Description: Long after the Rival Schools incident, Hyo and Roy rematch in mortal combat! ... Okay, maybe just combat. (Winner: Hyo)
Over the river and through the woods, to Pretentious High we go...
It's not often that Roy bothers to come to this side of town, almost directly opposite Pacific High. But with the league now running, and the participants open season, there is one name he noticed on the list that caught his attention...
The burly American strides through the grounds of Justice High, occasionally stopping a student and asking where Hyo Imawano might be found. He takes his time; there's no real rush, certainly not like the last time or two Roy sought Imawano out.
They'd sent word that Bromwell had arrived. Hyo was going to find him himself in time, though not for league affairs. The truth was, Hyo had been busy recently arranging for all the necessary paperwork to be filled out. Ironically enough, Masters wouldn't allow a direct entry into the League, so with only a small amount of disappointment, Hyo did have to bother with levelling the entire local qualifier.
That said, Imawano is still unsuprised when the somewhat famous face arrives on Justice High campus.
It's prudent to come out to meet him. "Bromwell," he acknowledges, actually taking a moment to walk up directly to the Pacific High student. Mystery is wasted when it's for little other than profile. "I hope the times have treated you well."
Normally Roy is casually, if not necessarily disrespectfully, dismissive of Japanese custom. For the head student of the premier school in Japan, however, he falls back on an old diplomatic saying, "When in Rome..." Thus, as Hyo emerges, Roy pauses and offers a form-perfect bow.
"Imawano," he returns as he straightens up, a polite grin on his face. "They certainly have. Looks like the same goes for this place and yourself. I've been meaning to pay a visit since I returned, but unfortunately haven't had the time until now." The unspoken subtext is that of a cop checking up on a former delinquent, just to make sure everything is still copacetic.
It's a courtesy Hyo will return, offering his own resctful bow that--would, well, be just better than a simple nod of the head. Hyo isn't one for wasting a more time with ritual and pomp than that simple courtesy will allow. Despite all appearances to the contrary, of course.
Straightening, Hyo picks up on the subtext, but simply quietly dismisses it off to a side with the opening of a white gloved hand. "The foolish waste time. The ambitious harness it. I do hope that your preoccupation does carry with it some of the expected merit of your school," he mentions. His own detached tone indicates something not entirely unlike expectation. Simply, he expected Roy to be suspicious, but that he also expected that Roy would have better things to do than to police him. Reinforcing that sentiment, Hyo continues. "Perhaps, though, you come with some interest of our school in mind?" His tone is such to suggest his boredom, were he actually capable of such a thing.
Roy shakes his head. "In fact, Hyo," as far as Roy's concerned, the formalities are past, "I came to see you." His polite smile suddenly becomes a wide toothy grin. "I"ll get to the point. You're in the Neo League, and I want to challenge you right here, right now. Consider me a representative of Pacific if you like, but I'm here for a good, straight-up mano y mano. Do you accept?"
Well well. At the mention of this, it's possible that a certain amount of students will notice. To that end, it's also possible a certain amount of students will start to form a crowd. Hyo himself will consider Roy's offer briefly, facing Roy with the same ice-fire gaze in his eye that he commonly carries.
"It just so happens that I was expecting such an eventuality," he acknowledges. "And to that end, I've made my schedule open for challenges, especially this."
Wordlessly, Hyo reaches a hand into the sky, signalling for the A/V team to bring out the League cameras on lease from the Neo League, on the double. You see.. while Hyo can't quite get in the league effortlessly, after beating everyone in the entire qualifying event in a matter of minutes, the organizers were quite amiable towards letting the school run the cameras.
Roy rases an eyebrow at Hyo's words, but when the A/V crew appears, he loses his composure. He busts out laughing, clapping a hand to his forehead as he watches the cameras being set up with Justice-brand efficiency. "I suppose I'm really not surprised at this, not from you." Grinning, Roy reaches up to loosen his tie and straighten his cuffs, giving the crowd a glowing smile. Sure, they're all Justice students, and aside from a few most likely will be backing Hyo, but hey. He's a people person. Bromwell backs up a few paces, running a hand through his hair to straighten it for the cameras. "Whenever you're ready, Imawano," he offers wryly. Clearly there's nothing Hyo isn't ready for.
