Description: The 5 years that were promised are over. Arriving in his space capsule, Shingo Yabuki challenges the heroes of Earth. Only Karin Kanzuki will face him in battle, but can she keep it up long enough for Sakura to make it across Snake Way? Or will Shingo send Karin to ANOTHER DIMENSION? The rematch of the century... isn't this fight. But, it certainly is an action-packed rematch between... well, I was going to say 'rivals', but that would just be weird...
A rather nice evening for the start of the week. The summer heat not withstanding. The hour is slowly appraching that of dusk though there is still enough light that the street lamps haven't even turned on yet. It's getting close enough though. Darkness fully taking over in probably the next thirty to forty-five minutes. This doesn't seem to be a bother to the usual park goers who are going about their jogging and dog-walking as usual. Or in the case of Shingo Yabuki, it consists of training.
Training being a rather general term. Shingo is more specifically practicing his techniques and moves. Harder than he has normally done so in the past. It's because of the way things didn't go so well for their 'Rescue Team' over the weekend. Losing is not a big a thing to him usually. But when losing also puts the life of his girlfriend in jeopardy? Namely being thrown off a bridge into a river. Then it tends to bother him. You'd never guess it from his facial expressions though. He's still ever cheerful and friendly to anyone wandering by and happens to catch his eye. By now he's more or less sweaty like if he were doing an extreme workout. But it doesn't look like he's going to stop anytime soon.
As a stark contrast, Karin's day so far has consisted of throwing the expenses of that little rescue mission into the margins of the books -- not truly necessary, but easier than saying "I'm off for a paramilitary operation, so I'm taking petty cash" -- back at the corporation, some meditation as prescribed by Ryu, and then lunch with Sakura and Megumi, in which she tried to convince the both of them, with varying degrees of success, that their total failure was something other than a total failure. There was also an Orange Julius and a caesar salad in there somewhere. Busy day, overall.
So perhaps that's why Karin, in a rather atypical white golf shirt and jean shorts combination, is doing some jogging around the city, specifically the park near Seijyun, where she runs during the school year. Helps to keep the legs in shape, after all, and between her fight with May Lee and her last stand against Rolento and Duo Lon, the primarily fist-oriented fighter has been doing a lot of kicking lately. The better to break you with, meine schatzi. But who is that over there being all Karate Kid? It's Shingo Yabuki! So, the blonde diverts her jog to take her nearby.
Given Shingo's focus on the task at hand on working on his stolen Kusanagi-ryuu techniques so that they are quicker yet still maintain their power he doesn't realise that a rich blonde girl has decided to jog closer to his location. What he does realise is that he's feeling awfully thirsty. With the amount of working out he has done, it's not something that was unexpected. Shingo wipes off the sweat gathered up on his face with a small towel and reaches into his bag to retrieve a gallon bottle of water. The pop is topped off and the bottle is hefted up for a quick swig. "Ah! Whew. That last set was good. Still need to work on my Shingo Kick to make it a little bit faster. I think I saw some sparks on that Aragami too." Another drink is taken from the bottle as Shingo goes over out loud his assessment of his performance with his practice.
Perfect time as any to speak up. "If you mean sparks of flame," Karin says sweetly, leaning forward and crossing her hands behind her back, "let's just say 'A for effort'." Provided Shingo turns around, which she expects him to, Karin gives a little wave. "Somehow, despite the million to one odds, I almost *expected* to find you out training after yesterday," the blonde adds. She doesn't seem particularly perturbed by the events of the previous day, but then, it was her bodyguards fishing Shingo out of the river and not the other way around.
Of which he's quite fortunate for. Being fished out of the river that is. Be it by bodyguards or Karin herself. The Metro City River isn't exactly the cleanliest body of water around. Of course he does turn around. Someone is talking to him. It would be rude not to look them in the eye. A female's voice? Who could it be. Shingo turns and smiles to Karin and chuckles embarrassed slightly by her flame comment, "Heheh. Hey Karin." A wave is offered. "Yeah. After yesterday I realised that I need a lot more practice when it comes to my technique. I couldn't touch Mister Howard -at all-." Though managing to hit the owner of Howard Enterprises just before going down should be a feat in itself. "Speaking of which. Thanks again." The bottle in his hand is dropped to the grass and he stretches his arms out to make sure that his muscles don't cramp up or anything.
"Hmph." Karin nods, looking around. "I'll accept your thanks if you promise not to get overenthusiastic, then incredibly maudlin like Megumi did," she admonishes, but with a faint grin. "Truth be told, I didn't have much to do with it personally, so thank the fine men at Kanzuki Security."
