leg nearest to his
prone foe, negating any hopes of toppling him. In the same motion, he leans
forward, allowing the kick to slam into his chest rather than reach his face.

    Thankfully, Ralf seemed to be out for good, this time. Turning his
now-burning gaze to the last woman standing, Krauser moves very quickly and very
efficiently.

    What does he do? He extends both hands, one on the right side of Sakura,
the other on the left. This by itself is somewhat threatening, but the alert
level steps up several leaps and bounds when /fire/ engulfs the kaiser's hands
and shoots inwards, right towards Kasugano.

    The double dose of flaming doom speaks for itself.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Sakura with Double Blitz Ball.
- Power hit! -

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Sakura           1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0          Krauser

Cockroaches that jump up and BITE you with those big bloody fangs and spiky
wings!  Man, don'tcha just -hate- those?  Sakura doesn't fancy herself as an
insect much, but if she did, it'd be more like a mosquito, or at best, a
hornet... that can fling fireballs.  Yeah.  Kasugano =tries= to angle herself
back out of the way of those twin terrors, but a close-range fireball is just
-way- too much for the schoolgirl to deal with -- not like she even -expected-
them, after the massive expenditure of energy that levelled her partner.  The
energy sears holes into her pretty white uniform, scorching her skin to the
vocal accompaniment of her scream -- quite a contrast from the orchestra's
composition, to be sure.  Knocked back by the fiery blast, Sakura hunches over,
tapping the ground with two fingers before pushing back to her feet.  Moderately
toasted, she snaps back into her usual fighting stance -- one fist leading, one
fist by her neck -- as she renews her focus upon Krauser.  "I don't s'pose I get
any drums this time, huh?" she notes, only a thin smile across her lips --
hardly the fun-loving schoolgirl from her last fight, she's -determined- now,
warily sidestepping around while keeping her chestnut eyes locked on Krauser.

COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Sakura           1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0          Krauser

    Krauser looms over Sakura, somewhat surprised that she's not attacking.
Maybe he had underestimated her, maybe the girl was capable of keeping a cool
head in a fight. He snaps back a reply in a low, measured tone, "No."

    So much for dialogue.

    Whatever his foe is planning, the head of Strolheim does not want her to be
at the top of her game. Thusly, when the fire begins to wink out, his right hand
renews in its intensity while the left returns to normal. Hefting the rapidly
growing ball of fiery chi, he hurls it towards Sakura much like Zeus might hurl
a thunderbolt at an offending mortal.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Sakura with Blitz Ball.
[                         \\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Sakura           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1          Krauser

Sakura really ought to have expected that.  Krauser is remarkably fast for
someone his size , after all, and even though she has her eyes trained on him,
that doesn't mean she's quick enough to get out of the way.  There's a definite
surge in the schoolgirl as she -tries- though, half-hopping to the side right
before the fiery inferno slams into her, torching the left sleeve right off her
uniform to reveal the thin application of bandages underneath -- remnants of her
fight with Rock Howard.  Not that it seems to affect her much -now- anyway --
for even as the flames wither into nothingness, marring the girl's tender skin,
she still has the will to fight.  And doesn't seem concerned -- the rest of her
uniform's holding up, after all.  The Blitz Ball only caused a detour in her
path -- she rushes forward with a flare of blue, crouching low to unload a
potent backlog of her chi into slamming her feet into his shins.  "Here we go!"
Krauser might not have budged under Ralf's kicks, but a rotating, chi-amplified
barrage might do the trick!   ... Though... from the looks of it, that chi is
the only thing pushing the spinning schoolgirl forward, and might be the only
thing keeping her -awake- right now...

COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
[                         \\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1          Krauser

COMBATSYS: Krauser blocks Sakura's Haru Ichiban.
[                         \\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1          Krauser

    Krauser remains a monolith, seeming to be almost /disinterest/ as Sakura
recovers from his attacks and comes spinning towards him. He's far from it, of
course, and puts his weight onto his leading leg to lessen the impact. The
attack drives home and...

    ...something unexpected happens. The German /staggers./

    Regaining his footing and immediately extracting himself from the situation
by leaping backwards, Krauser looks somewhat incredulous as Sakura somehow
/remains conscious./ He finds the words: "...you have spirit."

    But that wasn't enough, was it? Sometimes you needed more than just a
fighting spirit. Summoning up another store of energy, the fighter raises his
hands towards the sky. For a beat, there's nothing... and then the wind returns.
Another Kaiser Wave? No. Something else, less threatening - but that was
relative, wasn't it? The air becomes vaguely solid as it spins into a coalesced
shape, a cyclone that rises up from the floor and ends up being taller than
Krauser himself.

