Description: A chance meeting on Sound Beach turns into a fight with a surprising finish! (Double KO)
There was just something about Thursdays evenings that were...magical, here.
Maybe it had something to do with the proximity to the ocean, untouched by the muck of industrial waste and reasonably unpolluted by uncaring families. Maybe it was the way the sun warmed the sands that ended up between your toes. Maybe it was the crisp air that couldn't help but worm it's way into the lungs and cleanse away the sins of a smoker...or simply a city environment. Maybe it was the whole scenario that gave the Sound Beach area such a carefree, careless aura.
No matter what it was, though, it attracted no small share of fighters. Something about the serenity attracted them like moths to a flame, and the Muay Thai Panther was no exception. Given the amount of chaos and strife that defined his existence, it seemed almost antithetical, and yet here he was, relaxing in a beach chair, eyes unfocused yet facing the general direction of the water. Gone is his Syndicate 'Dress Code Compliant' Black suit, Gone is his armband signifying the loss of his teammate and friend. In it's place is a pair of swimming trunks...dry, though, as if swimming was the last thing on his mind.
Thursdays. It was the one day where he had a light 'workload', the time when he could forget about being under Geese's thumb and think about himself as an individual instead. Thursdays...a magical day.
Thursdays aren't quite so magical for Sakura. The main thing that's good about a Thursday is that it's the day before Friday, which is the day before Saturday Night Fights. Other than that, it's pretty boring.
And really, boredom is the Taiyo student's worst enemy. Which would be why she'd headed to the amusement park with her friends for a while. Most of them lived in different parts of town, so by the time she reaches the beach she's all alone. Not like she's concerned about getting beat up or anything. Freeman's floating face-down in a river somewhere, right? And Vice, well, she's proven she can take Vice on.
Tony, though. Sakura hasn't seen him in =forever=. She might be a bit harder to recognize, as she's now wearing jeans and a maroon hoodie rather than her school uniform -- but the medal on her lapel is still fairly prominent. She veers off the sidewalk to approach Tony's spot in the sand. "... Styles! Long time no see, man... What's shakin'?"
Footfalls in the sand. The sounds of people--no, wait, a single person--approaching. These were the kind of cues that should've snapped Tony out of his pseudo-meditative state and brought him back into the here and now. It could've been Syndicate 'co-employees' looking to start trouble, or even worse one of his bosses 'checking up on officers' as it were.
It should've, yes, but it didn't. There was just something about Thursday evening down by the beach. Tony couldn't be bothered with the business, not today...damn the consequences. Geese Tower could be burning right now, and this soldier wouldn't be moving. No way, no how.
Now if only he could bring that kind of lackadaisical conviction to Geese's face. Then he'd be all set.
But no, the voice that slowly seeps through the cracks in his meditative state is distinctly female...and a young one, at that. That meant it wasn't a business call...Geese would never put a woman in charge of anything, it seemed.
Mudpuddle brown eyes clarified and shifted back into focus, lids shutting and opening in rapid succession before Tony craned his head towards the source of that voice.
"Wh...huh?" There's a long moment before recognition clicked--he's only seen Sakura out of her uniform once, and that was when He and Cody were desperately battling for Sakura's pants.
Kinda.
"...Sakura?"
Well... technically, that =was= a uniform. Just a different one than Tony may have been used to seeing.
"Yup!" Of course, her expression doesn't change anywhere near as much as Tony's, partly because she's wide awake. Not even a scratch on her, despite an earlier scuffle with Mimiru. Something about that. She runs her fingers through her hair, crouching down in the sand beside Tony -- not too close, not too far, just a comfortable distance. "What'cha been up to, huh? Ain't seen you around lately..." She cranes her neck for a moment, just wondering on an off chance if there's a medal on... but seeing none, she shrugs lightly. "Just been doing that whole medal tournament, here. It's been pretty fun, even though Xiangfei cleaned house on me..." Wry smirk, there.
"..I've been busy."
Apparently, that's more than enough explanation in Tony's eyes. Perhaps Sakura didn't deserve to know more on what's been keeping the kickboxer busy. Perhaps the somewhat terse response keeps Tony from having to verbalize a -real- answer. Perhaps it keeps him from having to think on the matter too long. Of course, Sakura manages to give Tony a decent escape from that line of thinking with the mention of the tournament.