She pauses, looking for someplace to sit down, and finds a nearby mostly-flat rock to perch on, looking on. "All things considered, not being able to touch a superlative fighter like Geese Howard isn't exactly an unexpected defeat. I'm glad to see you're taking it better than some of the others did."
Yep. That sounds like Megumi alright. "Heh. You have a deal." Kanzuki Security, eh? "Still. They work for your company right? So thank them for me too." Shingo grins widely while finishing up his stretching. It's true. Geese is technically out of his league when it comes to fighting. Though that has never stopped Shingo from hitting Ryu before. On several different occasions no less. "Yeah, well. What's done is done. There's nothing we can do what has happened already. Except be glad that no one was severly hurt or even worse. That's always a good thing, right?" Good ol' Shingo. Always looking for the positive in everything.
The blonde responds to that with a satisfied nod. "That is, in fact, the tack I am taking on it. Besides, I think we learned some important things in the process... not the least of which is that Rolento's best soldiers aren't his personal army; they're mercenaries." Nassir WAS the first to go down, after all, and she didn't see any sign of Xiangfei. "I am sure Sakura or May Lee will bounce back with some other ridiculous attempt at a rescue soon enough... though I had to tell Sakura the company can't pay for a second. Still, I'm confident she can come up with something." A slight grin here. "Her steadfast refusal to accept defeat is one of her better qualities."
Doesn't he know it. It's one of the things that he loves about her. Shingo nods and wipes a few more beads of sweat from his brow. "Yeah. Case in point. Mister Howard. He said that he wasn't working for Rolento. It was more of an alliance." The boy shrugs, "Yeah. They'll think of something soon enough. That much is certain." Wait. Can't pay for a second trip? "So we're going to have to find another way to get in to Metro City, huh? Well. I'm sure if we put together whatever we've earned from fighting we could charter a boat or something. Or...hrm. I wonder..." Yes. He just had another genius idea. "I think I may have a way for us to sneak into the city again. But no promises yet." Shingo rubs the the bridge of his nose in thought. Before blinking and looking to Karin, "But anyways...looks like you're the one out for the jog now, huh?" Smirk.
This earns a shrug from Karin. "Simple athletic exercise keeps the body in shape. And a fit body produces a fit fighter." Simple enough logic, one supposes. "Besides... I'm still doing a considerable amount of meditating. Which... is useful. It certainly was in the fight against that ninja," she murmurs, wincing a little bit at the memory of that attack. True, it didn't strike her down... but it 1.) hurt like hell and 2.) was just ODD. "But meditation isn't physical exercise. And with Sakura busy dealing with Metro City, and Ryu off God only knows where..." She shrugs. "I haven't been getting any actual sparring in."
"Really now? Well. If you want. Maybe we could help each other out?" Shingo questions rather straight-forward. Guess when he's worked up a sweat he can be a bit more blunt than usual. That grin from before remains and is even a little wider, "All I've been doing really is 'shadow boxing'. It's good for getting down the form. But I won't know how much it helps except in a match. And you did say you haven't been able to spar as you would like. So...how about a quick match? Right here?" No need to mince words there. "Plus," Shingo grins, "we didn't exactly get to finish our last match at the mall, did we?"
Despite whatever progress Karin has made since then, the memory of 'that day' doesn't exactly give her a happy fun feeling, and it shows in her face for only a moment, before she gives Shingo a lopsided smile. "Ah, I can see why you appreciate Sakura's straightforwardness so much..." she says, hopping off the rock and standing up. "You mirror so much of it, after all."
Quickly stretching, Karin falls into the Kanzuki stance, waiting for Shingo to make the first move. "I guess the exercise will do us both good," she admits, watching Shingo closely. Along with some lessons on winning and losing, Karin's been getting an education in being lax about paying attention... especially when her quick eyes and reflexes are one of her better qualities. "But I should warn you, I've gotten quite a bit better in a short time."
COMBATSYS: Karin has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Karin 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shingo has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Karin 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shingo
Shingo's first move isn't exactly an attack. Not at the start. Once he sees that Karin has accepted his challenge he kicks his gallon bottle out of the way and back over to his bag. Even though he could've probably used it in the match if he wanted. Just that he saw no point in resorting to using objects in a friendly fight like this one. This is to help them get better as well as give them a self-assessment of their own skills. He takes the comment of copying Sakura's bluntness as a compliment.
