Description: World-famous psychic and Kusanagi elder square off in Metro City for the most awesome fight you've ever seen in your life. I'm serious. At the very least scroll down to see what happens in the end. (Winner: Draw Match)
Upon a raised dais recently erected in the middle of Metro City Park stands a short man with slicked back hair and a wide smile. He raises a microphone to his lips, and the crowd gathered around -- at least those not currently purchasing snacks and refreshments -- quiets down, slightly but noticably, to listen. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he begins, his voice bright. "Welcome to our first ever Saturday Night Fights: Metro City! Every prize awarded to a fighter will be matched by charitable donations to Metro City!" There is hearty applause to this -- at least from the majority of the crowd. There are a few who are currently distracted, however. They are eyeing a middle-aged man in a green kimono who stands on the side of the dais, unobtrusively enough for now, and it looks like he is eyeing them right back.
With a calm, nearly sly little smile, the man reaches into his kimono with his right hand and vigorously scratches his left armpit before reaching back out to scratch his beard. The four young boys watching him inch a few steps closer. "Hey, old man," the brashest says. "Are you really Saishu Kusanagi? Kyo's father?" The older man says nothing, still watching the young men quietly; it's impossible to tell what he's thinking, and the children are unnerved yet more by this, but still, the one who spoke gets up the courage to take another step closer. "You don't look like a fighter to me," he says, sounding a bit unsure.
It's hard to describe what happens here. Let's just say: the older man isn't doing anything until he's already done it. Without any real transition stage, his ungloved hand goes from scratching his pointy little beard to snapping out and emitting a little swirl of flame right at the brashest youth. They all leap back with cries of shock, and the kimono-clad man begins to laugh heartily, before his huge trademark grin grows onto his features. "Ha ha! Gotcha!" Saishu Kusanagi exclaims, waggling his eyebrows. "That'll teach you to go around being young!" As the four boys cower, he points aggressively at each one of them. "Respect your elders! Eat your vegetables! Stay in school! Become men worthy of your name! Ha ha! And tell your friends Saishu said so!" And he spins on his heel, still grinning, and begins to stride toward the center of the ring, just as the announcer is finishing.
"I felt the fire on my face," said the lead boy, awe-struck.
"Whoa," chorus the others.
Despite being in what some might call a "showy profession", Rose herself is not big on showmanship. Thus when the announcer gets things kicked off, she simply gets up from her chair at the opposite end of the dais, walking to the center of the ring to face the famous Saishu Kusanagi. She doesn't get much chanting from the crowd -- she's not a fan favorite, per se -- but there is rather a wave of quiet awe; just something about her presence that does that. And indeed, in deference to the SNF format she flicks off her shawl, a spark of Soul Power running across it before she tosses it back on her shoulders.
Giving Saishu a nod, Rose gets herself ready. "I am not normally a fan of this sort of affair," she confides to him genially. Saishu may be a total nutcase, but he's a well-meaning nutcase. "But the cause seemed genuine, and I felt perhaps it is time to get myself acquainted with the fighters of the world again, as I did long ago. It is an honor to fight the head of the famed Kusanagi clan, Mister Saishu. Good luck to you."
COMBATSYS: Saishu has started a fight here.
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Saishu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here.
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Saishu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
"That's alright," Saishu says magnanimously, in response to the psychic's first comment, and he waves his hand with mild dismissiveness. "Me neither, really."
Pause.
"Pfftahahahahah!" Saishu laughs heartily again, shoulders shaking like quaking mountains, and when he's finally able to look up, he's grinning hugely, and his eyes are twinkling merrily. He straightens to his full height for a moment, but only long enough to start to squat slightly again in his somewhat odd fighting stance. "It is an honor to finally meet you as well, Miss Rose, and the best of luck to you as well," he says, and though his eyes still twinkle, the old guy sounds like he really means it. "I've been to Italy before, you know. That was a long time ago, though, back when Gouken and I had to take down that robot ninja who was terrorizing Sicily."
"FIGHT!" says the announcer. He's a bit hard to notice through Saishu's bizarre monologue -- but Saishu, with terrifying suddenness, lunges forward with a flaming punch. As though the weirdness was all a ruse.... hah, no, it's probably not *entirely* a ruse.
