Description: Clark and Kula battled for league standings in the shrine. Of course, to make things more interesting, the officials decided to switch things up and have them fight on the stairs themselves. A good battle, but the lesson learned here is: don't push your luck with interrupts. (Winner: Kula)
Seveal weeks into the league, and new ideas are being thought up all the time, to keep membership and viewer interest up. One of their latest ideas was improving the terrain. Instead of having every fight in an area, a rooftop, or a street, they decided to mix it up a bit. Moving trains, log rolling, swaying rope bridges were all being tapped for fight locations. Hey, if someone falls off, it's good for ratings and good for hospital billing departments! Perhaps next week there will be a large fight between people on window washer platforms, jumping back and forth. But this fight would be different, as it would take gravity and 'bouncing' into account. The location seemed normal, and when it was announced the fight would be at the old shrine, people showed up expecting it to be the same old thing. But now there's a murmur as they realize there's only so far up the stairs they can go before they reach the roped off area.
Kula is sitting where the league had told her to be starting the fight at, looking down the steps and waiting for the call to start to begin. The skinny girl was given the advantage of height, and Kula had a sneaking suspicion they wanted to give her a few edges based on her earlier fights. The girl was set for the brawl to begin, hair shifted blue, leather outfit worn, gloves and shoes strapped into place. Viewers are seated at the sides of the steps, and there are more brave souls higher up the staircase than there are below the fight area (you never know when gravity will kick in), but the general attitude is excitement and curiousity on how this fight will go.
He, too, had thought the fight would be the same old thing at the shrine... not that he'd ever really fought here, really, though he'd seen it, both passing by, and also in certain televised fights. But when Clark arrives at the scene, he has to raise an eyebrow in surprise at the roped off sections. They were going to fight on the long stairway, was it? Interesting. That'd make all manner of difficulty, he was sure, but it seemed to him to be more interesting that way. No sooner than he'd stepped into the ring than the announcer, oddly dressed in a weird monk-like outfit, even going so far as to wear a bald cap with markered-in dots lining the forehead, as monks sometimes have, begins to rev up the crowd. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! Tonight we have for you an exciting match up. Two great fighters will go head to head here on the shrine grounds, but tonight, we've decided to change things up! These two fighters will have to deal with uneven terrain, as well as a stamina draining stairway, and the enemy of all fighters who know about throwing: gravity! So stick around, and enjoy the show!"
Clark isn't too impressed, it seems, with the announcer's antics. Or it could be that he -was-, but was just doing a damn fine impression of a statue - like the Buddha up the way. Either way, the big Ikari makes his way up the steps to a respectable distance away from his opponent, and then looks up at her, frowning a little. Just a kid... but he'd fought kids before, like Kensou, and Kensou had been fairly tough to handle. Still, he couldn't help but be a little skeptical here. Still, he's the cautious sort, so can't discount everyone you see just based on their looks. He gives a nod to Kula, and then... tries to get into his fighting stance, but is made to improve a little, given the stairs, so he places one foot up, one foot down, and then raises his arms, waiting for the announcer to call the fight.
COMBATSYS: Clark has started a fight here.
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Clark 0/-------/-------|
When Clark enters the fighter's 'ring' and the announcer steps in, Kula stands and pushes a few frozen strands of hair out of her face, a very faint 'clink' as the ice formed on them snaps and falls to the ground. It quickly freezes over again, so no harm, no foul. She ... hasn't seen many fights on tv, so isn't sure who this person is, but has fought enough people to know that the general rule to winning is to not get hit. ...though, for some reason that announcer's comment about 'gravity' and 'throwing' concerns her. The good news is she's very unlikely to be hit with a steel pole or block of concrete on a staircase!
...the bad news is, her speed is severely hindered. Unless she plans on sliding straight downhill, the girl constantly has to remember /not/ to create ice under her feet and try to skate around. Already, she's biting her lip as she concentrates on her movement. The announcer's hyping of the crowd continues, and then he gives the sign to 'FIGHT!' before quickly moving out of the way. And immediately Kula jumps towards Clark ... which in hindsight might not be the best move to do on stairs, but, you live and learn. The girl tries to aim her foot to plant itself into his chest, so all of her kinetic energy will transfer to him, and he'll go tumbling and she'll just land on stone steps.
COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here.
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Clark 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kula
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Clark with Medium Kick.
