Description: Hell hath no fury like a nin kicked in the balls. (Winner: Seishirou)
Southtown Harbour. The heart of the port district. A warehouse used by a courier shipping company. One used to store rather -large- items.
The place is mostly empty, the warehouse floor lying open, an expanse of bare concrete. There aren't many customers who demand items in -such- bulk, even if it's the holiday season. But there are a few large packing crates here and there, and even a few shipping containers.
Acacia's sitting atop one, legs danging down the side. The heels of her boots rapping against the metal panels as she swings them a little. Whistling a snatch of tune, a Christmas carol involving large amounts of cold white precipitation, she glances toward the warehouse doors. Obviously waiting for somebody.
The container she's sitting on has a large Neo League symbol stenciled on the side.
So, he's been called out.
It's been awhile since he last met with Gillespie--she /is/ a member of the same team, of course, but the now incorrectly named Finishing Three was always a tad insular, wasn't it? But, regardless of the time frame, it's with a familiar snicker at the note that she left him that Seishirou decided it might be time to meet up again. Of course. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to state that he's interested in what she mgiht have for him.
"Not too late, am I?"
He has that note in his pocket right now, standing just behind Acacia on a neighboring crate a comfortable distance aways from the girl. As always, it's never clear just how he came in. Hands in pockets, he looks around the the League setup. Noting the walls and the clutter. Yeah... "It's been a long time." Not a question. Ryouhara isn't really one in the way of making idle conversation when it doesn't suit him. Wasting words, and all that.
He figures.. Acacia will get to what she believes is more important in her own time. The most respect he can offer is just to allow her to do so. Therefore, that's the last from him, pending further provocation.
Acacia snaps her head around. The sudden motion causes her hair to fly, silver strands whipping under the warehouse's arc lights. She quells her surprise, though, burying it in a snort. Honestly, she was expecting him to do -something- like that. She figures the guy probably gets a kick out of making amazing ninja entrances.
Must be part of his charter.
Arching an eyebrow, Acacia makes a show of checking her watch, pulling back the sleeve of her Army jacket and peering at the black rubber chronometer strapped to her wrist - over a motorcycle glove. The movement makes it apparent, though Seishirou's probably already noticed this...that she's dressed even heavier than she normally is. Jungle camo army jacket over a grey shirt, unbuttoned...with a black wool turtleneck under -that-. Sturdy-looking gloves, BDU pants, and steel-capped work boots. She doesn't answer his question, not directly, just gives a shrug. She then shifts her hand, picking up a small clipboard lying by her side. She tosses it to Seishirou, the single sheet attached to the board fluttering as it arcs through the air. It's the sort of thin blue-smeared paper characteristic of a carbon copy - but the text printed there is clear enough, though. Above the messy scrawl of Acacia's signature are a few terse lines. The name of the shipping company, a couple of addresses...and the contents of the container, of course.
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Tortoise, Giant Galapagos (Inflatable) -- Quantity: 1 (ONE)
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Acacia shrugs, again. "Actually, that's not accurate. They threw in a couple of smaller turtles for freebies."
Smirk.
"Merry Christmas."
"...."
Well, he knows where it came from, but after catching the clipboard and surveying it for some time, trading glances between it and the crate with some degree of what can.. only be expressed as pure consternation that she brought it /here/. Simply put... Seishirou is taken a little aback. This is actually a somewhat significant moment for him.
It's not often that he gets something on this scale that he didn't steal himself.
"Huh.." the ninja whistles lowly. ".. Kinda makes the snowglobe I got for you a little inadequate, doesn't it?" he remarks. Well, it's actually debatable whether there is any snowglobe, even. Just seemed to be the only thing adequate enough to cover it. "I'll make use of it," he says, sparing the slightest of suspicious glances towards cameras nearby. "In the short term.. Depending on who wins here, one of us will have to rematch that guy. I wanted to challenge him myself.." Seishirou explains, ".. I'm upset by his choice in clothing."
Setting the clipboard gently down on the crate he's standing on, the ninja shrugs, as if the matter were settled as simple as that. "...You ready?"