Shingo doesn't remain in the ready stance for long. A quick nod is given, "It sure would. And perfect. I wouldn't have it any other way. So let's have some fun, okay?" With that he launches into his real first attack. A commonly seen technique coming from him. Deceptively simple and quick. Shingo takes a deep lunging step towards Karin with his right leg, the fist on the same side coming in swiftly on her from the outside in a hooking motion. "Here I come!" He shouts out. Opting for this than the more jerk-like comment he picked up from Kyo along the lines of 'You're wide open' or 'Your body is weak'.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Karin with Aragami Mikansei.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Shingo
Well, she was prepared for it... in a way, at least. The stolen hook punch comes in quick, but Karin is there for it with a raised arm. The unfortunate part of the situation is that said raised arm alone isn't enough, so the punch powers right on through and clips Karin right in the shoulder rather than the stomach. Still... it hurts a fair bit, and the block didn't seem to shave off that at all. "Heh... all that talk about improving, and I made the same mistake I did with May Lee."
However, she's already on the move, not slowed down by that attack for more than a second or two. "But I only make a mistake once!" she adds, grinning, as she runs in and makes an attempt to snag Shingo's shirt and then simply drive her knee into his stomach a good few times. Nothing fancy or elegant, but it certainly gets the job done.
COMBATSYS: Shingo blocks Karin's Homura-geri.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
Snag his shirt she does. Repeated knees to the stomach? Not so much as effective as she thought it would be. Mostly due in part to Shingo's quick thinking. Karin's grabbing his shirt, right? This means that his arms are still free to do whatever they please. What pleases them is to protect his abdominal region with palms facing outward towards the offending knee to buffer the strikes so that they're not as painful as they should be. Luckily for him. Not quite so lucky for her.
As soon as the rain of blows from her knee have ended, Shingo doesn't give Karin the chance to get away so easily from him. His hands moving quickly up to grab the front of her own shirt. Just as he leans back and places a foot along the inside of her thigh to make this a lot easier instead of using brute strength. It's a basic sacrifice throw from the realm of judo/jujitsu that he picked up from Daimon. Almost like tomoe nage, but not quite. Shingo crashes on his back and flips Karin up overhead over him and sends her flying. Where she lands? Who knows.
COMBATSYS: Karin blocks Shingo's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
Snag *her* shirt he does. As for the rest of it, not so much. The leg to the inside is sidestepped, so the resulting throw is not exactly all that far, and not exactly all that strong, either. Shingo goes on his back; Karin goes not exactly sailing, not moving at a nice clip overhead, which she tucks out of and comes to a fighting stance as she lands.
Unfortunately, her momentum has been a little blunted, and Shingo's is only chipped at. In an effort to get back on track, Karin moves immediately back into the fray with the one-two blindingly fast palm punch Shingo probably recognizes as the Guren Ken... but the finisher is something new entirely; rather than drive forward with the Hou Shou or the overhead circular attack she's used before, she tucks her body low and slides, hoping to drive Shingo's feet out from under him with the unexpected switch in posture.
COMBATSYS: Shingo dodges Karin's Guren Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
Unexpected? It is. Unavoidable? Not in the slightest. Shingo was able to regain his standing posture after his failed throw against Karin and is ready for her next attack. The palm strikes he does indeed recognize as something he doesn't want to get hit by. Without even thinking or knowing how he does it he sidesteps and evades each palm. Mostly out of reflex than through conscious thought. His combat senses are tingling! The sliding kick is lept over with a quick hop that takes him over her head and landing behind her body. It was a good dodge too. His chances weren't exactly the best, but they were decent enough for him to risk it. Risk pays off. "Whew! I got lucky with that one!"
Now let's see how lucky she is. "SHINGO KIIIIICKU!" Without a break in movement after landing, Shingo launches himself with his signature technique straight to Karin's body. The overhead kick coming down in a sharp arc similar to that of a rainbow in the sky straight for her trapezius instead of her head. It's because she's female. Darn him and his gentleman-like scruples.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Karin with Shingo Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Shingo
Trapezius, head, whatever, Gray's Anatomy... the lesson here is that Karin gets kicked, and it hurts like a son of a bitch. Frowning, she pulls back for now, staying in stance and watching the situation closely, waiting for an opening... not that there ever seems to be one in Shingo's iron guard, but hope does spring eternal. She wipes some sweat from her brow and simply waits.