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Clark 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Kula
As the announcer gives the universal signal to begin punching each other until someone doesn't stand back up, Clark tenses, and then watches as the girl does the most effective thing she probably could do... that is, unless the big man could dodge. Unfortunately, he's just as much in the same boat as Kula is, so when he tries to step to the left, he's not exactly sure of his footing, stumbling a bit... and it gives enough of a pause, that Kula's foot indeed hits him square in the chest, and sends him backwards, landing roughly on the stairs a distance downhill, and then sliding a bit ungracefully, before he can move his hands out to stop himself, kicking his feet up in order to give a small somersault, and then landing his feet back assuredly on the steps. "Hmph," he says, and then begins to charge up the steps, taking to them rather well. When he reaches the girl, he moves to strike at her middle with a stiff punch to her sternum, nothing more or less.
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Clark's Fierce Punch.
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Clark 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Kula
Kula manages to stand back up easily enough, and her response to seeing someone charge at her on a staircase? Why, it's to run the other way! At least, this time it is, since she isn't sure she could pull off a fancy move to stop him, and since he's punching up, ducking wouldn't really help. She scrambles up a couple steps, and jumps enough to lift her feet out of the path of the fist before she lands again and steadies herself. Mind the small puddles of melted snow and ice on a few steps, Clark. Kula twists around, and reaches out to punch at Clark's face quickly, attempting to keep him off-balance.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Clark with Jab Punch.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Kula
It seems he doesn't mind the snow and ice on the steps! Surely that must suck for the big man... steps to deal with, as well as the ice falling from the younger girl. So when he misses, he attempts to step lower, out of the girl's range... but he slips a little on the ice, managing not to fall the hell over, but still, he can only try and raise his arms in order to block the attack, and the unsure footing doesn't even allow him to do that! So he's hit quite squarely in the jaw, his head snapping the other way briefly with a small grunt of pain. His reaction? Enough of this stairs crap. Having not slid too far, he simply attempts to quickly step forward, and grab the front of the girl's outfit, and then turn (carefully, if one can manage to do that), and toss her down the steps.
COMBATSYS: Clark successfully hits Kula with Fast Throw.
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Clark 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kula
Kula does her best to defend from the grab, her usual means of which being to bring her arms together and shield herself in ice. In this instance, it doesn't seem to work as well, since Clark is at such a vantage he can reach -under- the ice and grab hold of her before swinging her around. Kula lets out a shriek as she finds herself airborne, the ground getting further away as she goes further out. It's not a huge fall, but she does let out a few loud 'OW!'s as she bounces off a couple steps. Picking herself back up, Kula finds herself now at a lower point. So, she starts charging back up the steps, and then jabs out her hand at Clark, several blunt points of ice extending out from a ball that quickly forms over her hand. She's not going to stab anybody in a league fight, just stick with blunt force trauma.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Clark with Critical Ice.
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Clark 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kula
The Ikari's answer to dodging such an attack? Well, to do much the same Kula did previously when he was striving to punch her, by backing the hell up. But the attack is either too fast, or the big Ikari too slow, though the former seems most plausible, given Clark being faster than your average huge blond guy. The blunt ice-spears impact against his midsection, causing another loud grunt, and even making the man, in mid-step, to fall over - into a sitting position on the stone stairs. This was going fairly badly, so Clark was gonna need to step back a moment on this one. Not to mention... the ice didn't seem to be coming from the sky, or pedestrians, but rather the girl herself, which was just odd. Not that, you know, forming blunt ice spears from nothing was 'normal'. He'd need to examine her style and focus a little more. Though oddly, he stays seated, his hands planted on the dusty steps.
COMBATSYS: Clark focuses on his next action.
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Clark 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kula
Kula's a bit surprised by the fact there isn't an immediate attack in retaliation from the bigger man, but the girl uses the brief pause well, scampering around so she's on equal steps with him. After all, attacking /up/ just stinks. She seems to consider her options, and then rushes forward again, hopping up a step to attempt a kick at one of his arms holding Clark in place. It's not a /great/ tactic...but honestly, it's almost all she's got. Accursed stairs!
COMBATSYS: Clark interrupts Light Kick from Kula with Super Argentine Backbreaker.