Acacia slides off the top of the container, landing on the ground below. Her legs flex slightly at the knees, diffusing the impact. She walks forward, footfalls sounding against the concrete - those heavy boots aren't exactly good for stealth. She stands roughly in the middle of the warehouse floor, placing herself square in the clear area. While cover might be useful, it probably plays to Seishirou's strengths more than hers. No, she wants him to come at her in the open.
"Mm...think his shirts are special technique," Acacia remarks, "blind opponents."
She tilts her head, the corner of one lip still curled in that small smirk. "You do the same with snow globes?"
Acacia settles into a fighting stance, but an odd one. She doesn't raise her arms completely, in their usual guard, nor does she turn her side to face Seishirou, as is her custom with opponents.
Because, frankly, she knows that with -this- guy, an attack can come from any direction.
COMBATSYS: Acacia has started a fight here.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Acacia focuses on her next action.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|
"Heh."
"Heheheh..."
Seishirou, after breaking underneath the thought of Shenwoo in a flickering shirt with Christmas lights and matching hat, begins to crack up. Oh, it's not in the big belly laugh kind of way. Seishirou just finds the mental image Acacia just gave him hilarious. It's one of the few things /ever/ to amuse him enough to laugh clearly and audibly, hands on hips.
"Ah..." He needs relatively little time to cool down.
"You could say that," Ryouhara mentions before eyeballing Acaica for a moment or two. A hand is up to his mouth, as if to rub his upper lip thoughtfully. As he realized she's ready, so too should she realize he is--just by the fact that somewhere during that laughing fit, Seishirou unzipped his satchel to leave a customary hole just large enough for his hand. It's not clear when.. but what is of more paramount importance is him heating up something right in front of his mouth. Something that explodes. And leaves several concentrated bursts of senbon flying in staggered formation at Acacia.
Let's get things started, right?
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has joined the fight here.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Acacia slows Kunai Flight from Seishirou with Thrown Object.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
Acacia's eyes narrow as she watches the needles fly in. She expected a projectile attack of -some- kind, but not -that- in particular. It takes her by surprise. She recovers, whipping off her jacket, slinging it by one sleeve, something between a whip and a shield...aiming to intercept the needles before they reach her. She doesn't -quite- succeed. Some stop, sure. But others pierce the fabric. And some blast through uninhibited. They strike Acacia, leaving her riddled. Some fall off, tips edged in red. A couple remain lodged in her thick garments.
She lets the jacket drop, and glares at Seishirou. "Party favours," she says, flatly, "leave lots to be desired."
"..." Ryouhara cracks a smirk.
It seems the only message needed.
Just seeing if you were paying attention.
The ninja braces against the edge of the crate he's currently standing on with both hands and roughly kicks off in an instant. The movement is fast. It gives him the forward momentum to rocket up into the air and past Acacia, in fact, allowing him to hit the ground and roll several times, covering the movement with a thrown kunai ... well. Er. Just to the right of Gillespie. It's poor aim. Until one considers that it wasn't meant to hit her, and was more meant to cover for his rolling motion.
Well. More appropriately, cover for the very plain to see wire trailing up to the ceiling and down in Seishirou's wake. It's plainly visible because he had to use one of the stronger varieties. To accomodate the hissing pendulum devised from the crate he just leapt off of, that wire, the anchor, chi-seal and winch he's attached to the crate while leaving it, and the anchor placed in the ceiling. A winder mechanism anchored to the ground at his landing point currently labors a lot against the weight. Oh, it won't hold the massive thing forever.
It doesn't need to.
It just needs to hold it up for the half a second Seishirou needs for the crate's chi seal to explode, clear over /his/ crate and launch the entire assembly at Acacia.
COMBATSYS: Acacia dodges Seishirou's Large Thrown Object.
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Acacia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
Acacia blinks once, twice, at the kunai. It missed? But...
...oh, crap.
Acacia DIVES to the side, throwing her arms up, hands covering her head and neck, in the standard brace position against shrapnel. She's barely clear of the danger zone when Seishirou's little trap crashes home, little bits of debris spinning in the air. They pepper Acacia's prone form, face-down on the concrete, breathing heavily. But aside from a little cut on her face, she's unharmed. The clothes she's wearing are thick enough...they're just one step down from body armour.
Heaving herself back upright, resting on one knee, Acacia snaps her eyes to bear on Seishirou. She takes a breath...muttering something about a roadrunner and coyote.