And surely enough, the cameras are set up in about 7 minutes time, if you want to be pessimistic about the estimate. Of course, Hyo is infinitely less amused by Roy's outburst, and merely folds his arms in the image of blank disapproval until the stage is set up right there, with plenty of space on the immediate grounds to fight.
When it's done, Hyo settles in time with Roy, assuming a Imawano fighting stance, one palm open, one fist back, boots planted firm. He won't loosen up any of his outfit--a quirk probably expected by Roy, but Justice High's winter uniform is one that is about as functional as it is dignified.
According to him and Justice High, of course.
"Then we'll begin....now," Hyo mentions, his last word precisely (-precisely-) 10 seconds after the LEDs click on on the cameras around them.
COMBATSYS: Hyo has started a fight here.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|
Roy doesn't bother assuming a fighting stance. It's not in his style, anyway. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast, and leave 'em on the ground twitching. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, rolling his shoulders and working out any last kinks. He pauses as Hyo speaks up again, and on the word "Now"...he bolts.
Roy launches himself in a dash, covering the distance to Hyo in a remarkably short time. He knows the Justice student well enough to know that if you let him control the fight, you let him win. Once he reaches striking distance, Roy hops once on his right foot, allowing him to pivot and shoot his left leg out in a powerful straight kick to Hyo's chest. It has begun.
COMBATSYS: Roy has joined the fight here.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roy
COMBATSYS: Hyo dodges Roy's Heavy Kick.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roy
The straight-in strategy is something that Hyo is very familiar with from Bromwell--he knew the young man's approach to life as well as he did his approach to fighting. That's why he uses a simple response to the straight-in move, the council head simpily whirling to one side, his hand going to his blade. It's with a hiss of steel accompanying his counterattack as Roy passes with the powerful kick--Simply, he'll attempt to catch Roy in the leg with the cutting edge of the blade just closest to the guard and then use that to leverage and throw Roy back from where he came.
COMBATSYS: Roy interrupts Imawano Blade Nage from Hyo with Flip Kick.
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Roy
Damn! There's no feel of his foot smacking a solid object. Roy's attack had too much momentum to quickly evade the retaliatory attack. And, yes - the sudden pain in his leg confirms that. Roy glances over to Hyo and smirks humorlessly; the pain's not -too- bad. Yet. Dealing with a swordfighter is never a walk in the park. You don't leave with just bruises.
Rather than allow Hyo to toss him away, though, Roy reacts to the upward pressure by kicking off his grounded leg, arching backwards to slamm his hands on the ground. His legs follow, the cut leg getting out of the blade's path, the other leg swinging up to catch Hyo in the face. Roy completes the cartwheel, shuffling back a few feet to prepare for the next attack.
The ninja's head knocks back as Roy's foot collides roughly with it, forcing him to fall back from Roy. Not from losing his balance, but from simple reasons of tactical necessity--standing hard in the face of a blow is the fastest way to assure a broken nose.
Hand play shifts over his katana's hilt as he recovers with a faint mark across his face. As Roy smirks, Hyo meets his gaze with an equal level of chill determination. Hyo tapes a step forward then three more to close the distance between them. He moves to cut right down the middle of Roy in an aggravating wounding slash that brigns the tip of his sword to his right side.
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Roy with Juumonji Kiri - Shoken.
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Hyo 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Roy
While Hyo moves with cold calculation, Roy relies more on fighting instinct, 'going with the flow' if you will. Of course, sometimes the flow leads you into rapids.
Roy hops back as Hyo takes his first step forward, but the next three steps are unexpected. Though he tries to scoot out of the way of the oncoming slash, his wounded leg presents a difficulty that he really doesn't need right at the moment. It slows him down just enough that the sword has no difficulty drawing a line down his chest and leg, slicing open his vest and staining the shirt underneath a faint red. He grimaces in pain, but shakes it off; gotta keep moving until the game's over, for better or worse.
