Description: Shenwoo faces off against the mysterious Rose, in his hometown of Shanghai. Despite his tenacity and ferocity, though, it doesn't seem like he's quite up to the task of dealing with her Soul Power...! (Winner: Rose)
Shanghai. A bustling hub of life and activity, a city that never seems to sleep. It might not be quite the sprawling metropolis that some other cities are, and it's definitely not a hub of the international fighting circuit... But it has produced its fair share of renowned fighters. For example, Shanghai's favourite son... The man known only as Shenwoo.
Okay, well, maybe he's not the city's /favourite/ son, but close enough. Certainly, he's one of the best known fighters to come out of Shanghai recently, ever since he decided he was too much of a 'big fish in a small pond'. The former street tough, former petty crook and occasional enforcer, has returned to his home turf for his latest battle in the Neo Fighting League. In one of the more central areas of the city, a square has been cordoned off by the League, with barricades set up, guarded by local police and League security, camera crews just about finished their final tests to make sure they can capture every moment of the action to help line Ken Masters' pockets. And Shen, who is honestly at best half Chinese, who most of the people here once thought of as lower than the dust on the street, is enjoying the adulation of the crowd.
While Shenwoo might be something of an unknown quantity in Southtown and other places, even know, in Shanghai he's /famous/. Everyone seems to know him, and the tall young man soaks up the attention like a sponge. Dressed in his usual flashy manner, the blond berserker grins widely, standing inside the 'ring' while he plays to the crowd, waiting for his opponent and for the fun to start. Who knows, maybe his comeback will start here, back in his hometown?
By contrast, it's very unlikely that Rose -- whose worldwide fame is mostly based on her occult talents that cater to the rich and wastefully decadent -- is popular, famous, or even known in Shanghai. That suits her fine; it means that as she walks down the streets of Shanghai to the makeshit ring, the people of the city leave her alone... or take in her comparatively bizarre countenance and decide to give her a wide berth instead. As someone who appreciates her privacy to the extent that she can get it, it suits Rose fine.
The walk from her hotel gives the psychic time to reflect on why she consented to join the Masters League. Ostensibly, it's because SNF proved to be a useful vehicle for her; it introduced her to Chun-li, who in turn introduced her to Charlie. Yet while her only league fight to date was interesting, it certainly wasn't fruitful. Iori Yagami is about as likely as a bowl of Corn Chex to fight Vega.
And before she knows it, Rose is standing at the edge of the ring, and then gently stepping around a barricade inside it on her corner, regarding Shenwoo with equal parts analysis and amusement. "Good afternoon," she offers, voice carefully neutral. "Shall we?"
Well, Shenwoo at least certainly has only a very vague idea of who Rose is... Though he's seen a bit about the woman, here and there. He certainly doesn't know she has any connection to that Lord Whatsischin dude, who the self-styled 'God of Battle' fought alongside Cammy. But, hey, whatever! Honestly, he's just here for the fun of the fight. With Rose's arrival, Shen's attention turns from the fans to his opponent, as he tilts his head and regards her with his dark eyes. "Afternoon'," he says, his almost feral grin broadening. "Straight down to business, huh? Well, that's fine by me." He tugs his gloves tighter, slipping easily into his casual, pseudo-boxing stance, leading with his right fist. "Let's make this fun!!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo has started a fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-------|
Now where has she seen that face before... giving Shen a curious gaze for a moment while she tries to piece it together, the psychic suddenly smiles, just the tiniest bit. Ah, yes... the fighter who had faced off against her other half when he interrupted an SNF. Suddenly, the fight has moved from diversion to having promise. "I believe in expedience," she replies smoothly, falling into 'stance' -- which is to say, she adjusts her footing a fraction of an inch and loosens her shawl -- and giving Shen a nod. Fighting for fun... is not her thing. But in deference to his earnestness, Rose responds in kind. "This promises to be very interesting."