Then she blasts out of her crouch, lunging towards Seishirou. Aiming to slam into him with one rigid forearm and elbow.
COMBATSYS: Acacia successfully hits Seishirou with Mass Driver.
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Acacia 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
"Uhn!"
She hits fairly hard, Seishirou is immediately forced to concede, having his not-so-relatively light frame knocked over by the spry girl's sheer force of momentum and sending him rolling. She got out of the way of the first stage pretty quickly and as a result, he can only roll to a stop some ways away from the crate wreckage, slowly getting to one knee and taking a deep breath outward, favoring his ribs where Acacia landed in him not unlike a small silver-haired missile.
He takes a look at her closely. He noticed it before and it seems his thoughts are to a degree, accurate. It would seem that thick clothing has little to do with the chill weather. If he had to bet on it, he'd say it had nothing to do with the weather at all. It's impromptu protection against flying shrapnel and similar. ... Heh. Not a bad idea, he has to admit interally, as he reaches back into his satchel, staring Acacia down evenly.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Acacia 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
Acacia skids to a halt, in the follow-through from her blow. Flowing out of the tackle, sliding on the concrete. She doesn't halt, though. She pivots, boots pounding the ground, leaping after Seishirou as he rolls away. The ninja's fast, Acacia knows, faster than she is...so she needs to try her best to cut down -that- advantage. She rushes at the crouching ninja.
She's no strategian, no tactician. Not in the way that Seishirou is. Yet...she -does- have a plan. The padded clothes are just part of that. They don't cut her own mobility too much, seeing as how she doesn't rely on agility anyway. But added protection, however slight, might make a difference.
Though the most important difference she wants to make is putting her gloved fist into Seishirou's face with an underarm punch, digging all five silver studs into his features.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Acacia's Quick Punch.
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Acacia 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
It's interesting to see someone with a plan. Seishirou doesn't encounter many whom actually come in with one, other than 'punch the ninja til he stops moving.' Of course, this is a variant on that same plan, but it's vastly more interesting.
Distressing though, that 'punch the ninja til he stops moving' tends to work a lot of the time. Luckily for Seishirou, this isn't one of those days just yet. The ninja takes a step to the side, slipping away from Acacia's punch and letting the air buffet his cheek with the fist's passage. This opens up the ninja for conventional attacks, which despite his approach to fighting is also quite solid.
Of course, unluckily for Acacia, Seishirou isn't intending on relying on conventional attacks just yet. As he slides to Acacia's side, the ninja swivels his torso and then puts a lot of his weight into just flowing into her hand-first. His intent is to solidly push her off-balance to prevent pursuit.
Of course, he'll leave a mark on her back as he does so, should he manage to touch her. His family sigil, marking the penetrating technique 'Ryuuouin.' Initially devised as an assassination technique, with a handseal, it will begin to heat up with chi, burning the handseal through any successive layers of clothing. Provided she doesn't have any steel plater underneath there, it should settle just on her skin, at the surface of her aura. Should he manage to touch her with a palm, moments later it will root there. It will begin to build up chi and become successively hotter.
And then it will explode.
COMBATSYS: Acacia blocks Seishirou's Ryuuouin.
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Acacia 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
A blast of pure heat chi explodes from Acacia's back as Seishirou pulls away. Leaving a ragged blossom-mark of burnt fabric and flesh on the spot. But while the visible skin is a livid red...she doesn't look nearly as injured as she -should- be. Under the scorched grey fibers of her outer shirt, and the burnt wool of the turtleneck beneath...is ragged -white-, from an extremely thin concealed vest. The sheer -shock- of the chi staggers Acacia, but the actual damage done isn't as much as it could be, a lot of the actual heat energy absorbed by the garment rather than her skin.
"Second Chance..." Acacia explains, wryly, as she twists round, attempting to drive a knee into Seishirou's side before he can get away, "...goes with anything."
Acacia isn't really the sort of teenage girl who buys branded goods for fashion. But far as physical protection is concerned, she's willing to spend a little on designer labels.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou interrupts Light Kick from Acacia with Quick Throw.
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Acacia 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
... Heh.