COMBATSYS: Karin focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Shingo
Oh. There's always a way through Shingo's so-called iron guard. It's just that it's easier for some to exploit over others. But it is there. All someone has to do is look carefully. No one is unbeatable. Especially not Shingo has it has been proved in his past fights over the weekend. There's no chatter from her. Okay. Then he'll do the same. As with before he doesn't want to come across as the same sort of jerk as Kyo is sometimes portrayed to be.
Though, seeing that she's being so generous as to remain in one spot long enough for him to come at her again. He won't leave her disappointed. Shingo shrugging off the nagging feeling that he's walking into a trap. Well. Jumping into a trap. More like a hop, really. A hop into a spinkick directed at her gut, "Teya!" This one isn't followed up by the two other kicks that would normally come after. He wants to conserve some of his limitless energy.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Karin with Oboroguruma Mikansei.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
A quick and powerful kick. Try as she might to avoid them, Karin's just not fast enough; she's sent stumbling back from the recoil, actually smacking into a tree. That appears to take the breath right out of her; instead of following up with any sort of counteroffensive, Karin spends the next however many seconds attempting to get air back in her lungs from the impact.
COMBATSYS: Karin takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
Following up with any sort of offensive strays from Shingo's mind when Karin impacts against that tree and doesn't seem to be getting up to get back into the fight. That...can't be good. The boy gets out of his fighting stance to straighten up and call out to the blonde, "Hey Karin? You okay?" He generally does sound concern. Why wouldn't he be? It's not as though he was going out of his way to intentionally hurt her. Would feel bad if he did. After a couple of seconds of not getting up, Shingo would walk over to check on Karin and make sure that she didn't hit any vital areas from smacking against the tree.
COMBATSYS: Shingo takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
The blonde is up and around before Shingo can make it too far over, generally speaking because she never really left her feet; she was simply a little staggered trying to get her breath back. Frowning in annoying, she lashes out with a quick knife hand to the shoulder. Nothing fancy, but she's just coming off getting smacked into a tree, for starters... and for two, after taking such a beating she's not looking so great, either.
COMBATSYS: Shingo blocks Karin's Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
Eep! Shingo was only being certain that she was alright. No reason for her to just come at him like that with a judo chop. Oh wait. Yes there is. They're still 'fighting', aren't they? Since no one really called for a stop to it. He should've known better. Sigh. One of the faults of wanting to be everyone's friend. One of the benefits of being a good a fighter as he sometines can be is that his body moves almonst on its own before he even has time to think of reacting. Good for him. Karin's chop to his shoulder blocked with the opposite hand coming across and using the forearm to push off the strike.
Alright. She's back in the game. Good. Shingo suddenly drops low and goes for a sweeping motion with a leg extending outward at her ankles attempting to knock her to the ground. The hit itself should hurt, but at least he fall would be cushioned by the grass.
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Strong Kick from Shingo with Yasha Gaeshi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Shingo
Interestingly enough, Karin's response is an aggressive defense; she literally runs into the kick, but rather than simply take it on the chin to get inside Shingo's guard, she reaches up and literally grabs his foot with her left hand and *shoves* it aside, then rams into Shingo's gut with her shoulder, pushing her opponent back a few steps and giving her the room she apparently wants or needs. And the talkative fighter is still fairly reticent. Is it because she's focused? Angry? Or simply because she had the breath knocked out of her not more than a second or two ago? Who can tell?
Shingo sure can't! If only because he's too busy being smacked around by Karin's counter to his sweep. Apparently she -doesn't- want to end up on the grass with her white t-shirt. Shingo doesn't blame her. Grass stains are so annoying to get out of clothing. As he's going have to worry about after sliding on his rump on the grass from the gut strike. That...was certainly unexpected. He still grins though. It was a nice technique. Let's see if he can find a way around it. This is done by pushing up and coming in at her aiming to grab the shirt again. Then stepping in deep towards her while pulling her upper-body forward and blocking her lower-body with his own larger frame. The end result is a double-handed overhead shoulder throw aimed to land her on the grass.
COMBATSYS: Karin blocks Shingo's Issetsu Seoi Nage Fukanzen.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Karin 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Shingo
The key to minimizing damage from throws isn't necessarily to push away the initial grab or grapple; that just leaves you close by and vulnerable. The key is to be limber enough to turn a fall that's going to set you on your backside into a fall that might sting a little on the ankles but isn't going to hurt nearly so much. This is, in fact, exactly what Karin does: Shingo's grip is completely uncontested, but in mid-throw she twists her body around a complete 360, landing on her feet instead of her back. Does it hurt? Yes, for sure, as your legs are taking the impact meant for your back. Does it hurt less? Also yes, because your leg muscles are simply better at sucking up the force. Case in point, as on her rise up from the ground Karin lashes out at Shingo with a pair of rapid, upward-scything kicks intended to lift him right into the air.