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Rose with Kamu Kakari.
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Saishu 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Rose
It's definitely not a ruse. Why? Because said flaming punch smacks Rose right in the gut. Looks like it hurt, too, though she's not out for the count yet. Recoiling from the impact, the fortuneteller swings her step around, using the momentum to her advantage and heading right back toward Saishu. "Sadly, I didn't leave Genoa all that often," she says evenly, reaching out to simply get her hand *near* Saishu, not actually touch, and then, with a flick of the wrist, send him flying with a Psycho powered throwing maneuver to give her some space. "And I had my hands full with the genetically-engineered samurai howler monkeys." Whoa, maybe she does have a sense of humor!
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Saishu with Soul Fade.
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Rose
Saishu's eyes widen in surprise. "Genetically-engineered samurai--" But before he can get his mind around this concept, he is caught in Rose's field and hurled away with incredible force. The audience oohs as he is flung, and then ahhs as he flips multiple times in midair and hits the ground, sinking in on his haunches with the force but not skidding even an inch. He looks up, and his grin is as huge as ever.
No more needs to be said now! With an odd lunge coupled with a few staggers, Saishu closes the distance in record time (and seem to just naturally feint in many perplexing directions as he does so) before leaping forward in a sliding kick. And then bouncing up with a powerful kick of his heels -- man, how strong do you have to be to do something like *that*? -- and with sudden speed, flipping up into the air, and preparing to come down with a first two-fisted hammerblow, right at the top of Rose's head. Can he defeat the natural shield that is her hair!?
Needless to say, he appears to be showing off entirely too much.
COMBATSYS: Rose endures Saishu's Gou Tsui.
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Saishu 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Rose
Answer? Yes and no. Rose doesn't even attempt to get out of the way; rather, she stands her ground with way more stoicism than her relatively smaller frame seems to be able to suggest would be useful. And that blow does indeed land home with a nice, resounding *WHACK* noise. In deference to Saishu's prodigious strength, she *does* grit her teeth from the pain. "That... hurt," she manages to get out. But luckily, she also has her opponent right where she wants him, as it were. Without actually moving her hands, the scarf around her neck suddenly springs to life, looking to simply lash out and smack Saishu a good one right in the chest. Pow!
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Saishu with Aura Scarf.
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Saishu 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Rose
"Hoo-oofff!" That's probably the best way to describe the sound Saishu makes as the psychically enhanced scarf-strike smacks him a good one right in the chest, knocking the wind out of the older fighter and sending him flying back again. He doesn't bother with flipping this time, but just soars and lands with a unique awkward grace of his own. Rising to his feet quickly -- though perhaps not as quickly as the first time -- the audience begins to cheer louder than ever as he raises his hands in the air and, suddenly clenching his fists, emits gouts of flame into the air, triggering sheets of heat to rise up around him. He turns his head to look at the crowd, waggling his eyebrows and thrusting his hands in the air repeatedly, riling them up all the more. Rose *seems* ignored, but...
COMBATSYS: Saishu gathers his will.
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Saishu 1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1 Rose
Well, if Rose's aim here is to play along with Saishu and give everyone a good show, she's doing a good job of it. Not the type to press the attack anyway, Rose takes a deep breath and centers herself, tiny sparkling motes of Soul Power(tm) flowing around her much like Saishu's flames her with him. It's all very DBZ-esque and sparkly. Of course, now the question remains... what's going to come of all this silly power-upping?
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Saishu 1/-======/=======|=======\=====--\1 Rose
Well... this!
Suddenly, having decided for whateevr reason that his showmanship is complete, the elder Kusanagi rushes forward with a sudden burst of flame around him, speeding forward with dreadful purpose, unheeding of whatever Trap Card his opponent may have laid face down while he wasn't paying attention. With another crazy stagger that somehow only manages to make him go *faster*, grinning widely and almost innocently, Saishu, once only a couple meters away, reaches out with a single finger that glows white-hot.
"Tag."
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Rose with Orochinagi'.
- Power hit! -
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Saishu 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Rose
And, typically, the attack turns out to be a projectile, and he doesn't actually tag her at all.
What he *does* do is unleash a huge Orochi-slaying torrent of flame that mercilessly consumes his opponent. Bake until golden. And even as the attack continues, Saishu is already skipping back, arms crossed behind his head with a sly smile; at least, they're crossed until he reaches down to start scratching himself again.