It might as well had been steel plate. Ryuuouin penetrates well, but there aren't many people out there who wear actual armor, so Seishirou hasn't bothered fine-tuning the jutsu enough to penetrate them. Needless to say, the turn of events leaves Seishirou more than a touch impressed, but the only way Acacia will hear about it is by discerning what the tilted expression on his face somewhere between concern and amusement possibly means.
"Mn," he acknowledges roughly, blocking Acacia's knee at the thigh with a raised shin. "Remind me to look them up sometime," he says, barely cognizant of the effort involved in using his new shifted center of balance to rotate flip himself over Acacia's shoulder, trying to hook his opposite leg to the back of her neck as he does so and propel her into the ground in an improvised throw that launches him into the air in an abbreviated backflip that puts him on the ground aways away a little unevenly, probably due to the residual pain throguh his shin. He blinks impassively, taking in the situation as best he can.
"Nngghh," Acacia grunts, as she hits the ground in a nasty manner, coming down on one side. Slamming one shoulder hard, in the process. The concrete doesn't make for a good landing, and the whole exchange of blows was too fast for her to break her fall. She pushes the pain aside, though, clawing to her feet, rotating her arm at the joint. It's stiff, it's painful, but she can still use the limb. Maybe not with full power, but she can -use- it. That's what matters. "---send you a catalog," she replies. On anyone else, it'd be just a quip. Acacia, though, is quite serious...though, of course, there's some sarcasm there too.
She's only human, after all.
COMBATSYS: Acacia focuses on her next action.
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Acacia 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Ryouhara backs off. It wouldn't be wise to attack straight in right now. Even a moron would be able to tell that. "Looking forward to it." He lets it at that. Seishirou's sarcastic commentary leaves much to be desired, but that's his way, simply. Instead, he opts to let handseals do the speaking for him. Right now, he can't afford the luxury of a blitzing strategy--while he can tell Acacia isn't quite able to reliably track his swifter moves, she hits hard enough so that it doesn't matter. The ninja will go through a series of those handseals, clasping his hands together to no visible effect other than a brief energy pulse between the two of them, nebulous, difficult to detect.
He considered it another gift, all truth told.
It was a stolen one, but the base was shown to him in goodwill.
That's what matters, right?
He takes a deep breath and considers.
A thought strikes him.
Just important enough to consider actually making serious conversation. He looks off to his side. "...Hey, Gillespie," he starts, curiously, ".. How /did/ you convince the officials to let you walk away with the turtle?" He'd've figured that kind of thing would have been reserved for a gallery somewhere. He looks up at the ceiling, at that point.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Acacia 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
"Easy..."
Acacia replies, as she clenches a fist by her side. She's bent over, spine arched, one arm stretched by her side. Braced by her -other- hand. It might well be telegraphing the move, but she's counting on Seishirou being suspicious enough to...not believe she'd be so blatantly obvious.
Alright, so, it's not a -good- plan. But even if it doesn't work, run up and punch 'em is Acacia's usual modus operandi anyway. So there's nothing to lose here.
"...told 'em who it's for."
A -shimmer- runs up the length and breadth of her arm, sleeve fabric shifting like in an invisible breeze. It intensifies, becoming a full-fledged vibration, a blur engulfing her limb, strongest at her fist. Then there's the sound, screaming up and down the audio register, blending glass-shattering shrieks with an almost subsonic hum.
"Your fights always make good TV."
She laughs, lightly, breaking into a grin as she blasts forward.
"Turtle's got a League logo. Good publicity."
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Acacia's Bonecrusher.
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Acacia 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
... He has to laugh a little, at that. It's a bitter sound off his tongue though, more of grim amusement than anything else. Seishirou doesn't like being out in the spotlight--it bothers him fundamentally to think that there are groups of people who may actually be watching him and taking /notes/. But... it's his mission. For some reason or another, the village sent them to Southtown.
He's learned to live with it. To compensate. And most importantly to only reuse things when there's a decent chance of making them work.
Seishirou makes a quick hand-seal--tiger, for reference--and casts something unfolding into the air as Acacia charges him directly. It's a scroll, marked with sigils. Up and to the side a little bit... There! The scroll explodes into smoke just as Seishirou moves. While her move is telegraphed, Seishirou telegraphs his own movement, going even before the smoke surrounds him.