COMBATSYS: Shingo blocks Karin's Mujin Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Karin 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Shingo
This move he has seen and felt before. Last time they fought and he was up against that rising kick of hers it totally and utterly broke through his guard and sent him sprawling. Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice comes to mind as he puts his arms in the cross-block to catch the rising leg and force it back down while shifting his body back to a safer distance. His sneakers sliding across the grass.
Shingo holds his fists up in front of him for his fighting stance and thinks. He considers putting one of his better moves forward and ending this fight right here and now but...as mentioned before. It's all between friends here. That hasn't stopped him before from beating on Sakura in similar friendly matches. But he chalks it up to expending so much energy earlier that he doesn't feel like expending any more. So instead...he comes in with another hook punch to her body after spotting a possible break in her guard, "An opening!"
COMBATSYS: Karin blocks Shingo's Aragami Mikansei.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Karin 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Shingo
Using the same trick twice isn't limited to Shingo... and the outcome is more or less the same here. Whereas the hook punch previously put a serious dent in her guard, this time Karin is ready, ducking slightly and taking the punch on her crossed arms rather than across the stomach. It still hurts; the impact has to go somewhere, laws of physics and all, but the effect is much blunted in this scenario. Leaping immediately to the counterattack, Karin doesn't waste any time; she makes for an immediate grab of Shingo's shirt to ram her knee into his stomach, as per before... however, there's a twist to this one. On the second knee her leg stays right where it is, and the ending of this grappling technique instead sends the opponent flying, using a combination of the shoulder grip and the incoming knee attack to push the body along farther than a simple shoulder throw could manage.
COMBATSYS: Karin successfully hits Shingo with Arakuma Inashi.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Karin 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Shingo
This one he has seen before too! If only a few moments ago Karin went for this same exact technique against him. Or did she? Obviously not because Shingo thought that since it's just going to be another bunch of knee strikes looks to simply evade the grab and the follow-up knees. What a waste of a thought. The slight variation on how she performs the technique is enough to catch him unawares and her grip is solid on his shirt. Shingo isn't going anywhere Karin doesn't want him to go. One, two knee strikes to the gut soften him up for the toss into the air. The boy lands and boy does he land hard. Real hard. He never thought Karin could be so damaging with her techniques. This is probably why he should switch back to blocking over dodging.
Hitting the ground with a roll Shingo gets up and closes in on the distance between him and the blonde. "SHINGO KIIIICKU!" About two metres away he jumps into the air and twists his body so that he can once more angle his leg in on Karin's body once again; taking care to intentionally miss her head.
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Shingo Kick from Shingo with Yasha Gaeshi.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Karin 1/----===/=======|=======\=======\1 Shingo
Repetition is the death of innovation... well, some might say that, but both Shingo and Karin are playing the same old, same old game. It's signature move versus signature move, but in the end it's Karin whose tried and true method wins out. The incoming foot -- powerful and quick, to be sure; Shingo's no slouch in the physical department -- is caught right in the palm of Karin's waiting right hand, which handily twists, redirecting Shingo's momentum and flipping him 180 degrees in a wire-fu sort of fashion before the push-away from Karin's left hand sends him flying backwards from her. Whether he lands on his feet or on his rump is for him to decide.
How about neither? The sheer shock of having -the- Shingo Kick countered from this girl is like 'whoa' to Shingo. Sure he didn't really see her previous counters coming. But damn. He definitely didn't expect her to go for it against his signature move of pain. Something she herself is well-versed in. The countering palm really hurts. Seems she found a particularly vital part and just slammed against it. Shingo spins several times in the air before crashing to the ground in a way unbefitting an experienced fighter. Nevermind he doesn't stay down for long.
"Dang, Karin. That was really a good one. Didn't see it coming at all." Suppose that's the whole point of countering, isn't it? Repetition of moves and techniques isn't working anymore. So let's toss in something new. Shingo comes in close as he can and dances around Karin looking for another opening. When he finds one an incredibly quick but light punch flies out from him to her chest area. Off to the side. Closer to the outside. Nearby to her shoulder joint. "Jab!"