"The Kanzuki Medal Tournament," Tony notes, putting on absentminded airs. "I signed up for that a while back, and got the medals in the mail, but haven't done any actual fighting yet."
Insert uncomfortable pause...here.
"Just been busy, is all. Doing a lot of thinking."
"Oh." Kasugano's voice kinda falls flat after that. Really, what else do you say? She could force the topic, but by and large, Tony's still a =friend= of hers -- albeit one she doesn't do a whole lot of talking to. Especially lately. So she's not totally comfortable with expanding.
The tournament, though... at least there is something else to discuss. "... ah... did you bring any with you?" It's plain to hear the enthusiasm in her voice. Like... maybe she'll get to actually =do= something tonight. If he'd brought at least one of the requisitive medals that's required, anyway.
"... Ah." she adds, her voice falling in sync with the downward turn of her lips. "... want me to scram? Didn't mean to bother you or nothin'..."
"...Yeah, I brought some medals." Almost as soon as the words left his lips, Tony couldn't help but wince slightly--though the betrayal of emotion is quickly rectified with a somewhat solid front-face. Allowing his facial features to forcibly relax into a neutral mask, Tony continues on. "They're back with my clothes, but I've got 'em."
Now, where are his clothes? That's another question entirely. Presumably they were nearby, though, for it was unlikely that he walked down here in a pair of trunks. Meanwhile, Tony took a moment to think over the option. /Did/ he want Sakura to leave him to his peace? It was obvious that the girl was spoiling for a fight, and yet...
"I've seen the listings," Tony noted, sitting upright in his chair. His voice was forced into an overwhelmingly neutral disposition, the kind that someone might take on when the threat of critical mass was only moments away. It wasn't quite right--especially since Sakura didn't -do- anything to him, but it was there regardless. "You're not on top, but you're doing real respectable for yourself. I didn't know you and Xiangfei fought, but that doesn't involve me too much. I know you're doing good in the standings though, better than me."
Insert another uncomfortable pause, this one shorter than the last.
"So here you are now, and here I am. Right here, right now. It's kinda quiet--but those folks at Kanzuki have probably been watching...somehow."
At that, Tony makes a waving hand gesture, dismissive, towards the Ferris Wheel that helps the Amusement Park stick out.
"So, everything's in place. You want my medals, help push you up into a better ranking, match you right up with Ryu from last I saw. Still in the running, maybe even into the finals with some luck. Me, I'm Ess-Oh-Elle, waiting for the next tournament to come along, or maybe picking up scraps in an SNF."
While the actual content of his speech might seem more than a little aggressive, Tony maintains that same even, measured pacing in his speech. Planting his palms against the armrests on his chair, Tony stands--slowly, leisurely--to full height.
"Am I right?"
"... o-oh..." stammers Sakura, looking down as he explains where his medals are. Even though she can't see them, she figures they =have= to be close, right? That's why she tears her eyes away from Tony to look for the medals, or the clothes, for a brief moment.
But Tony continues to talk to her, breaking that concentration and drawing her eyes again. "Well, I mean, it's just that..." Reddening slightly, she looks down for a moment, pausing to compose her thoughts. "... what I mean is I used to beat her a lot. All the time." Uncomfortable pauses aren't =entirely= Tony's forte, here, as Sakura looks away distractedly.
Until Tony continues talking. In some small measure... indignant, or passive-aggressive, what-have-you. It's subtle, and Sakura doesn't initially respond with any more than her usual attentive look, a half-smile by default. Tilting her head at the final question, she doesn't see it as aggressive... at least not until a light twitch crosses her eyebrow. "W...what?" she asks, chestnut-brown gaze following Tony as he rises. "I =do= wanna fight..." she insists, pitch rising as she continues with a mild frown, "but if you're gonna be all grumpypants over it I'll just be on my way an' all!" Bounding back to her feet, she scratches her nose. "No skin off my nose!"
Pause. Her expression returns to neutral, with even a hint of a smile, "... besides, I'm only 'up' one medal. If I don't make it, I ain't gonna cry my eyes out or nothin'."
"Grumpypants?" Tony's smile emerges at that, having trouble fighting off the urge to laugh at the ludicrous nature of the word, if nothing else. "Well."