There is then the vague sensation of fist hitting solid metal, which almost seems to give way underneath it easily. Of course, all isn't as it appears to be. Because as the smoke clears, Seishirou is /still there/. It's just.. he made a wall appear between the two. Or more appropriately, a shield. A tower-style shield that has, apparently, been able to absorb the majority of the force behind that massive blast by knocking the ninja back and.. well, buckling. Sorta. If you take into account that the shield looks /relatively/ undamaged aside from the point of direct fist impact, it's quite strange.
From the other side of the ninjutsu shield, Seishirou admits. "... I suppose I can't fault them for being savvy, mn?" He'd have to fix that fist dent, now. He must not have done it right. Or maybe he didn't and Acacia was just that strong. Either way, he'd rather not think about just how much damage that would have done to his ninja body. Therefore he occupies himself by making a handseal, which causes an ominous hissing sound within the shield. Superheated air inside a piston which is responsible for absorbing most of the pure shock of that attack is now building.
Seishirou braces.
Properly thrusted and timed, the piston smash function of his impact shield is not unlike being hit with a car. This is something Acacia will probably find out in a hurry, if she doesn't get out the way.
COMBATSYS: Acacia counters Random Weapon from Seishirou with Icon of Stone.
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Acacia 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Seishirou
"Eh..."
Acacia studies the shield with a critical eye. Her arm is still pressed against it, her fist resting in a moulded indentation, the dented spot on the metal surface that absorbed her hammer punch. She stays where she is - but her eyes narrow as the hissing begins. For a split second, she considers her options.
Then she pulls her arm back, shifts her foot, and gives the tower shield a good strong -PUNT-.
The metal rings like a bell as Acacia's heel pounds into it. The force isn't nearly enough to break the massive piece of metal. But it isn't meant to. The kick was just to...unbalance it. Causing the piston-firing shield to topple over, onto the ninja hiding behind it.
Timber.
"...just thought you could use it," she murmurs, as she steps back, "was a good excuse."
Shrug.
"Don't much care for TV."
Like Seishirou, she isn't in this fighting thing for the fame and fortune. No, she's got other reasons.
Well, to Seishirou's own design merit, despite it's study construction and looks, the shield wasn't quite bulky enough to flatten him. Interestingly, it was a design with /some/ modicum of mobility in mind. (He'd planned to put in the ground anchors as soon as he could figure out a way to stop people from just snapping it in half after that) Of course, the problem is--when you're trying to control a piston, it's very touchy when someone kicks your shield in the midst of a discharge. The reaction is not quite as... slow and methodical as Acacia hoped, but the effect is the same, regardless. As the shield tips, Seishirou 's stance is disrupted. And then the piston effect goes off. Now you know why he braces. Because the piston shoots /him/ into the ground at a fairly fast clip, with the shield unceremoniously landing atop him in a poof of dust and smoke and comically flattening him underneath it.
He... doesn't move.
Well, that's a little inaccurate.
By the time the shield landed, Seishirou was already gone. But the dust cloud gave the impression, just for an instant, that he might have simply been cartoonishly flattened by the shield, even though it doesn't have the mass (or the size) to physically flatten out all of him.
Seishirou's hoping the illusion persists, camped out on one of the lighting fixtures above, to allow him to cast loops of wire around Acacia and throw himself off the fixture to sling her ahead and away from him to put him just in front of the crate wreckage neatly.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Acacia with Leafwalking.
- Power hit! -
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Acacia 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Seishirou
And indeed, Acacia gets slung. Because she stood staring at the flatted image of Seishirou for just a moment too long. A moment she now regrets, as the coils of wire drop round her, tightening, pulling, sending her into the air...sending her ricocheting off a stack of packing crates - wood splintering - and into the side of a parked forklift. She hits so hard that one of the vehicle's prongs bends slightly from the impact. Dazed, Acacia drops to the ground, twitching as the wire slackens. Nngh. That hurt, that fuggin'...
...her eyes open.
Can't let it slow her down.
If she had a clearer head, she'd make a wisecrack around now. As it is, she hauls herself upright, using the forklift's loader for support. Then locks eyes on Seishirou. Judging the distance.
She breaks into a run. Shoulder lowered, in a tackle.