COMBATSYS: Karin dodges Shingo's Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Karin 1/----===/=======|=======\=======\1 Shingo
Karin's not the fastest fighter in her league -- her SNF with May Lee proved that much, considering the Taekwondo fighter's remarkable reflexes -- but in a pinch, if she has to, Karin can pull off some impressive evasive maneuvers of her own. Shingo's jab punch swings out cleanly at the space between Karin's shoulder and her neck, but perhaps his shouting of the move was a little over the top, as Karin -- with what falsely appears to be a minimum of effort -- simply steps to her left, the jab punch swinging harmlessly through the air and hopefully leaving Shingo open to a followup attack. Gritting her teeth, Karin grunts (well, sort of grunts) and reaches forward, intending to snag Shingo's shirt, take a single step forward for momentum, and drive him into the ground with her elbow in a plain but effective takedown...
Or does she? The shirt grab is real, but the rest is a carefully staged feint of a familiar move. Karin would still take the step forward, but instead is prepared to ram her elbow into Shingo's back in a quick attack to send him stumbling forward; either way, Karin uses the step forward to spin around and face Shingo from the other side.
COMBATSYS: Shingo fails to counter Quick Punch from Karin with Tsuki Hiji.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Karin 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Shingo
Hey, Karin's having all this fun with her counter moves so why should she have all the fun when Shingo has one himself? Obviously if she's managing to land all these counters on him then it must mean that he will be able to land one on her, right? WRONG. Much like his normally good luck, it seems that the power that comes with Tsuki Hiji has left him. Having missed every single on in his past three fights. That should be an indication that he -shouldn't- do it. But. He would feel just so wrong if he didn't at least give the elbow a chance.
SMACK.
He still gets hit. That'll teach him to be sentimental towards techniques. Don't expect any more countering from him in what's left of this fight. Lucky for him it wasn't one of her stronger attacks. Or else he would be in real trouble. In the meantime he's stumbling in the direction Karin instended him to.
Spinning out of her turnaround, Karin does breathe a sigh of relief as she falls back into her fighting stance. She knows that Shingo has techniques for countering attacks as much as she does... and now that it's made an appearance she does, indeed, breathe a little easier. If Shingo's anything like her, then he really won't try that again; she tends to ignore the Yasha Gaeshi if it gets stuffed too many times herself.
Of course, now there's a variety of options open to Karin: press the attack, hunker down for a defensive, run home and get some ice cream... and actually, from how ragged she looks that last option's sounding remarkably tempting, too. However, her fighting sense is telling her to stay put and let Shingo make the first move. Is it a wise decision? Maybe not. Fortune does favor the bold. But she doesn't have the energy to take him down in one shot, so she stays put.
COMBATSYS: Karin focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Karin 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Shingo
Given the chance Shingo would probably go for the counter elbow again. If only he was determined enough to prove that it can indeed hit if he wanted it to. Just like when he fought HeavyD that one SNF match. It took him what, like 4 times before the elbow actually countered something? That goes to show how single-minded he can be at times. If single-minded meant dumb. Which is exactly what he must be for deciding to charge at Karin once again even after being countered twice so far instead of sitting back and looking at the fight from a safe distance like she's doing.
Let it not be said that Shingo isn't bold. But. Is he daring? Only one way to find out. This way being that he once again comes in at Karin. This time he comes in low with a familiar ducking in movement that springs into his ripoff of Kyo's anti-air technique. The one involving swinging an elbow up into spinning backfists in the air. The elbow is supposed to catch Karin in her gut and launch her into the air while the backfist knocks her higher so that he can land before she does. Not that it needs mention, but neither hit strikes her in the face. Unless she purposedly sticks it into the way, "Oriyaaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Oniyaki Mikansei from Shingo with Kanzuki-ryu Kou'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\ < > ]
Karin 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Shingo
And there was the opening she was waiting for. There's no denying that Shingo's moves stolen from Kyo are actually quite effective, although maybe not even Shingo realizes that they're effective for very different reasons than Kyo's... perhaps it is simply sheer effort. And the Oniyaki is an all-around excellent move; it hits in a number of different places and it's got a lot of strength behind it too.
But Karin's reputation as a counterattack specialist is not undeserved. At the end it was a clear staredown; somebody had to make the first move, and in the end it would all come down to who Lady Luck favored. In this case, it appears to be Karin. There's nothing wrong with Shingo's Oniyaki, but perhaps what he was not expecting was a counterattack, as Karin wasn't affecting the Yasha Gaeshi stance. Instead, she simply throws her right hand out and down, scything it through the air and quite frankly knocking Shingo's elbow clear out of the way. And it doesn't stop there; that same hand and the respective foot continue to form that perfect aerial circle, raining down an unending wave of blows on poor Shingo's head, one after the other. "Kanzuki-ryuu... Kou'ou KEN!"