Tony moves a couple of feet away from the chair, taking the opportunity to raise his hands far overhead, stretching his body out and arcing backwards. Holding the position for a long, deep breath, Tony brings his arms down in time with his exhalation.
Thursdays. They were magic, remember--and even if the crisp evening air wasn't responsible, it was still good air regardless.
"Good for Xiangfei." Not turning to face Sakura, Tony's eyes follow a ripple in the water, the formation of a stillborn tide. "I used to beat the hell out of her too. Usually, it wouldn't even be much of a challenge, just kicking her until she stopped staring at me with those godda--" Tony cut himself off at that, blinking. Somewhere along the line, his hands raised to chest level, partially clenched as if re-enacting a part of her brutalizing at his hands. "Uh. Good for her."
A hard swallow, then, as Tony turned to face the Ansatsuken understudy. "So, either she's become better, or you've slipped. Let's see which it was."
COMBATSYS: Tony has started a fight here.
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Tony 0/-------/-------|
Sakura's... really not sure how to interpret Tony's emotions. She knows =something's= up from his change of pitch, his body language, just... everything. He's holding back, when she was halfway expecting the words to come spilling out in the style of old, before the Syndicate or R had something to do with his vocal patterns. But no... just a tenuous grasp of control.
Tensing her jaw, Sakura patiently undoes her shoes and socks, before rising to her feet, taking a few steps back in the sand. She finds his matter-of-fact delivery of a challenge to be a bit unsettling. Like he's carrying himself better, seeing the need for... formality? Gravity? Something like that, anyway. And it only shows in the puzzled, lopsided look she returns to him.
"... Yeah." Gulp. Tossing the shoes to the side, her hands ball into fists, and she gives a solid nod, widening her barefoot stance for stability in the shifting sand. "Let's find out what's changed in the past six, seven months or so, huh?"
And then a brief smile of recollection. "... Didn't we have our first fight here, too?"
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
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Tony 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
As a somewhat interesting side note, Tony's change in vocal patterns had little to do with R, Mature, Vice, Iori, or anything/anyone in the Southtown Syndicate. Tony's shift was based in something a bit more pragmatic than that, something much simpler: For almost a year, he traveled exclusively between Thailand, Southtown, and Hong Kong. Metro City was about as much a home to him as Ireland, and it was only a matter of time before he grew acclimated and took their manners of speech up as his own.
Simple, Really...and having little to do with the here and now. So, then, what -is- going on with the here and now? I'm glad you asked.
For a long moment, Tony honestly considered letting Sakura go about her business. It might've served well to spite her, even if it came at his ultimate expense. At the same time, Tony couldn't resist it--it was the mention of Xiangfei that did it. If Xiangfei was able to beat Sakura, what did that mean for him? Did the young waitress move out of his 'easy-beatin's' range, or was there something more, here? Was Tony regressing further?
No, of course not. He'd fight Sakura, and he'd damn well near take her head off. Then he'd fight Xiangfei, just to re-assert his place in the world. It'd be great...just don't leave space for failure.
"That first fight means nothing. I'm -not- that Tony Styles anymore." It was true, too. Tony was certainly something -else-, now, for better or worse. On that note, Tony advances quickly, cocking back a fist and letting fly with a blow meant to catch Sakura in the temple. Mind you, it was telegraphed to some degree, but it might not matter given the whole of his body behind it. "Let's do this!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Tony's Fierce Punch.
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Tony 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
Well, it's not like Sakura has some secret window into the secret lifestyle of Tony Styles. Quite the contrary -- it's kept safe and locked up inside, and only Tony has the key. Which is sad, but there's only so much she can be entrusted to know.
But there's two things she does know -- Xiangfei's gotten better, and so has she. The third -- how good Tony's gotten -- is what she's finding out right now. The full-out punch demands that Sakura raise both of her forearms to defend her head -- and even those don't completely stop the shockwave ramming back into her forehead. "Nnf..." Tony does not hit light, after all -- it's only a quick backpedal through the sand that lets Sakura escape the full brunt of the blow. Footwork, as the boxers say, is the key to success.