COMBATSYS: Acacia successfully hits Seishirou with Quick Throw.
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Acacia 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Seishirou
No time to relax, eh?
It'd seem not. As Acacia crashes into Seishirou, it's a merit to the ninja's ability to avoid grisly fates that he's able to launch himself OVER the wreckage with Acacia's tackle, as opposed to being impaled on one the shards of the ruined box or something like that.
That doesn't change the fact he hits the ground, though. Hard. The ninja crashes pretty roughly into the ground and goes off rolling across the ground and bouncing a few times. There goes that momentum again. Ugh..
As he gets up, he thinks through a haze of bleariness. He's familiar with her style. She hits pretty hard, as is established. Ryuuouin wasn't as effective as he'd hoped--penetration attacks won't work against her with all that.. well, 'armoring,' not unless he places it very carefully. He has a hard time getting any direct attacks through her defense, so he'll have to focus on indirect attacks, he figures. At any rate, he's starting to feel the pain.. but as far as he can tell.. she isn't in any pristine condition, herself.
That makes this a little easier.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Acacia 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Seishirou
Which only means she'll have to hit him harder. And faster.
Acacia doesn't intend to give Seishirou -time- to breathe. No, she's pushing the offensive, pushing it to the hilt.
When Seishirou was hit, he flipped over the wreckage to avoid getting impaled on it. But Acacia? With all that forward momentum?
She crashes -through-.
And emerges, on the other side. It doesn't seem she's slowed down at all, despite the fresh splinters decorating her clothes, the tiny gashes of fresh blood on her face. She -keeps- going, charging to where Seishirou is. Even as he gets to his feet, Acacia bears on him again, to slam him down with a rigid muscle-tensed forearm.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Immovable Object from Acacia with Kawarimi Crisis EX.
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Acacia 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
He only has a precious few seconds as she blows through the crate's wreckage, scattering and causing an array of wires to shoot out of the hidden system before he can strigger them. Unfortunately, without the launchers all aligned as he'd left them, the tactic is useless and the trap is defused, leaving Acacia to inevitably hit him. Hard.
Only a precious few seconds. An instant, even.
As plows into him, he does the best he can--he catches Acacia's forearm and almost buckles underneath the surprisingly sturdy force, causing the ninja to slide back and bend underneath her weight, clearly struggling (and failing) to compensate. Looks like he'll crumple any second.
"... Looks like you made me use my new technique," Seishirou comments, an edge of cold determination leaking into his voice. Only.. /it's not him that's saying that./ It's a detached voice observing from just behind and to the side of Acacia, back facing her.
"Even Rock hasn't managed this yet," he notes. Yes, it's the traditional trademark chi image of his substitution technique. But it seems Seishirou has enhanced the matrix some to something that can be controlled to do a little mroe than just take a beating. This one seems to actually be trying to fend Acacia off, staring quietly at her as he does so, an almost eerie lack of expression in that Ryouhara's face notable in the close quarters. So too is the distinct crackle of energy across its stressed arm.
The next evolution of his technique. Creating unstable chi matrixes.
That Seishirou will stare at Acacia, and as Ryouhara looks on, that Seishirou will begin to, over the next second or so, crackle more and more. Before it finally explodes in a bright blast of heat and light with enough force to scatter that box wreckage (and the toys therein) everywhere.
Smoke rises, curling towards the warehouse ceiling, light filtering oddly through the acrid haze. In the middle of it all, something moves. Acacia - rising, with dust and debris cascading from her battered form. She shrugs off the tattered remains of her outer shirt, leaving her in a somewhat scorched wool turtleneck. Torn through in a few places - but then, there's still the white body glove visible beneath. Spotted with blood, and pitted, but still intact. She breathes, heavily, brushing blood and sweat from her forehead with the back of one gloved hand. Brushing sweat-soaked hair from her eyes.
"Impressed," Acacia grates, in a hoarse voice barely above a whisper, "hurt more than Uzaruto's."
Certainly, Tora never managed to blow a clone up in Acacia's face.
She sticks a tongue out, the tip brushing against dry and cracked lips.
"But pardon if...don't appreciate the honour."
Pause.
"-Ow-," she states, emphatically.
COMBATSYS: Acacia takes a breather.