Time to go back on the offensive. Roy crouches forward, cocking back his fist, and darts in close to Hyo. "HYA!" He launches his fist forward, golden flames of chi spiraling around it as he sends it directly at Hyo. A blunt attack may not be as dramatic as a slice, but with the proper application of force, it'll still do plenty of damage.
COMBATSYS: Hyo interrupts Dynamite Straight from Roy with Juumonji Kiri - Niken.
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Hyo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Roy
And to that end, Hyo steps forward again, smoothly transitioning into the stronger second form of the Cruciform Cut--Hyo, regardless of the obvious danger, will slash straight into the flames of chi and he will expect to cut right through Roy's defense with only his sheer force of will. That will is trademark to Justice High. Ambition to not just succeed, but accel morally, physically and spiritually, all. Regardless, Roy will still collide with Hyo, but exactly as he plans, he'll catch the powerful attack with his braced lower epaulet, using its armored surface as proof against flame while absorbing the muted shock directly into his skeleton.
Shouldering through with stronger positioning, essentially.
As expected.
And the second attack cuts, even deeper than before. Roy grits his teeth, his hair mussed with the effort of keeping the rest of his composure together. His fist becomes an open hand, and he pushes away from Hyo. He stumbles a little gracelessly, but remains on his feet. His clothes are in tatters now, his tie sliced off cleanly, and the white shirt is slowly turning pink as it soaks up the blood underneath.
Clearly, the direct approach isn't going to work this time. Backing off may well let Hyo take stronger control of the fight, but at this point, that's probably not a huge concern. He holds his left arm close to his body and begins to circle Hyo cautiously, searching for some kind of weakness. Like finding Waldo when he's one pixel large.
COMBATSYS: Roy focuses on his next action.
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Hyo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Roy
Shaking the blood off the blade in a grim businesslike manner, Hyo returns his blade to its sheath. That was an expected outcome of the trade--he himself has sustained some damage, but pacing is also a necessary element of the fight. While it may seem egotistical to believe that in this battle, he has an advantage, it in reality has very little to do with that.
There is a difference between calculation and assumption.
He faces down Roy silently, no taunt or word offered. Almost thoughtful is his expression, though 'dispassionate' is also a useful comparison. His fist goes back again, his open hand opens. The difference is that Hyo is not so crass and asinine so as to /assume/ he'll win the battle based on technical merit alone.
COMBATSYS: Hyo focuses on his next action.
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Hyo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Roy
Roy takes a deep breath, blowing it out and up against his bangs. Fine. A frontal attack won't work, but that's all he really knows. Except...
Roy clenches his right hand into a tight fist and bolts forward once again. He doesn't move far, however, when he suddenly leaps into the air, his fist pulled back as if preparing for a powerful punch. His flight plan isn't calculated to take him to Hyo, however; he'll land several feet in front of the Imawano.
When Roy lands, his fist drives downward, slamming into the ground in front of him. Instantly, a massive column of fire explodes upward from the ground, traveling forward for a brief moment before dissipating...and a second blast appears in its place, followed by a third. The wave of napalm speeds toward Hyo, barely slowing pace. If you can't attack from the front...attack from below.
COMBATSYS: Hyo just-defends Roy's Super Touchdown!
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Hyo 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Roy
Hyo steps back, seeming to give Roy his due space. If nothing else, he's fairly surprised by Roy's skyborne attack. It's an interesting change of pace, for him. The placing, aim and spiritual strength of the blast wave is commendable, as well--enough so that Hyo's options are limited for dealing with it.
That's about when Hyo bisects the move in the ground.
Identifying the chi flow as subterranian, it takes only a moment more for Hyo to again draw his sword--just for a moment this time. It glows an ominous red, if only for a moment, and then he cuts /into/ the lead geyser blast, cutting clear down to the ground and dissipating that visible burst.
Only.. the next burst never comes.
The idea was to use his /own/ chi channeled through his sword to reverberate down throguh the curst and into the earth to cut out the root of the problem--the real flow that would have exploded underneath Hyo only an instant later. Thus disrupted, Hyo's response is immediate and flowing. Slamming his sword back into his sheath and trusting the problem is indeed solved, Hyo will roll forward with that sheathing motion on his leading foot into a whirling dagger kick directed straight at Roy's stomach, essentially gaining momentum /through/ the attack as a direct result.