Though they probably weren't thinking in terms of just hauling off and kicking people, which is what Sakura's planning to do now. "Yeah! Bring it on, Styles!" Nothing fancy, as per Ryu's style -- just a direct thrust kick to Styles' sternum, with her torso twisted towards the ground to impart more power to it. No flash, just solid technique! "Hyaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Tony blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.
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Tony 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sakura
...and so it began.
Driving his fist into Sakura's guard, Tony's face dropped into a grimace, frustration starting to grasp at what few handholds and footsteps it can find. It was a very small minority in the myriad of thoughts and emotions that were contained in his head, but then it always started like that. Small, innocuous. Don't mind me, just moving in for the winter.
Pulling his arm back, Tony isn't left with much time to prepare himself for Sakura's return blow--turning his body to the side, Tony did his best to brace himself before taking the blow, the bare foot catching the kickboxer in the bicep instead of the midsection. Her blow is rewarded with a 'hrk!' sound, though it doesn't slow him for long.
Sagat would be proud, really--and on the opposite side of the coin, Tony was forced to believe Ryu would be too. Both fighters seemed to hold a commanding proficiency over their basics, the bread and butter attacks that belonged to their respective styles. The demonstration would continue, as Tony tried to up the ante with a kick of his own--angled low at her standing leg, the idea was to bring his shin across the side of her knee, but the reality of the situation would be known in just another moment...
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Medium Kick from Tony with Small Hadouken.
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Tony 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura's a bit sour that her kick didn't land -quite- as intended... but in the end, the reality isn't too far from Tony's intent: his shin does indeed strike Sakura on the knee.
She just happens to be moving it out of his way at about half the rate he's kicking her, due to a brief sidestep. It still lands true, causing her to list slightly to the side in the process... in fact, if it weren't for the brief flash of energy from her palm, it might've been a wasted effort. Said energy just happens to be in the form of a bright blue blossom of chi, rushing out to slam into Tony's chest at point-blank range. "Hadouken!" Hopefully it'll stun him lng enough to grant Sakura a brief moment of respite with which to pull herself out of range. It's pretty obvious the strike hit her, at least, from the way she drags her leg, even if all she says is "Ow, Tony... you sure ain't hittin' any =lighter=..."
The explosion of chi washes over his bare skin, his choice in beachwear doing him some slight favors--at least he wouldn't have to worry about replacing a shirt or something. Once the cascade of blue light has died into nothingness, it leaves behind little more than bad memories and the start of a double-fist sized bruise near the upper set of abdominal muscles. It's enough to force the kickboxer, already putting himself off-balance somewhat from his attack, to backpedal lest he lose his footing entirely.
Once his balance is regained, though? There's a bigger story to be told in his eyes--wild, wide, angry and yet restrained at the same time. Rather than cut loose with a retort of the physical or verbal nature, Tony's self-control wins out...for now, at least.
Sucking in a deep breath, Tony allows his arms to relax themselves into a middling guard, weight shifting to the balls of his feet.
COMBATSYS: Tony focuses on his next action.
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Tony 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
And while Tony might be getting intensely angry... Sakura's still seeing this as a friendly matchup. Not much to lose, not much to win, right? Of course... she's still expecting Tony won't beat her into a bloody pulp if she falls unconscious -- an attitude liable to get her in trouble later. What are the Kanzuki cameramen gonna do, stop him? Pff.
Regardless... Tony seems to be keeping his distance. And that... is some cause for concern. The restraint is one thing -- Kasugano gives a brief nod of approval. But more important is what's going through his head right now. He's focused... but she's not able to read what he's really thinking.
Times like this, go with what you know. And in this case, what Sakura knows is that her fireballs are a relatively safe bet. As she couples her hands by her right side, another, brighter bloom of chi forms in her palms. A smile crosses her lips, though with Tony being quiet, smug trash-talking doesn't seem to cross her mind yet. The smile's likely to tick him off more, naturally, but she hasn't considered that.
The concussive force, bundled into an orb the size of a trash can, probably takes precedence over her facial expressions anyway. "Hadoooouken!"
COMBATSYS: Tony fails to interrupt Medium Hadouken from Sakura with Flying Knee Thrust.
