Description: A duel between dark flame wielders, in which Kain apparently has the advantage. Iori does, however, try to even things up at the end with a low blow. (Winner: Kain)
The possibility that Iori and Kain had spoken of yesterday has now been made a reality. Their last confrontation left a bit of a doubt in the minds of both men as to the -true- power of the other, primarily because a great deal of attention was being focused upon a third. That's no longer an issue.
The announcer goes into some hyped-up babble vaguely related to the above in his pre-fight warmup schpiel. Gotta get the audience fired up somehow as the fighters get ready. Mind, there's not a whole lot to Iori's preparations -- just put on a trenchcoat and stride out into the ring. He doesn't look mad, or angry... just neutral, and resigned to this fate. The red-haired man is well aware this will be an uphill battle for him, but he doesn't seem to be bothered at all, thumbs hooked in his pants pockets, the red coat billowing behind him from a slight wind, and his crimson gaze fixated on the opposite door.
Maybe that's why the fangirls are cheering their fool heads off -- the fact that Iori really doesn't seem to care much about anything. Not even the announcer screaming his name.
COMBATSYS: Iori has started a fight here.
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Iori 0/-------/-------|
As far as the spectacle surrounding the fight goes, Kain seems to have as little care as Iori. Let it not be forgotten that all of this is arranged by Geese Howard; the only reason Kain participates is that it is in fact a good way to match up against a wide variety of fighters, providing more opportunities to hone his skill. And that aloof attitude seems to have garnered Kain a few fans. The fact that he's done fairly well in his showings here doesn't hurt, of course. Neither does his appearance. Rock's not the only one in the family with good looks.
Once on the arena floor, Kain reaches up briefly to adjust the fit of his coat, then puts his hand to his throat and tugs briefly at his shirt, making sure everything is settled into place. On a good day, he can sometimes finish a fight without his clothing even getting mussed up, although Iori is a dangerous enough opponent that it's unlikely to happen here. That done, he slides his left hand halfway into his pocket, thumb hooked on the outside, as he observes his opponent. And now he actually pays a little bit of attention to the announcer, but only to hear the signal to start...
COMBATSYS: Kain has joined the fight here.
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Iori 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
... a signal which comes down with a cry of "Fighters ready? FIGHT!"
Yet, Yagami doesn't budge from his spot. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, keeping his crimson eyes trained upon Heinlein, though he's hesitant to really make a move to attack yet. No... it's not yet the time for haste.
It's hard to forget the matchmaker here, yes. Iori's actually growing a bit tired of fights in Howard Arena, but whatever floats the man's boat, and lines his pockets and all that. Smirking faintly, he subconsciously rubs his boot over a crack in the floor -- one that he's sure he'd left from an earlier match -- as he nods in reply to Kain. No need for him to adjust his shirt or anything like that, of course. But after a moment, he starts walking to the side. Thumbs still tucked in his pocket, he notes calmly, "Guess we got what we asked for."
COMBATSYS: Iori focuses on his next action.
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Iori 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
At the announcer's cry, Kain begins walking calmy toward Iori. He's in no rush, either. Things won't be as interesting if the fight is over too quickly. Still, it's time to gets things started, and if Iori doesn't feel the need to then Kain will just have to take the initiative.
"Indeed. Hopefully things will be interesting..." As he finishes speaking, Kain begins to pick up his pace, dashing across the arena floor toward Iori. As he draws near the Orochi halfblood he comes to a sudden stop, pivoting on one foot and swinging his arm out as he spins his body. Purple flames erupt in its wake, leaping out in a wave toward Iori.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Kain's Schwarz Cutter.
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Iori 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
Quite frankly, that suits Iori just fine. The Orochi halfblood's forearm whips out to the side, neatly deflecting the physical portion of that strike -- though, for whatever reason, he wasn't entirely prepared for the gout of flames spilling over the intersecting limbs. Gritting his teeth as the Heinlein flames burn into his skin, he wastes no time in continuing the motion he started -- in this case, leaping into the air while his own orchid flames erupt from his fingernails. It's not quite effortless for Yagami as it is for Kain, though -- which might explain the roar loosed in the process. "GRUOOOOOOAH!"
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Iori's Oniyaki.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Kain
Kain blocks the rising slash with a raised forearm, although Iori's nails do manage to tear into the cloth of his sleeve, and scratch up the skin beneath. The flame is hardly pleasant, but appears to have done little visible damage. For obvious reasons, Kain invests in fire-retardent clothing.
Iori's ability to move should be slightly impaired for the brief period of time while he's still in the air, and Kain attempts to take advantage of that. Flames building up around his foot, he swings his leg upward to plant a kick squarely in Iori's gut as he comes down from his fall. The explosion that results should be enough on its own to propel Iori back into the air, but Kain follows it up by extending one hand at the halfblood, firing off a quick gout of flame to send him flying back a bit further.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Iori with Schwarze Lanze.