    With a powerful, commanding gesture, the chi rushes forth for the kill.

COMBATSYS: Krauser successfully hits Sakura with Giant Cyclone.

[                                < >  ///                           ]
Sakura           1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0          Krauser

That tends to be a common compliment for the young schoolgirl.  She may be
unrefined, and her choices in battle may not be the best, but her sheer
-potential- is the force to be reckoned with.   But... again, spirit doesn't
always translate into success, especially not against someone as powerful as
Krauser.  Her small frame still suffused with the faint blue glow as she
withdraws from the German, Kasugano rises back to her feet, still hunching low
like a boxer.  "You noticed?" she answers, backpedaling to what she -thinks- is
a safe distance.  Her narrowed eyes widen a bit as she finds that distance too
small, though, the winds kicked up by her earlier "Pooky" paling in comparison
to the rushing cyclone before her.  Drawn into the biting wind, Sakura flails
about like a rag doll in a washing machine, the faint blue glow starting to fade
in the process.  She's still lit on fire, but from the way she's flailing about
-- she can't possibly have any more tricks up her burnt-up sleeves.

Or -can- she?  Propelled into the air by the vortex of wind, Sakura finds a
unique opportunity -- a completely different viewpoint of the situation. For
once, she's flung over -top- of Krauser's head.  "-- is that a -bald- spot?" the
still-spinning schoolgirl asks before her better sensibilities kick in.  Though
it's a thought that's completely tangential to what she -wanted- to do.  That
being -- throwing out her leg to slow her spin, accidentally flinging her shoe
at Krauser's face in the process!  But it's more to set her up for the followup
-- bending at the knees as she lands, she then sharply reverses her momentum,
snapping out first with a left elbow.  Instead of delivering three uppercuts as
she might normally -- she focuses all her bountiful spirit into that one solid
hit to fell the mighty German oak, rising back sharply with an onrush of what
might be the very last of the schoolgirl's reserve: "SHOOOOOOOURYUUUUKEN!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has left the fight here.

                                  >  ///                           ]
                                 |==-----\-------\0          Krauser

COMBATSYS: Krauser dodges Sakura's Midare Zakura.

                                  >  ///                           ]
                                 |==-----\-------\0          Krauser

    It all comes down to this. Through the haze, Krauser can see Sakura lunge
for him. For a second, he wonders if he had sunk so low, left his training for
so long, that he would be beat by these two.

    No. Father didn't die for a weakling, did he?

    With a grunt of effort, the tall noble just... leans back. Nothing fancy,
nothing special, he just moves backwards and lets the momentum of the
schoolgirl's uppercut carry her where it may.

    Krauser raises one fist into the air, signalling his triumph, while
watching both Ralf and Sakura where they landed.

COMBATSYS: Krauser has ended the fight here.

Sakura's brow wrinkles as that uppercut sails harmlessly past Krauser, her body
propelling itself for one final leap.  It... should have hit.  The only slow
part of her approach was the falling -- but the chi-boosted lunge, the ferocity
-- it was everything she -had-, and yet it was still yet the grand total of
damage dealt to the German noble just wasn't enough.  Incredulously, she looks
back down at Krauser, once much catching sight of the far-from-bald crown she'd
just made fun of, and ... laughs.  "Heh... I tried..."  she notes in mid-air,
just before landing down.  All said, it was a good landing, as gravity brings
her to one knee, her palms flattening against the ground to steady herself.
It's just that she doesn't stand up, or even -look- up, afterwards, panting
heavily, closing her eyes.  She has the -drive- to go on, but no more energy...
that spirit's been expended.  And as such, she really doesn't have much choice
but to uncurl and flop over, splaying herself out on the arena floor, eyes open
as she looks up into the light.  "... thanks for the fight..."

    Krauser nods slowly, taking a few careful steps towars Sakura, yet giving
her enough room to stand when she makes the attempt to.

    Certainly, he was disappointed in himself. He had allowed these two
fighters to do more damage to him than they should. Still, he could not fault
them for trying. Not quite Strolheim worthy, however.

    "It was most entertaining."

Medic!  It's right about then that the EMTs mobilize into action, sweeping Ralf
and Sakura onto gurney's with the utmost of efficiency.  Kasugano twiddles her
fingers back to Krauser as she's loaded up -- grateful that she'd gotten to
-fight- the man with the violins before the week had ended, at least.  Strolheim
worthy or not, Sakura got a compliment out of the man, and that's all one can
really ask.

Log created by Kobun, and last modified on 10:55:19 05/06/2005.