The soul... still... burns! And oh god, does it burn. Rose makes an attempt to block that technique, holding up her shawl in front of her, but to be honest it's just too freakin' fast. Her purple-clad form is temporarily invisible from simply being engulfed in flames... but when all is said and done, not even that highly impressive blast was enough to down Rose, who is somehow 1.) still clothed and 2.) NOT DEAD. Must be amazing Italian samurai monkey powers... or perhaps she had enough presence to coat herself a tiny bit with Soul Power and save her expensive outfit.
"The Kusanagi family flame power... it is truly impressive," Rose intones, getting into the whole samurai movie thing. And then the Psycho Power sparks around her start to grow in intensity. "A false step and I'd most certainly have been incinerate. So... allow me to respond in kind. Soul Spark!" And then she just... flicks her shawl at Saishu. The projectile that comes out, a purplish orb of light, doesn't seem too impressive... the real damage comes from the hellacious psychic shockwave, invisible to all, that surrounds it.
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Saishu with Aura Soul Spark.
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Saishu 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rose
The audience is just totally blown away at this point. Witnessed here are pyrotechnics beyond any earthly fireworks. The Kusanagi family's trademark incredible blast of firepower engulfs Rose with atomizing force, blackening the stage around her, but she emerges still standing, and strikes right back with a powerful psychic blast. The orb of energy seems unimpressive at first -- but the audience can see Saishu's eyes widen in horror, just for a moment, before the shockwave actually unleashes, splintering the stage beneath its area of detonation, and bowling the elder Kusanagi to the ground. He stares at the sky, dazed, just for few moments, before a slow grin spreads on his woozy features again.
And then, again moving without any real transition, he suddenly rolls forward with alarming speed, and rolls *out* of the roll and to his feet with highly practiced grace that should be beyond any man his age, casting out his hand in a dangerously gentle motion that--
--emits a little spark.
There's a deathly silent pause. Saishu looks into Rose's eyes, and waggles his eyebrows... just a quarter-second before a geyser of flame explodes right beneath her feet!
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Saishu's Tsumugari.
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Saishu 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rose
Whoa there, Captain Barbecue. Maybe the eyebrow waggle was a bad idea, because just as the gout of flame is about to engulf her, Rose takes a single step backward, letting the sudden burst spark upwards in a really impressive pyrotechnic lightshow. Of course, the psychic also uses that time to do something unorthodox: vault *over* the fire, looking to snag Saishu's head with her hands as she flies by. Not actually touching, as before, but rather HALTING in midair, holding herself aloft as she pours Soul Power into his freakin' cabeza, looking to set off a nice spark of her own blue-hued Psycho power flame before rebounding off to the side. Will it work? Or will this fight go on into perpetuity?
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Saishu with Soul Drain.
- Power hit! -
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Rose
It's possible to see, if you have a keen enough eye and a quick enough mind, Saishu slump his shoulders and roll his eyes slightly as soon as he senses that his attack has, incredibly, missed. The sentiment is pretty obvious. 'Well, crap.'
There's no way he's getting out of his attack motion in time to evade Rose's attack. Her mental attack chars his psyche, and the elder Kusanagi staggers and grimaces, blinking a couple times as his eyes glaze over...
...and as the woman comes back down, he swings his leg around, in a surprisingly sharp attempt to simply trip her as she falls. He grins, and--
COMBATSYS: Saishu has reached second wind!
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Rose
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Rose with Light Kick.
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Rose
--sways, but does not fall.
Leaning over his shoulder, he casts a little wink at the four dismayed boys behind him, who promptly burst into cheers.
DUDE. Saishu Kusanagi? Is hardcore. Rose, hoping that in both of their weakened states that throw would finish Saishu off (well, at least KO him, not kill him) is totally unprepared for the kick, which impacts pretty solidly in her side. She... is swaying with the energy of the barely-up, but she's up! "You are most impressive, Mr. Kusanagi," she compliments. "Such vigor at your age is to be commended." At this point, Rose feels the crowd has been satisfied, and thus decides, win or lose, she's done her job. Deciding to go out with a bang, she again takes her shawl and, with a flick of the wrist, snaps it at Saishu. "Soul Spark!" Just the same as before, though without the invisible mental jackhammer backing it up. Booyah!