Shingo's days of catching breaks are seemingly over. Normally he does better than this when it comes to his techniques actually making successful contact with another fighter. In a fight. Obviously this can mean only one thing. One of his greatest nemeses has traveled back in time to when he was still cryogenically frozen and extracted his 'mojo' thereby reducing his effectiveness in combat. Or. The more likely assumption that Karin has indeed gotten better just like she let on. In which case Shingo can't blame her for doing so well as compared to their first match in the mall. So much that he'd almost feel bad for what he's about to do. Almost. But turnabout -is- fair play. And having yet another one of his moves countered by Karin, this time by a rain of blows from her hands, means that he's got to show that she can't counter everything he throws at her. Or something like that. Mostly because he wants to give her a good match and that means not holding back even down to the end.
"Burning..." This is it. His bestest and ultimate technique aside from Shingo Kick. He's been saving it up for all this time just in case for this eventuality. That and he didn't want to finish off Karin too quickly with it since it does tend to hurt...a lot when it connects. Shingo recovery rolls forward towards Karin after being pounded to the ground and is all up in her face when he shouts out the rest of his battle cry, "SHINGOOOOOOO!" Cue the barrage of punches upon her smaller frame. Each one missing her face and head and being all body blows. Still. They hurt when they hit. The last strike is a rising shoulder-tackle. A variation of the Oniyaki sans flames.
COMBATSYS: Shingo can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ <
Karin 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Karin blocks Shingo's Burning Shingo.
[ \\\\ <
Karin 0/-------/----===|
Karin's been in too many fights recently to believe that a 'downed' Shingo is out for the count. Thus she's already prepared herself when the Burning Shingo comes in... and lord, does that hurt. It's clear that if she'd not been ready to defend herself that technique would far and away have knocked her proverbial block off. In fact, even a normal attempt to even suck it up and block the blows would probably have floored her too. However, preparation is 9/10 of victory, and a prepared Karin isn't just throwing her arms in front of the blows; she's moving at the same time, redirecting force, pushing strikes away from vital areas and giving herself just *that* much protection so that when Shingo finally does collapse after the final Oniyaki variant, Karin is still standing... bruised, bloodied, but up.
There's a few good long moments where Karin is simply gulping in air like she'd been holding her breath for the past however long... and the color of her skin -- a much paler color than normal -- implies that might actually have been the case, though obviously not the entire time. And then she is simply on the grass, leaning against a tree and looking up at the sky. Her voice, when she manages to find it, is breathless. "I'll give you credit for being a gentleman," she says quietly, "but if you don't fight seriously, I can't feel good about any victory."
COMBATSYS: Karin has ended the fight here.
It's less of a collapse and more of a single flump like a kid diving into a pile of freshly raked leaves or a mound of snow after the rising shoulder tackle. His practice beforehand plus the fight has him more tired than he typically would be after either one of those activities. Karin showing how much better she has gotten since is an adding factor as well. Rolling over onto his back to look up at the sky for a few moments, Shingo chuckles and shakes his head at Karin's words. Women. There's just no pleasing them. He'll take what he can get though. As far as compliments go.
"What do you mean? I wasn't holding back or anything. If that's what you meant," he says choosing to remain on his back. On the ground. "You won that fair and square. You really have gotten better. All that training you've been doing over at the Kim dojo is paying off." Now he finds the strength to sit up and cast a smile over in her direction. "Even if it was just a friendly match. It was still fun. Don't you think so?" Shingo braces himself with his hands supporting his weight on the ground behind him. That way he can sort of lean back as well too.
"To be honest..." the blonde replies, looking at her right hand, the one that did the majority of the work in this fight, be it catching attacks or dealing them out. It's not looking pretty; even with her knowledge of how to shift force away from the point of impact, there's always something when those hits land. "No. I mean... yes." She grins faintly, though she's not actually looking at Shingo when she says it. "I like to win. 'Be the victor in everything' might be a burdensome philosophy but on some level, I agree with it. Yet at the same time..."
A sigh, and Karin shrugs her shoulders. "I tried to fight for 'fun'. I really did. But in the end I was fighting to win. I didn't take any chances; I played it safe and tried not to put it on the line." Another pause; Karin clenches her right hand into a fist, then lets it go. "Have you ever heard the saying, 'not fighting to win; fighting not to lose'?"