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Clark 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Kula
It might've worked, but his attention to detail here manages to prevail. His arm closer to her tenses, and then gives a sharp push upwards, but it's not enough to actually push himself out of the way of the kick, so the foot still impacts his arm, causing another grunt of pain... but that's okay, because he's already in motion. The push up sends his body up, and he rises to his feet, his other hand snapping around in order to grab ahold of the extended leg. Then, immediately after, he whips the leg up, and throws the girl into the air, and then positions himself under her, hands raised. The girl comes back down, and he snatches her from the air, flipping her so her back is facing the ground, and then more or less pulls her by the shoulders and legs down onto his shoulders roughly, bending her spine at a bad angle. Then, she's tossed away off his shoulders... fortunately for her, not down the stairs, or even up, but rather to the side, so the two fighters maintain equal ground
Kula can only yelp as she's thrown into the air. However, it seems Clark is going to do the right thing, and catch her! Good, she'd hate to fall all the way down those stairs. It'd be rather painf-oh dear. The girl can only awkwardly flail as she's turned over and then pulled down, feeling something in her back go 'pop' and a muscle pull. Ow. Even the crowd has to wince at that one.
Kula lands again on the stones with a grunt, and rolls over just to find herself thumping down a step. But, it lets her get a knee underneath her, and she pushes herself up, turning around quick to charge at Clark. Her attempt? She's actually slicking the ground ahead of her with ice! ...yeah, not smart, but she has a plan. She slides down, kicking out at Clark's ankles, attempting to knock him not only over, but send him down the steps so she can safely have the high ground again.
COMBATSYS: Clark blocks Kula's Slider Shoot.
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Clark 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kula
Clark's attack is mighty, yes, but it seems it wasn't enough to put the girl out of commission, which is... both good and bad. She wasn't as flimsy as she looked, at least. He turns to face her as she stands back up, adopting his fighting stance again and concentrating again on her reaction. ...Which... is somewhat unconventional. It's too fast to dodge, so instead he does what he can do and... simply braces himself for impact as it were. The kick hits his ankles, and he begins to skid backwards a bit, before finally his body weight topples him forward... though he catches himself with his hands before he can be sent down the steps, surprisingly. He then pushes himself up, and steps down a bit (to get away from the ice), before moving up and trying to take advantage of Kula's position by aiming another punch at her middle... but should that succeed, he will then grab her form and take one step back, before throwing her -again- down the steps.
COMBATSYS: Clark successfully hits Kula with Combo Throw.
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Clark 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
Kula was positive that would work! It's her good luck attack! The fact it failed, and she's just sprawled out on the step now perplexes the girl, leaving her quite open to a punch. The girl tries to scamper like a crab back, but alas, she's foiled by her own ice and unable to get traction! Her feet slip out, and she lands on her butt just in time to get a punch to the gut. "Umph!" The next part surprises her, and Kula finds herself airborne once again!
"Auck!" It's not the most ladylike sound to come from the girl, but it does sum up her situation rather well. Kula bounces down the steps again, grunting with each land as she tries to grab hold and stop herself. Finally stopping down near the lower edge of the makeshift 'arena', she takes a few breaths and wipes some blood from her face. Apparently, she landed on her chin at one point there. Flinching, Kula stands back up, and holds up her hand towards Clark, looking for all intents and purposes like she might blow him a kiss. However, instead what comes is a gust of wind up the steps, bringing along with it some shards of ice and snow to pelt and sting him.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Clark with Diamond Breath.
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Clark 1/=======/=======|=======\===----\1 Kula
Christ did he hate it when he fought younger girls and managed to make them bleed. He had done it with Xiangfei, and now this girl - Kula, he thinks. And it possibly was distracting enough that he didn't try to dodge until it was too late, or it was a bit of ice left on the steps. In fact, it was both, since he tries to rise up out of the attack's range, and forgets the layer of ice there, so he slips, and then only succeeds in bringing himself directly into the path of the attack, his body being pelted and stung with tiny cold particles of pain. "Augh," he cries a bit, and then pushes himself up. He was hurt, but... he wasn't out, yet! He'd just need to get serious. And with that realization, he begins to run down the steps towards her, building up an almost insane speed, the kind where you're running because you can't stop your momentum, with his hand outstretched to catch her about the middle...
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Clark's Ultra Argentine Backbreaker.
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Clark 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Kula
...And Clark goes sailing past like a freight train until he reaches the bottom of the steps, and skids to a halt on the much more flat ground, fortunately avoiding injury to himself, despite the speed he built up. He crouches a little, and then spins a 180 while skidding in order to find himself facing the stairs again, making a small 'tch' noise as he does. She was fast!
Kula seems to finally have one advantage. When you're coming down stairs like a freight train, it's /very/ hard to change your direction even the slightest bit without tripping over yourself. She knows that from personal experience. So, when Clark charges down at her, Kula twists around and out of the reach of that arm, figuring whatever was going to happen wouldn't be good. And then, to signal how close it was, she smiles at him in a 'holy- that was CLOSE!' way. Sadly, Kula's still too naive to curse very often, even in her expressions.