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Tony 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
As Sakura pulls her arms back for the inevitable, Tony didn't waste much time with standing around waiting for it--a solid contrast to his quiet focus from moments ago. Coiling his entire body, Tony held the position just long enough to feel his midsection crunch down as far as it could before his entire body exploded in a controlled blast of fury and muscle. One would have to believe that Tony knew the consequences--even as his body began to fly through the air, guided by an outstretched knee. One would have to believe that he knew he'd be eating the ball of chi for his efforts, and one would have to believe that he knew the risks associated with such an action.
So, then, why did he do it? Overconfidence? Or just confidence? Recklessness? Or a calculated risk? No matter his reasoning, the result is clear enough: Tony and Fireball meet...Fireball wins. Flawless Victory. Tony is sent back from where he came, partially on chifire before crashing into the ground...a mess of limbs and apprehension.
Aaaaand with that, Sakura hehs lightly. Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried to plow straight through her Hadouken; some fare better than others, after all. But after throwing two, Sakura's wondering if she shouldn't take things easy for a moment, lest Tony's overconfidence, recklessness, or calculated risk start infecting her better judgment. She's had training... and this is serious. Not to mention recorded, so any screwups will be brought up with Ryu, most likely.
"... Tony, are you..." ... wait, what was that? Sakura's broken her concentration? She seems to have startled herself, as well, by breaking the silence. But shaking her head, she continues on, clenching her fists at her side as a small whirlwind of sand kicks into existence around her. "... Are you still training with Sagat? I... had a spar with him a couple weeks ago. He's doin' well..." The whirlwind takes on a slight blue tint, kicking her headband into disarray as she gives a half-smile back to Tony. She can't always put her curiosity on hold for a fight.
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
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Tony 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
Taking the opportunity to pull his head out of the sand, Tony moved quickly to right himself--not bothering to remove the sand, but instead focusing in on the blue hurricane that was likely to fully envelop Sakura. When he first started to fight, he assumed that the whirlwind of chi energy was some kind of attack, or perhaps a defensive measure. Since then, he's learned otherwise, but...would that knowledge do him good in the here and now?
"Of course Sagat's fine. He'll be fine until the day he dies."
Taking the moment to spit free a gout of dry, rough sand-spittle, Tony started after the girl oncemore, picking up speed as he moved until seconds before an out-and-out collision. So, then, to what end is the run geared for? Again, we couldn't be happier you've taken interest.
Rearing back with one of those large legs of his, Tony sent the potentially offending limb straight up and out, looking to drill Sakura in an NFL Punter's dropkick...right between the uprights.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Tony's Strong Kick.
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Tony 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Sakura
"Well, are you or not?" Some part of her may be able to refrain from asking stupid questions, but that curiosity's been on her mind ever since she last saw Sagat. Is he training with the big man still?
Clearly, there's a more pressing issue to attend to though: Tony's foot coming right between her legs. Mind... there's one really good way to stop it.
Clamp her knees together and drop to the sand, forearms taking the brunt of the blow. It helps that there's a decently sized wind kicked up from that whirlwind -- the warmth of the chi energy does a bit to numb the affected areas from pain.
Mind... at this point Sakura's just a bit curious about something else. "T-Tony, did you just try to kick me in the crotch?!" she stammers, a furious red tinge flooding her cheeks. "You jerk! Here I am acting all =polite= and stuff to you and..." Well, indignance gets the better of her, as she slaps the heel of her hand against the sand, kicking up a furious cloud and sending it right into Tony's eyes! "Nnnngh!" Well, that's her panicked goal anyway, as she pushes back to her feet and skitters to a safer distance. "Fight me right, dammit!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Tony with Thrown Object.
- Power hit! -
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Tony 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Sakura
"Waug-pffh!"
Alright. Sakura has discovered the counter to the angry black man--sand, and lots of it. Lest there be a misunderstand, we ought define 'lots'...in this case, it's however much Sakura kicked up. Stumbling backwards, Tony wiped at his eyes just long enough to start up some kind of monosyllabic...thing. Not quite a word, more than a gurgle, less than the four letters needed to spell it, Tony was hitting the threshold where polite facades go to the wayside and are replaced with something a bit more...honest.
But yeah, Mostly Tony just tried to kick her in the crotch. Tried damn hard, too. Following up with that same theme is Tony's foot, driving wildly out in -that general direction- and hoping that blind luck scores him an interesting hit.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Strong Kick from Tony with Shou'ou Ken EX.