"Um..." Shingo titls his head to the side lazily and then back to think about this question if he's heard that saying before. Hrm. "Nope! Can't say that I have," comes the reply with a wide grin. Despite the loss he's still in good spirits. Why not? Unlike yesterday, he wasn't fighting for his life. So the loss is nothing big to him. After all, he has lost matches before. Also, don't they say that losing builds character? "That's a nice saying though. I like it." The boy draws his legs in to sit cross-legged and take some of the pressure off his arms. Mainly to use them to prop up his head from behind. "There's nothing wrong with that. You know, liking to win. So what if you ended up fighting to win? That's the point of a fight, isn't it? To win? The whole thing with the having fun is having fun during the fight and not taking it too seriously. But you're still fighting to win. If that wasn't the case then I wouldn't have used that last attack on you. Well done on the defense, by the way." A hand is removed from behind his head to give her a thumbs up.
There's a moment, before Karin clears her throat. "It is a good saying. And actually, I didn't think of recalling it until just now... but the basic thrust is that when you're fighting to not lose, you don't take any risks. But in the end, all you've done is 'not lost'. Which isn't the same as winning." There may be depth to her yet. "As for the matter of defense... your big strength is that you hit very hard for your size. And believe it or not, the sort of..." She fishes for a word. "...I hesitate to say 'clumsiness', but it's the best word that fits. It makes convention defensive techinques harder to use, unlike a common style with rote defenses." She grins at that. "Rather like Sakura in that respect. I call it 'wild flailing', but only to get on her nerves."
"Heheheh. I can see that," Shingo remarks. He's not taken back at all by the way she describes his technique. It's all true. By that point it all basically did just become 'wild flailing' in an attempt to break through her defenses and get a last couple of hits that would've ended up making this match a draw. She's also not the first nor the last that has told him that he has a lot of power and momentum behind his attacks. His strength as well as his weakness. As demonstrated by Karin, it's easy to turn his own momentum against him if he's not careful. "And actually, I think clumsy works quite well in this case. But whatever works, right? Heh." Shingo stretches out his neck from side to side and motions to his bag, "Hey, you thirsty? I've got another bottle of water in my bag if you want." He's already getting up to grab the bottle he was drinking from earlier as well as fish out that second bottle for Karin if she decides to take him up on his offer.
Karin actually shakes her head at that. "I'd just finished rehydrating before I hit the park," she explains. But she ain't moving from that spot, either; at least her breathing has returned to something approximating normality. Still, she's bruised and beaten... just because Shingo didn't take her down doesn't mean he didn't do a number on her, because he did. She held on by a thread, and it's obvious. "Yes... 'whatever works' does seem to be the watchword of the day."
Not only is it the watchword of the day. It's also today's moral according to the Wheel of Morality. And you never question the Wheel of Morality. It always speaks the truth. Or is that the Magic 8-Ball? At this point it's all moot to Shingo. Who is, by the way, shrugging at Karin's reason for not wanting his water. After he went through all that meticulous planning to ensure that it was specially prepared just for her. Oh well. Guess he's going to have to find someone else that can appreciate good quality H2O.
Taking a rather large swing from his gallon bottle; so large that his mouth cannot contain all the water pouring into it, Shingo turns to his bag as his phone gets to ringing. Wonder who that could be? Well, he doesn't have to wonder. He figured out how to set specific ring tones for specific numbers. From the tone he can tell that it's mommy calling. Or at least someone at his house. A brief conversation takes place before he hangs up. Securing the phone on his person, Shingo picks up his bag with his other hand and looks to Karin. "Well, it was fun. But, my dad needs my help with something back at the house. So I'll see you later. As far as getting back into Metro City goes. I should have something by tomorrow or Wednesday." And with that he waves with the bottle, "Thanks again for the match," and then starts the trek home.
That causes Karin to raise an eyebrow. By tomorrow or Wednesday? Someones' been working quick. While Shingo was on the phone Karin had time to get up and stretch out; she's not doing any more running tonight but the fight was probably workout enough. "I already told Sakura I'll help her, even if the zaibatsu can't. But..." She grins a little. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her: the Masters Foundation. They've got almost as many resources as we do, and their head just happens to be someone who might be favorably disposed to do Sakura a good turn. Look into it." And then she waves, because she knows that responding to Daddy is important, even if the last time *she* responded to Daddy's call, she had to fight three wild animals and tame a lion to prove her worth as a Kanzuki.
Log created by Karin, and last modified on 00:06:32 08/23/2005.