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Iori 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kain
Normally flames aren't too much of an issue for Iori, but... ow. Yeah. Kain called that shot perfectly, as Iori's left to fall right into Kain's awaiting foot. Ow. Knocked back by the blast of flame, Iori grasps about in midair, managing to stabilize himself before the soles of his boots squeal against the stone floor. "Not bad..." he notes, though it hardly needs to be said as he starts patting out the flames.
But it's going to take a bit more than that for Kain to put the tall Orochi halfblood down. Indeed -- he starts running straight for Kain in what seems to be a giant overhand slash across his torso...
Though Iori slashes much too early, ducking down low and hoping that he can run -past- Kain and pivot, to slam his talons into the flesh of his opponent's side. Yagami-ryuu isn't a synonym for ninjutsu... but that doesn't mean he can't be a bit more crafty in this respect.
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Iori's Saka Sakahagi.
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Iori 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kain
As is usual for Kain, his stances seems wide open even as Iori comes charging in. Somehow he seems able to bring up his defenses at the last instant, and usually quite effectively. There have been some notable exceptions, however. This doesn't seem to be one of them. As Iori slashes, Kain can see that the attack isn't going to be able to heint properly, so the movement of his arm to intercept the blow is his own feint, giving him a chance to twist his body, letting Iori's claws rake his back rather than digging into him.
Well, so much for this suit. Still, from a distance it doesn't look too bad yet, since the tears opened by Iori aren't too huge. For his part, Kain is less for slashing, although he still has ways to ruin his opponent's clothing. Such as flicking his wrist toward Iori as he finishes spinning around to face the halfblood. Flames leap from his hand, a purple fireball streaking forward toward Iori's chest.
COMBATSYS: Iori blocks Kain's Schwarze Flame.
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Iori 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kain
"Bah." Venting his mild frustration with Kain's onslaught of flame attacks, Iori hops back to a more defensible position. It allows him the opportunity to flick his forearm to the side, batting the flames away with mild discomfort. The flames linger on his sleeve only long enough to leave a slight trace of their passing, due to the rapid motion. "You'll have to try harder than that." states Iori -- but he's already planning his next attack. In this case, Iori rushes forward for an attack -- though it's not quite the one he -wanted- to use. To wit, he dashes in close, and brings his boot high in a guillotine kick aimed to crash down onto Kain. "GURAAAAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Kain with Goufu In.
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Iori 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kain
Kain attempts to slip to one side as Iori's boot comes crashing down, but it seems that he's just a bit too slow this time. Iori's foot slams into his shoulder, driving him down to one knee on the stone floor. Placing his hands quickly on the floor Kain pushes off, rolling to one side and landing in a crouch, facing Iori.
The blond man starts to get up, but then pauses mid-rise. It's only for a moment, though, as he then begins to spin himself around, rising as he does so. As he completes a circle he launches himself forward, using his built-up momentum to propel himself through the air toward Iori, his foot enshrouded with dark flames which threaten to explode on impact, if his kick should land on Iori's chest as planned.
COMBATSYS: Iori interrupts Schwarzer Stob from Kain with Yumebiki.
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Iori 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Kain
Denied. Iori's had juuust about enough of Kain trying to ruinate him -- it's here that he draws the line. Sure, he begrudgingly accepts that Kain may want to kick him. He even lets him do so, the purple flames searing away the thin fabric of his shirt as they wash over him. But that's only because Iori -let- him get that close, before raising his left arm to knock Kain's leg aside. But he's also stepping forward, sweeping his left hand across across Kain's upper torso in a diagonal slash, before stepping forward -again- to slam the back of his fist into the blonde German's cheek. So much for those chances of either fighter walking out of here with their wardrobe intact. "G-G-GURAAAAAAH!"
As Kain's leg gets knocked aside he quickly starts trying to orient himself for a landing, trying to bring up his defenses at the same time. It's rather tricky to pull off though, so it's not surprising that Iori has an advantage over him for the moment. The front of Kain's jacket gets sliced open, along with his black shirt, and several nasty looking red lines are left in the skin underneath. And then, just as his feet touch the ground, the backhand to his face sends Kain stumblings to one side, needing several moments to stop and reorient himself.
Kain brushes his hand over the tears along his chest briefly, then flashes Iori a grin. "Well, you're certainly quite a powerful fighter. I suppose that's lucky for you, considering how poorly you seem to play with others." The meltdown of Iori's team at KoF is fairly well known, after all. If nothing else, his screaming at them would have made it hard to hide.
Kain's done talking to Iori for this particular moment though, as he draws his hands back and to the side, taking a deep breath as a spark of greenish blue flame appears between his palms. "Himmlische..." This technique has been seen quite a few times before, but that doesn't mean it's less dangerous. The flames flare up into a massive glowing orb as Kain thrusts his hands forward, a corona of crackling energy surrounding the dense mass of chi at the center. "...Seele!" And the sphere leaps forth from Kain's hands, shooting toward Iori, just as it has been launched many times before... Until it gets close to Iori.