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Tony 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1 Sakura
Well... the good thing about Sakura is that her moods are very, very fickle. So her anger doesn't last long... especially not when Tony's sitting there stumbling around and all. Sakura breaks into gentle laughter -- well, okay, there's nothing gentle about laughing at the fact she just slapped sand into his eyes, but she still thinks it's perfectly justified -- "Hahahaa... I-I'm sorry about that, Tony, but -- hee -- You look so-- so..."
Covering her mouth with a hand, she's almost not ready for the wild, blinded man swinging her way. Almost. Even though she's in the midst of a gigglefit, her reflexes are still on cue, sending her into an impulsive reaction as Tony's foot flies towards her. It hits her pretty dang hard in the right thigh... but while Tony might not be able to =see= Sakura yet, it's a safe bet he can feel her fist crashing into his sternum, a leaping uppercut threatening to carry him up, up, and away.
Her cry is a bit mangled by the pain though... "Shoou'oOWWW DANG HOLY CRAP that HURT!" So much for the follow through -- just after her uppercut lands, she falls back to the sand, heels digging in as she tries to stabilize herself. "Atchaaa..."
"This is funny to you?!"
While Sakura's moods are struck by bouts of capriciousness, they generally fall into the benevolent spectrum. Tony's, on the other hand, generally don't need much of anything at all to send him spiraling out into a rage-filled tornado of...something, one would have to assume. Actually finding Sakura with that blind swing would've made it worthwhile to the kickboxer, if only it didn't have that sizable cost attached to it. That...sucked, more or less, and sent Tony reeling backwards oncemore. Glaring through sandstung eyes, he did the best he could to stablize himself--and once he was, Tony lashed out with a hellacious looking roundhouse kick, the kind of thing designed to end fights and shorten careers.
Unfortunate for Tony, then, that Sakura's head wasn't in the pathway.
His foot travelling the arc of the attack, Tony spins through for another roundhouse, again catching nothing but air. It's not until the second roundhouse is almost complete that Tony's true intention can be noted--A thick arc of shining black energy cut across the air between them, vibrating in midair before shooting off after Sakura. The battlecry afterwards just serves as sign that he's reached his peak:
"PAN-THURR SHOT!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura slows Supreme Panther Shot from Tony with Shinkuu Hadouken.
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Tony 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
"We...well, it =was!=" insists Sakura as she tries her damndest to put on a proper face for the fight. Her reflexive attack did a good job, but it was incomplete, apparently, as she's still got a guilty grin on.
Mind... the Supreme Panther Shot came as a bit of a surprise. Gritting her teeth, she widens her stance -- still a bit shaky from that kick -- and sweeps her hands to her side. "Shinkuuu...." A crackle of electricity, a sudden spike of energy, and an orb of energy swirls into her hands with a flash. One split-second later, her hands swing forward, the projectile neatly intercepting the black energy hurtling towards her. "HADOOOOUKEN!"
he Shinkuu Hadouken looks pretty awesome until it gets a black hole punched through the center of it, causing it to spiral rapidly out of control and dispel into an amorphous cloud of fading blue chi. But the remainder of Tony's attack does manage to continue on to strike Sakura, knocking her back a good three or four feet, her feet kicking up plumes of sand in their wake as her hands snap to the either side for balance. "Kuhh..." comments the schoolgirl, the wind knocked out of her for a moment, as her hands swing forward. Y'know, to keep her from falling over.
Oh, that smile, though. It returns after a few seconds. Maybe it'll just tick Tony off more, but she can't help it -- she's enjoying this!
She might be enjoying it, but Tony? Oh, Tony. That crazy Tony.
Frustration was an odd thing. Rarely did it go away, even to a limited degree--it could hide, certainly, but it couldn't be eliminated. It would sit, and fester, and rot at the normal, positive links in the brain, waiting for a decent opportunity before striking out, fully formed and ready to rock. Tony Styles was suffering from the fully formed apparition, his own frustrations come to consume him whole.