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Roy with Heavy Kick.
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Hyo 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Roy
Roy only has time to gape in astonishment at Hyo's effortless denial of his attack. It's really getting to be too much at this point, and the amazement slows down his reactions enough that Hyo has no trouble catching him with the kick. Roy doubles up, rolling back once, and comes to a stop on his hands and knees. One hand clutches his stomach, and he coughs out a nice red spray of blood. "Funny," he manages to get out. "I don't remember you being this damn tough."
Roy pushes himself to his feet, eyes behind sweat-soaked bangs casting about for an alternate angle of attack. ...Heh. It's a long shot, and it's going to earn him no amount of enmity from the A/V club and Hyo, but what the hell. He can make reparations twice over. He runs - not for Hyo, but for the outskirt of the imporomptu fighting ring, where one of the cameras has been set up. "Can I borrow that thanks I'll make it up to you." He delivers that in one quick snap even as he pulls the cables off the camera. With a grunt, he hoists the heavy piece of equipment over his head. While it's not necessarily his style to put on displays of strength like he was a wrestler...desperate times call for desperate measures. He spins around twice to gain momentum, then lets fly the high-tech piece of equipment, aimed in Hyo's general direction.
COMBATSYS: Roy successfully hits Hyo with Large Thrown Object.
- Power hit! -
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Hyo 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Roy
"Heh.." Hyo might have said something, but he stops dead in his tracks.
?!
That's temporarily Justice High property.
The A/V team, while relatively incensed by this, will likely be able to salvage the camera and in the TV spot for this match, there will probably be a 'FACEcam,' illustrating the last few moments of the camera's battery power and ultimate existence. This shot will show Hyo getting closer and closer in slow motion, with a little window illustrating from a third person perspective the camera. It will show Hyo attempting briefly to /catch/ the camera and ultimately failing to compensate for one thing or another, and catching it in the face.
And Hyo /does/ fall down when a full size tournament-grade fight camera hits him. When he gets up to push the camera aside for the A/V team to recover, the Justice High council head has a trickle of blood coming down his chin. Which he takes great care not to muss his glove with by wiping the blood off on his already-red sleeve.
"Impressive," he manages. He draws his sword and aims it at Roy, the point resting aside his forward glove. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd start to show your real strength." The blade edge turns skyward. And then Hyo bolts towards Roy, kicking just off the ground and bringing the point to bear on him as he comes forward and down. His intent? To attack with a thunderous pierce through Roy, accompanied by full force and authority. He'll see here just how much the man has improved since they last met.
COMBATSYS: Roy fails to interrupt Tenraizan from Hyo with Triple Twister.
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Hyo 1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Roy
COMBATSYS: Roy has reached second wind!
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Hyo 1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Roy
Good. Roy finally stirred Hyo to take action rather than carving Roy up when he tried to attack. Now it's Bromwell's chance to knock the wind out of Hyo's sails. He crouches low, awaiting Hyo's charge.
But...it's simply too fast. Roy's exhaustion is just hitting him too hard. He misjudges Hyo's falling arc, and though he tries to rise up out of his crouch to meet Imawano in the air, it's just a second too late. The sword's tip slams into Roy's shoulder, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain as the powerful force behind the stab drives the blade deep. He manages to twist his body to avoid getting stabbed in a critical area, but otherwise it's just a world of pain.
Roy yanks the sword out of his shoulder, his hands streaked with blood now. His shirt is simply -ruined-. Panting with the sheer exertion of remaining conscious, Roy rolls away from Hyo, putting a couple feet between him and his opponent. ...Surprisingly, as Roy rolls, some of his energy returns to him. He manages to pull himself up into a crouch, then slowly onto both feet. He looks terrible and nearly wiped out...but he is still standing. And his expression as he faces Hyo is one of grim determination. Plainly, he's going to have to be put in the hospital before he acknowledges the end of the fight.