COMBATSYS: Saishu slows Soul Spark from Rose with Yami Barai.
[ < > //// ]
Saishu 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Rose
Well, Saishu's a bit more tired than he thought he was. He summons up his flames once again, but it's getting a *lot* tougher, and despite his constant rush of adrenaline and inner fire since the last few devastating attacks, he's feeling fatigue catch up to him. He can't get the fire out in time, and he only manages to soften the blow a bit. Staggering back, he clutches his head, stumbles--
--the audience holds their collective breath--
--and he *remains standing*. And then he looks at Rose. And grins, eye twinkling.
This man is a hero to the people.
Man. That is one tough guy. Most people can't take the sort ego-hammering psychic assault Rose has been laying out, yet Saishu -- with guts and vigor! -- has been sucking it up and coming back for more. In one final play to the drama of the scene, Rose catches his grin, chuckles to herself, and raises her voice. "Not done yet? Have another! Soul Spark!" This time she makes the flip with the shawl before the flick that releases the projectile *extra* special just for the fans. Perhaps they'll be demanding this matchup again in the future! Though a singed and bruised Rose secretly admits to herself, God I hope not.
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Saishu with Soul Spark.
[ < > /// ]
Saishu 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rose
Saishu is sent staggering back to the edge of the ring. "Hey, kids," he calls to the four by the side of the stage, gawking at him with wide eyes as he looks down with a bleary gaze and an easy smile, "looks like I'm done for. Don't forget what I said, though, okay?"
And then, with the ready spirit of a true warrior, Saishu turns and dashes back toward Rose, and hurls himself at her, grinning hugely. "Aaaaayaaahhhh!"
No, I'm serious. He hurls himself at her. That's all.
COMBATSYS: Saishu can no longer fight.
[ \\\ <
Rose 0/-------/---====|
[OOC] Sakura falls over.
[OOC] Saishu says, "Interrupt. I DARE YOU."
[OOC] Rose dies.
[OOC] Rose says, "I have all 99's."
[OOC] Rose says, "Including Soul Reflect."
[OOC] Saishu says, "DO IT."
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Large Thrown Object from Saishu with Soul Reflect.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
[OOC] Rose DIES LAUGHING.
[OOC] Saishu says, "I KNEW IT"
[OOC] Sagat grins!
[OOC] Saishu says, "I JUST TOTALLY KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN"
[OOC] Saishu says, "Oh god yes."
[OOC] Saishu says, "I am the man."
[OOC] Saishu can't stop cracking up.
[OOC] Sagat says, "That's... hilarious. If you don't mind me saying. :)"
[OOC] Rose says, "THat was thebest fight I have ever had here."
[OOC] Sakura says, "When I see 99..."
[OOC] Sakura says, "... man. @_@"
...well, damn. Rose isn't in great shape, but she's certainly in better shape than Saishu. Or so she thought. Suddenly he's pulling a mini-Vega at her and... she actually just sort of blanks on what to do. Get out of the way? Dodge? Call in an air strike? Collecting herself, the psychic weighs her options. It's a projectile, right? So knock it away with the scarf. That's what you DO, right? A projectile comes in and you charge up the shawl and you reflect. Saishu approaches. She charges the shawl. There's a flash of light!
Cut to 10 seconds later, where Rose and Saishu lay, crumpled together, in a heap somewhere out in the crowd. They are BOTH out like a light. And the crowd? The crowd is eating up every last second of it. Truly this was a pyrotechnic show for the ages. And when Rose wakes up she'll probably regret this, but in the back of her mind, Saishu was a wonderful challenger and she truly did enjoy testing her strength against him. And as the SNF announcer would probably say, as the camera zooms in for a scandalous close-up that is going to make Saishu's wife PISSED? Good fight, good night!
Aww, nah, it's a cute close up. Lookit him, he's fast asleep.
Covertly, looking mildly embarrassed for the old guy, the medics sidle in and drag him off her once the cameras have had their fill. And the audience is *still* going nuts.
Saishu's done his job, that's for sure.
Log created by Saishu, and last modified on 15:44:57 10/15/2005.