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Acacia 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
Seishirou looks across the way to Acacia quietly, contemplating her carefully. He puts hand to his hip and studies the blast range carefully. Kicking through some of the scattered wreckage with his shoe, he'll nod at her with little other preamble. He'll squint at her carefully. "Yeah," he strats, reaching into his satchel.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to.. but.. nothing that can be done for it now, right?"
He'll take his own moment to breathe slowly. Controlled. Careful. He'll let Gillespie her moment. Least he could do, right?
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes a breather.
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Acacia 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
Acacia gives an eloquent snort, rolling her eyes. "Kind of you."
There isn't -that- much sarcasm in her tone, though. She doesn't have any real ire towards Seishirou. She's got to admit, the technique -was- impressive. She'd probably be a lot more appreciative if it wasn't her on the receiving end. That accounts for her lack of enthusiasm. That said, she's not -bitter- about it. It helps that Seishirou isn't being a bastard about it.
She takes a step forward, broken wood and twisted metal, some concrete dust, grinding beneath the heavy treads of her footwear. She pauses, as if judging her balance, eyes still on Seishirou. "What do you do...when -really- serious?"
Another step.
"Teleport a H-bomb?"
She wouldn't put it past Seishirou, actually.
And Acacia's not really looking forward to getting nuked.
So that's why she suddenly -increases- her pace, blasting off with her next step, racing up to Seishirou, a hand reaching to grab one of the ninja boy's arms.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou blocks Acacia's Bonebreaker.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Acacia 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
...and latches hold. She grabs Seishirou, and slams him to the ground, over her shoulder. Not through leverage, not a judo or aikido throw - she literally picks him up, and throws him around with raw -brute force-.
There's no advantage in being a bastard about things right now.
A point, all truth told, isn't as important to Seishirou as the advancement of his style. He isn't by any means holding back (don't make him laugh) but.. well. You could call it one of the things time has taught him.
There are more important things than the stakes at hand now.
Or so he's mentioned in his reports.
As Acacia basically picks him up and throws him around like a doll, it takes a significant amount of Seishirou's ability to hit the ground rolling as opposed to simply absorbing the ground with his skeleton, which may or may not be a safe strategy to handling maneuvers like these. That doesn't stop him from slamming into the ground though. And boy, does he hit. Essentially, pure will mustered forces him through the roll across the ground. IT's amazing he's able to keep his hand /in/ his satchel throughout most of this. The ninja rolling so gets to his feet some ways away, hurting in several ways and fashions indescribable here. He'll even take a moment, to straighten kinks out his back with a horrible sickening crack of bones. Ngh..
Once he comes to enough to speak, he'll finally find what he was looking for and smirk. "Good question," he notes, before making a handseal and casting a good deal of ... steel marbles across the floor. If she's seen Rock's fight.. she knows what these do. THey'll roll towards her amiably enough. Amiably, of course, until their internal fuses trigger and they begin to explode all around her.
COMBATSYS: Acacia blocks Seishirou's Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Acacia 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
Acacia walks forward.
She throws an arm up, shielding her face as the little bomblets go off. She weathers the explosion - it slows her advance toward Seishirou, but it doesn't -stop- her. She keeps coming, bearing the explosions relatively unscathed...relatively, anyway. There's more blood running down her temple, from new shrapnel wounds. New ragged rents and tears in her clothes, even the armoured vest she has on. But she's still moving toward Seishirou. Walking through the rolling minefield, until she's clear of the blast zone...
...that's when she makes the final lunge, a left cross, a feint, then a jab at his gut.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou interrupts Quick Punch from Acacia with Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Acacia 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
The approach is regarded briefly, quickly, with some apprehension. He needs to do something to end this fight. While he respects Acacia enough that a loss wouldn't be too rough on him, he won't accept that such an outcome for lack of trying.
As she moves quickly, tactics begin to form in the ninja's mind. Now, he falls back to those aforementioned direct warfare tactics. As she bolts in towards him with her swift attack, Seishirou will make use of his own leverage by attempting a quick catch of her wrist in a reverse handed grip. Then he'll dash behind her, low, underneath that arm and skid to a stop, twisting. His goal? Use his speed and momentum to flip her off her feet in an instant. That, or dislocate her arm.