And explodes. Violently.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Iori with Himmlische Seele.
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Iori 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0 Kain
Doesn't play well with others. Such scathing commentary doesn't seem to faze Iori -- but then again, he's got other things on his mind, like the big ball of hurt screaming his way. He doesn't know what 'Himmlische Seele' means, but he knows pain when he feels it -- and that he certainly does as his body violently disobeys his conscious orders for calm, quaking from a series of rapid convulsions due to the sudden onrush of flame. He's fought Ryu before, and he's fought Kyo before... but the pain he'd experienced in those instances pales in comparison to the blast he'd taken just now.
His trenchcoat now little more than tatters, Iori tears it off himself, having been left practically -howling- with rage ever since the blast slammed into him. But... as those cracks in the floor can attest to, he's got more tricks up his sleeve. Even though that sleeve, as it were, no longer exists thanks to that blast. Good thing it's no more than a handy metaphorical construct for Iori rushing out to deliver one serious dosage of pain to Kain, starting off first with a rapid punch to the jaw, striding forward to deliver a backhand, then a kick to the gut, then a headbutt, then a quick one-two combo, a leaping overhand axehandle, and just about anything else you might be able to figure on. ... If it's successful, mind.
COMBATSYS: Kain just-defends Iori's Ya Otome!
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Iori 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kain
Ah, emotions. Not /necessarily/ a bad thing, but allowing yourself to be ruled by them? The sign of a weak mind. So far as Kain is concerned, anyway. The rage filling Iori is obvious even without Kain's special talents, and while it may add strength to the man's blows, it has to contend with Kain's calm control. The punch to the jaw is caught in the palm of Kain's hand, and then further blows are deftly deflected with hands and arms. Iori's attacking a bit too quickly for Kain to launch a counterattack at first... until he sees an opportunity.
After knocking another of Iori's attempted blows aside, Kain sees he's open. His right hand darts forward, intending to stop Iori before the attack can continue any further. He grabs for Iori's throat, iron grip attempting to squeeze down on the halfblood. That's the least of Iori's worries however, as the flames begin to flare up around Kain's hand, growing hotter as he squeezers more tightly, burning into Iori's neck...
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Iori with Strong Throw.
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Iori 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kain
Yeah, Iori's not invited to many weddings. His angered roars are all but silenced as soon as Kain hand flits in and clamps onto his throat, the tall Orochi halfblood elevated a foot or so off the ground by the German's powerful grip. His face contorting into a near-demonic visage, Iori's hands instantly clamp down onto Kain's forearm, wrenching it viciously from side to side in a panicked, feral attempt to break free. It's not often that the half-Orochi can find himself plucked up in such a fashion -- and it absolutely -infuriates- Iori to the point he's utterly lost the ability to speak. Not that he could anyway, with his throat constricted so, but still.
After a moment, though, he realizes Kain's left his feet unattended. Gripping tightly against Kain's sleeve, he suddenly lashes out with a big boot to Kain's groin, followed by a second to his side. It's what happens when you corner a beast, after all -- they tend to get angry. If that's enough for Iori to break free, Kain will see the continuation of the string of moves Iori aborted before, as Iori dashes forward at Kain, twin tendrils of flame tracing each vicious strike Iori slams into him.
Oh, yes. And screaming. Lots of screaming.
Iori's literally burnt the candle down, at this point -- regardless of what happens, he'd be one stiff wind away from falling over after the end of the sequence.
COMBATSYS: Iori can no longer fight.
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Kain 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Kain with Ya Otome.
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Kain 0/-------/=======|
Powerful as Kain might be, taking one of Iori's boots to the groin is a somewhat... humbling experience. His grip around Iori's neck loosens as he begins doubling over in pain, unable to do much about the second kick which slams into his side. And then the series of blows starts up again, with Kain no longer in a position to defend himself so easily. He's knocked back and forth by the burning punches, eventually sent sprawling out on his back on the arena floor.
He's not completely out of it as he goes, however, managing to pull off one swift rising kick as he falls, slamming up into Iori's jaw to finish the job of taking him off of his feet. And then Kain begins to slowly get back to his feet. No good staying down, or the fight might be declared a draw.
COMBATSYS: Kain has ended the fight here.
Iori isn't in any condition to dodge that last kick, that's for sure -- the kick sends the tall man top-spinning off to the side so hard, he's still rolling when he hits the stone floor. No cracks in the floor this time... though perhaps it's for the better.
After a moment without Iori moving, the announcer calls out, "AND THE WINNER BY KNOCKOUT IS... KAIN!" And the crowd goes wild!
It takes him a moment to compose himself, but once he gathers his wits Kain is able to put on a remarkably stoic front, despite the lingering pain from that last attack. There's a nice bruise forming along his jaw, and several more around his body to go along with the cuts he received, but no major injuries, at least. After the victory is announced he's able to head off to tend to his wounds, walking under his own power.
And only slightly stiffly.
Log created by Kain, and last modified on 19:48:33 07/03/2005.