At least in his mind, he had much more to lose from this fight than he had to gain. There was more than some medal at stake, at least as far as Tony was concerned. The medal was a secondary goal, if even that. First and foremost, he had his ego on the line. He had his career at stake and his future hanging in the balance. On one side, the thought that maybe he wasn't too old for this after all. On the other, a reaffirmation of something he tried his damnest to shut out. It was a lot to deal with, a hell of a lot, especially for a man whose natural response to frustration was violence, sadistic and peverse.
Maybe it was time to give in, just a little bit.
"WWWWRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tony advanced, though in hindsight it isn't so much a collected, coherent advance as it was a balls-out lunge of the rudest variety.
COMBATSYS: Tony successfully hits Sakura with Unrelenting Fury Chain.
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Tony 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
It might've been expected that the attack take the form of some kind of strike: A kick, a punch, a knee, an elbow...maybe even a headbutt. It would certainly follow par for the fight, if one looked at it. Unfortunately, none of these things occur. In a moment of true berserk mastery, Tony simply charges forward...and doesn't stop. Bringing his shoulder to bear against Sakura's midsection, Tony's legs didn't stop pistoning against the ground for a few feet yet, taking the young ansatsuken practicioner for a brief ride before crashing into the ground. Rather than land away, or off to the side of the young girl, Tony landed squarely atop Sakura...in a mounting position, and by no accident.
What follows next could be neatly summarizes as 'a hell of a lot of punching', except that wouldn't do it nearly the kind of justice that it may deserve. Blow after blow falls in rapid succession, unrelenting as the tireless pursuit of 'vengeance' fuels fist and fury, one and the same...
Well, if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's 'Don't piss off Tony Styles.' Because Sakura =will= be hurting for this, later. Knocked to the ground, straddled and what have you is embarassing enough, but the dizzying array of punches utterly bashes up the schoolgirl's face, sending drops of blood flying every which way, howls of pain coming with each solid blw. Violence is rarely the answer, but ... well, it's the answer =now=, isn't it?
But everything has an end, and when the rage cessates, even in the slightest, Sakura's going to attempt a last-ditch effort at saving face -- thrusting her palm up through to his face, and sending a burst of blue flame up to meet him at point blank range, and hopefully knock him off her. C'mon, class, say it with Sakura: "Hadoooouken!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Tony 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Tony fails to interrupt Medium Hadouken from Sakura with Chokehold.
COMBATSYS: Tony can no longer fight.
'...Hadouken.'
Thursday evenings out on the beach were truly magical. Maybe it had something to do with the way blood arced through the air and into the sand. Maybe it was the strangely soothing throb of pain that shot through a myriad of bruises, bumps, and welts. Maybe it was the way fists on flesh could make a lullabye out of breaking, snapping, and dull thuds. Whatever it was, Thursday evenings were possessed of qualities Tony couldn't duplicate on any other day. Thursdays just plain made him feel -good- about life, generally.
But just as the moon gives way to the sun, Thursday doesn't last forever. Thursday becomes Friday morning, and it's time for all the worries and the pain and the tension to come flooding back in, fighting with frustration for the prime real estate in his conscious mind.
Sakura's telltale draw of the hands allows Tony to know what -something- is up, and most likely something the Muay Thai Panther wasn't going to be particularly pleased over.
He needed to stop it, somehow. How? It wasn't like punching her in the hand was a good solution. Getting up and dodging out of the way wasn't a solution, and he knew full well that trying to steady himself for the blow would've been an exercise in futility.
So, then, what? Was Tony Styles going to have to choke a b**ch? YES, YES HE WAS.
But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Sakura's hands were simply faster than Tony's, and the signature blue ball of doom slams into his face a second before those large hands of his could wrap fully around Sakura's (presumably) slender throat. C'est la vie.
Rocking backwards from the hit, Tony crashed into the sand...spent.
And Sakura? ... Well, with blood smeared all across her face and her hoodie, and multiple freshly-formed bruises spotting all along her upper torso... yeah. Not much chance of her getting up. She can throw Hadoukens till the cows come home, but when the battle gets brought to her, there's no turning it away at the door. It'd be fun to mix metaphors even more than this, but really and truly, Sakura's already down on the sand... it's a pretty simple process to just close her eyes with that same faint half-smile from before. And... yeah, passing out is imminent -- the status quo is maintained. Good night, Sakura. Good night, Tony.
Log created by Sakura, and last modified on 08:07:03 11/11/2005.