It's a fighter's understanding that leads to Seishirou's essentially not caring which.
Though he damn near accomplishes both. Acacia tumbles to the ground, with her arm wrenched at an awkward - and painful angle. She hisses through clenched teeth, forcing the pain to the back of her mind. "Gaahh...if you're gonna use a nuke, -warn- me first..."
Twisting round, she snaps a single leg out, aiming a heel at Seishirou's shin. Or possibly his groin. Given the messy way they're entangled, well, all she's doing is kicking at his -general- area. Not exactly elegant, but then, she's too tired and weary to manage much else. Still fighting, though. Always fighting.
"...already have funny hair. Don't need new mutations."
Though the ability to regenerate or cling to walls might be useful, with -her- luck, Acacia'd probably end up green, ugly, overly muscled, and possessed of even worse grammar than she has now. So, yeah, she wouldn't want to risk it.
COMBATSYS: Acacia successfully hits Seishirou with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Acacia 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Seishirou
Naerose heads out to the Pacific Ocean.
Naerose sets out from Southtown Harbor.
Agh!
While Seishirou tries to release himself and get out of that kick's way.. be it from weariness or the close quarters or Acacia's beautiful smile, he doesn't do an awful good job of it. He takes the kick on full. And sadly for him, it lands squarely in his groin. Nothing that hurts so much could possibly hit his shin, causing the ninja to fall back, utterly silent. It's clear it hit home, but Ryouhara grips the concrete in a fairly convincing manner so as to prove the validity of squeezing water from a rock, and breathes outward quietly.
".... n .. no," he manages.
It's about the best he can do, going through some weak handseals. That kick has oly reminded him of the necessity of ending this thing, for good or ill. He holds up his hand, shaping an imaginary flame in front of his lips. "K--aton! Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
And then, jumping into the air, Seishirou will start to breathe a lot of fire very fast, sending the ninja far back across the warehouse while /baking/ Acacia's small part of it. Luckily, he has enough control over the spread of that fire breath to avoid setting the entire place ablaze.
COMBATSYS: Acacia fails to interrupt Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu from Seishirou with Immovable Object.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Acacia can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/------=|
The wave of flame washes over Acacia. She vanishes from sight, completely eclipsed by the chi-forged hellfire of Seishirou's attack. Hell hath no fury like a man kicked in the balls, it seems...a lesson Acacia's learning now. Oh, she -tries- to block, tries to scramble to her feet, to meet the flames head on. But the fire instead tears her off her feet, drives her back down, burning at her clothes and flesh. When the full fury of the blast fades...leaving only glowing embers and flickering remnant flame, wooden debris set alight by the chi energy...Acacia lies crumpled on the ground, wisps of smoke rising from her prone body.
She stirs, just a little, moving her head, eyes staring blurred and unfocused in Seishirou's direction.
"I -said-," she mutters, peevishly, "-warn- me about the nuke!"
Then she keels back, unable to get up.
Crispy roasted. She's done.
Seishirou lands on the ground as the remnants of his chi drain up from the concrete below. But as soon as his feet touch down, Seishirou lands on his rear. Relatively assured of his victory, he can only make a very good show of acting like he doesn't hurt.
"... You deserved it," is all he'll say in response to the girl. And it's the complete truth, as far as Seishirou is concerned.
Getting up is a long, agonizing process... but when he manages it, he seems a little better. He probably isn't, but he's good at acting the part. He'll spit a little blood off to the side, before looking around. And withdrawing a small array of smokebombs from his satchel.
POP. hssstt..
It's at least a good thre minutes before the resultant smokescreen actually clears, but when it is, Seishirou is gone. The crate, too, is gone. Nothing was ever heard of its passing except perhaps a quiet grinding noise.
And a somewhat hastily reforged impact shield sits almost artfully by Acacia's body. The tower shield sits there silently, with a small note attached to it, detailing some tersely penned instructions on how to use it, on the back of a notepad page of design notes on it.
Right next to it sits a single, solitary, snowglobe.
As interesting as their chat may have been, Seishirou doesn't actually need words a lot of the time to get his points across.
Interestingly, the snowglobe depicts Strolheim in winter.
Log created on 12:18:38 12/12/2005 by Seishirou, and last modified on 16:21:49 09/15/2007.