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
"I was just thinking the same thing," the enthusiastic Shenwoo replies, lifting his left hand to signal to the League officials. Then, a few things happen very quickly, as the brawler takes a step forward... And then suddenly /launches/ into much faster forward movement, his hair and shirt and wallet chain trailing behind him as he rushes straight at Rose, his left fist - the one with the big ol' metal ring on it, naturally - thrown forward as he tries to strike the psychic with a powerful punch. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo successfully hits Rose with Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Rose
Ow. Alright, so Rose isn't the type to say that, but if she were, that's about what she would have uttered as Shen smacks her a good one right in the kisser, sending her stumbling back a few steps. However, it's not enough to down her right off the bat, but it should be obvious to Shen that Rose is built for dodging punches, not taking them. "Impressive," the psychic murmurs, weighing her options. Taking a quick step back in, she simply attempts to get her palm, crackling with a nimbus of Soul Power, near Shen's chest. If it works? Off he goes into the wild blue yonder courtesy of Rose's psychic powers.
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Shenwoo with Soul Fade.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Rose
On the other hand, Shenwoo is - usually, anyway - someone who's quite good at taking damage. Just, uh, not right now it seems. He stands his ground against Rose's counterattack, her psychic energy indeed sending him a-flyin', crashing into one of the barricades, which only barely manages to hold up. "Keh... Ow," he mutters, sounding impressed. Honestly, he doesn't know Soul Power from a hole in the ground... To him, energy is energy is energy. It's just not his field of expertise. He's not down long, though, soon dashing low along the ground, attempting to close distance with the psychic woman and feint with his left fist... Before snapping out a quicker strike at her jaw. "ORA!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose interrupts Quick Punch from Shenwoo with Soul Throw.
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Shenwoo 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rose
It's a good punch, insofar as it actually connects. What Shen gets instead o Rose's face is her still-glowy hand, which she interposes right in front of the God of Battle's fist with a deceptively lazy-looking grace. Of course, what she's carefully not showing is how much effort that required, or how much PAIN it caused. It looks so easy in wire-fu movies. "You have a very bright spirit," she observes conversationally, as if she and her opponent were not locked thus. "Indomitable. It serves you well." And then, Rose snaps Shen around her in a circle ala Athena, finally sending him flying again but this time adding a dose of Soul Power into the mix in the form of that 'fake' blue flame. "It is no surprise you did well against Vega."
Fudgesicles. Shenwoo gets tossed around psionically again, which hurts like crazy, but... It's not like that's enough to make him give up, as he hits the pavement and rolls, getting into a crouch. "Haah... Haah..." He's taken a lot of damage in very little time, which is making him at least a little wary. "Heh... You're strong." It's an observation of the obvious, sure, but he likes to acknowledge it. "Vega, was that the guy's name? He was strong... But he didn't have any spirit!!" And he was too overconfident, which resulted in Shenwoo getting all up in his bidness, as it were. Still, what to do next? Therein lies the question. Again, he explodes out of his crouching position, rushing at Rose and then taking a twisting step, to thrust his right leg out in a straight-legged kick at the woman's midsection, trying to bury his heel in her gut. "SHYAAA!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Shenwoo's Tenrenshou.
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Shenwoo 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rose
Rose, unlike Vega, is not overconfident. Perhaps better to say, she's just confident enough. When the spinning kick comes in, the psychic sets her heel and simply pivots to the side, watching Shen breeze by, mere centimeters from what probably would have been serious, serious pain on Rose's part. "Yes, that is his name," she continues conversationally, deciding not to press the attack just now but, instead, centering herself and making sure she doesn't go overboard or get cocky. "And to call him 'without spirit' is observant, but a colossal understatement." Chatty cathy, ain't she? "Tell me, Shenwoo... what did you think of Vega?"
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Shenwoo 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Rose
"Heh," chuckles Shenwoo quietly as Rose avoids his kick. Why, he almost feels like he's being toyed with... But he's never balked at the idea of facing someone stronger than he is before, so why start now? "I thought he was too full of himself," says the berserker, as he actually - gasp - considers his next move. "And I don't like people who think they can control other people's lives." Shenwoo knows what it's like to be on the other end of that, after his youth working for organised crime. How people treat you like you're nothing more than a dog, and how some people just don't have the guts or the drive to free themselves, and live their own lives. He has some pity for those folks at least, but... "That kinda guy just... MAKES ME SICK!!" he turns around as he says this, eyes wide, as he tries to grab ahold of Rose and have a meetin of the minds. Or, to be more specific, he tries to drive his head into hers for a big ol' headbutt.