Kula seems to consider her options, and then suddenly crouches and jumps at Clark again, this time going headfirst at him. The plan? Why, land at his feet and then jab a quick punch at his side. The punch itself won't doo much, but the sudden surge of cold around him might hint him to what's coming afterward. Pulling moisture from the air, Kula will do her best to condense it and freeze it around Clark, just a thin layer that'll shatter after a couple of seconds if it works.
COMBATSYS: Clark interrupts Ice Coffin from Kula with Gatling Attack.
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Clark 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 Kula
Rising to his feet-- he's not exactly sure what the heck she's doing, now, but he's ready for it. She lands, and he tries to adjust to the angle... but still gets pegged with the first punch anyway, causing a stiff grunt of pain. And then the temperature shifts -really- fast, which alerts Clark to something. Which is, he's going to want to move, and right now. So he does, and the ice only gets to form the barest of layers over him, stinging and numbing his arms and face, before he suddenly slams his fist into her stomach, then turns, and drives an elbow into the same area, sending her back into the steps... but he's not quite done yet, rushing forward as she moves backwards in order to display an odd amount of flexibility as he raises a foot up high, and then brings it back down hard onto her shoulder, making for an effective crumpling effect. The big man is then forced to shuffle backwards, patting at his arms roughly in an effort to warm them from their nearly-numb status.
Kula's feeling towards brute force is that she just plain doesn't like it. Mostly because she can't take it very well. The fist in her gut knocks the wind out of her, and she barely has a second to stumble back and wheeze for breath befor the elbow connects in the same place. She crumples over even as she lands on the steps, and slumps back down just in time to catch the foot on her shoulder and slam down onto the ground, curled up in a ball as she tries to find where her ability to breathe went. After a minute, she's able to weakly pick herself up and stumble for a moment as she looks at Clark. Yes, she does manage a smile, though there's a grimace in it, and then the girl attempts to do something somewhat zany. The girl runs forward and does the same sliding attack as before, but this time, if she trips him, it's to make him land /on/ her. ...one would hope that the plan extends beyond that, of course...
COMBATSYS: Clark fails to interrupt Freeze Execution from Kula with Running Three.
COMBATSYS: Clark can no longer fight.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|
...and sure enough, the plan does extend further than being pancaked! Kula's hands rise, sending a stream of ice up to keep Clark in the air long enough for her legs to curl and kick upward to give him a bit more sky to work with. And then Kula flattens herself down on the ground, closing her eyes as she concentrates with a heavy man waiting for gravity to kick in. And that's when the gale wind strikes, blowing over the barrier and shoving spectators out of the way as it arrives, special delivery, just for Clark. Feeling like something a bitter winter storm would have, it even brings with it the obligatory miniature blizzard within to batter him with ice, snow, and hail. Kula rolls out of the way as the winds die down, finally letting gravity kick in and let Clark fall.
He's seen this attack before! ...Or, well, so he thinks. He's ready for it, however, as she rushes towards him and makes with the sliding. This time, he doesn't brace, but instead tries to press his luck. As he's tripped, being sent forward, his hands outstretch in order to try and grab for her... but he never makes it that far. Instead, he sent higher and higher into the air via ice blasts and kicks, and then he's summarily battered with stinging ice particles, causing several cuts, and his skin to change to an unhealthy shade of blue. By the end of it, he's falling back to the ground with a heavy 'oof!' and thudding... and he simply lies still on the iced over ground, groggy as hell. He'll get back up in a moment, but... for now? Ouch. Yeah, he'll just lie here.
Kula was already pushing herself halfway up, resting on her stomach as she watched Clark. She didn't put it past him to suddenly reach over and slam her head onto the ground. In fact, she expected it. But, when he doesn't get up, and the crowd seems to realize it's over, Kula slowly moves back into a sitting position against the bottom step, and reaches over to lightly dust some ice off of Clark. "...good fight." She says it softly, still trying to find where the rest of her breath went. It kinda hurts to talk, so maybe she won't much longer. There's just a brief moment where she fishes a plastic baggie out of a pocket, and sprinkles some ice into it to make a homemade icepack for Clark, and sets it near him. "Here." And then...she's also just going to lie there for a bit, and set her hands on her ribs.
Log created by Clark, and last modified on 17:19:19 02/12/2007.