Hyo makes a quiet, thoughtful sound as he lands in Roy and drives him back solidly with his swordwork, yet... fails to knock him out. It's something to think on, as Hyo slings the blood again off his weapon. He wasn't aiming for a critical area, but by his measure the sheer trauma of the heaven's lightning cut should have caused Bromwell to pass out.
Intriguing.
Amidst the cheers of 'BREAK HIM HYO-SAMA!' from the short twins of the A/V club, Hyo can only commend Roy on his talent. "You've absorbed an impressive amount of punishment, Bromwell..." is his beginning, slowly turning the blade false in his right hand and holding it outstretched past that side, so its point is aligned behind him. That point raises just a little as he slides into a wider braced dashing stance on his boots, facing Roy down with cold determination. "....but let's see Pacific High's finest handles Shippuuzan."
And then he's behind Roy, blade forward.
In the split second that passes between standing before Roy and standing behind him, the blode student will have no less than 9 seperate blade slices from varying angles to deal with before Hyo actually passes.
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Roy with Ankoku Shippuuzan.
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Roy
Roy takes a step forward, but pauses. It's all he can do not to wobble. He may still be in the fight, but it's clear that it's only by the thinnest of threads. His cheek twitches as Hyo announces his intent, and he shakes his head. "Bring it on," he rasps. Might as well go all the way, right?
Roy doesn't make much attempt to get out of the way, although he does try to lean away from the attack to lessen the pain. Not much luck, though. Hyo is on him, and in quick succession he feels intense pain all over, new wounds opening all over his body in the instant that Hyo sweeps by him.
The darkness is closing in. In a moment or two, his body's going to relaize it can't keep itself upright. Until then, however, Roy intends to make use of the fact that Hyo's back is, for a short moment, turned to him. He hobbles around as fast as he can and leans forward, letting gravity pull him forward into a run. He picks up speed, charging toward Hyo surprisingly quickly. He twists his body, leading with his good shoulder. With luck, he'll slam into Hyo's back, then let his momentum twist him around to help him drive a powerful point-blank punch between Hyo's shoulder-blades.
COMBATSYS: Roy can no longer fight.
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Hyo just-defends Roy's Dynamite Justice!
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|
And with that final burst of energy, Roy's ability to stay standing gives out. He falls forward onto the ground, eyes closing as he slips into unconscious. The sword wounds are simply too much.
Hyo's sword doesn't have a drip of blood on it. In that instant, Hyo either cleared it, or cut Roy so fast the blood didn't have a chance to stick to it. But he knows how the American thinks. He had an unusual amount of spirit for someone from another school. And, if there's a chance he's still standing, he'd be coming for him right now. Suddenly, Hyo slams his blade into the sheath and rotates--just so, angling the saya up and behind him. He'll /catch/ Roy by the shoulder with the very end of his sheath. He'll delay the attack and use that sheath and the springy blade from within as a shock absorber to bounce him back just shy of the next, mightier blow and all of that energy that's released.
No matter how hard it is to envision Hyo Imawano bouncing anywhere, the ninja stands and dusts off some of his uniform, frowning and draing a hankerchief to dab some of Roy's blood off him. He breathes outward slowly, looking down at Bromwell's defeated form. Hm.. "Stronger than some others.. but I feel you could have done better." He signals the A/V twins to shut off the (remaining) cameras. This isn't something the tittering, vindicated woman have much trouble with. Hyo looks to a side towards another student.
"We'll uphold our general policy for league matches and fights on school grounds. Take him to the nurse's office."
COMBATSYS: Hyo takes no action.
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Hyo has ended the fight here.
Roy is quickly and efficiently hoisted on a stretcher to be taken to the office, but he's already coming around. He groans, lifting his head up to peer blearily at what he presumes to be Hyo. "You know something...you're a bastard." He grins a bit to take the sting off -- not that Hyo would necessarily care one way or the other -- before following it up with, "Next time it'll be different." With that, he slumps back into the stretcher. Off to Kyoko. When you consider that...who really won after all?
To that, Hyo can only frown. IT is indeed Hyo Roy's staring at, given that he's larger than most of the other Justice High students by at least 3 or 4 inches and has a larger shoulder breadth.
Log created by Roy, and last modified on 04:22:38 05/11/2006.