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Shenwoo's Strong Punch.
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Shenwoo 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
Unfortunately, Rose has had her pretty face smacked the once this fight and isn't inclined to do it a second time; charging her shawl once again, she interposes it between her face and Shen's head, absorbing the blow. At least it's soft on the impact. Sort of. "Interesting," Rose says simply, before giving herself some room and loosening the shawl again. "Not unexpected, perhaps, but interesting." And then, with a flick of the wrist, the psychic whips the shawl in Shen's general direction, a purplish sphere of Soul Power trailing golden light arcing out at the berserker. "Soul Spark!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo dodges Rose's Soul Spark.
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Shenwoo 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
Ohhh man. You know what Shenwoo always has trouble with? People tossing energy around at him. You'd think he'd be better at dealing with it, what with his two most common compatriots slinging green fire or creepy, ghostly chi around, but... Not so much. With his headbutt defended against, the tall young man keeps right on grinning, before barely - just /barely/ - managing to duck out of the way of that projectile. "Whoa there, that looked dangerous!" he says, before swinging his leg at Rose, attempting to hit her in the gut with his shin. "ORA!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose interrupts Light Kick from Shenwoo with Aura Soul Throw.
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Shenwoo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Rose
With a *whump!* the kick lands! Sort of. Again holding up her charged shawl, the psychic has coated her arm with it in a spiral-like shape, absorbing some of the blow from Shen's kick. "You are a person who makes my heart glad, Shenwoo," Rose admits. "You are true to yourself. You use your anger well." And then, suddenly, the shawl is *alive*, snaking through the air as if it had its own will and snapping around Shen's other leg, then simply slingshotting him into the distance in a burst of blue Soul Power 'fire'. "I am deeply grateful that I had a chance to meet you. It bodes of good things."
Once again, Shenwoo is quite thoroughly tossed, this time smashing /through/ the barricade he hits, even ending up in the crowd. But is this the end for the self-styled 'God of Battle'? Is he the sort of person to go down after all of that?! Actually, it seems like maybe not, because soon the berserker comes rocketing back out of the crowd, trying once again to strike Rose with his extended left fist in a rushing punch. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" That's just the sort of fighter he is; he doesn't stop fighting until he absolutely can't fight anymore, and it seems like he might have a little of the ol' pepper left...!!
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Shenwoo's Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Rose
The problem with the screaming gig is that occasionally, you give yourself away. Particularly when your opponent can read minds. Thus Rose is simply... not there when Shen's fist, moving at the speed of awesome, cuts through the air like a fighter jet. Instead, she is in midair, dropping on him from above in an inverted posture, attempting to get her hands around both sides of his head and pour in the Soul Power before flipping off back onto the ground. "What excellent tenacity!" She sounds impressed.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo fails to interrupt Soul Drain from Rose with Zetsu Gekiken.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo can no longer fight.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|
Yeah, the yelling thing doesn't always pan out. Sometimes, though, intimidation is totally the way to go. Shenwoo is dodged, and grabbed, and while he tries to twist around... He just hasn't got the juice, faltering when he tries. "Geh... Hnn..." And he ends up dropping to his knees. "Hahaha... You're good," the tall young man directs at Rose, before he just sort of... Keels over onto his face, out like a light. That's the downside to throwing absolutely everything you have at people: When you lose, it's usually lights out!
Breathing out, the psychic stands close by to where Shen is taking his involuntary nap, glancing down at the berserker carefully, as if she were concentrating on something; her dark purple eyes have an almost distant look, her shawl rustling on her shoulders slightly. "Unlike so many who fight with their anger," she begins, although he can't hear her, "you have overcome many trials and it has given you a strong spirit. You are not controlled by your rage; rather, you control it. That is a thing to be commended." And then she's glancing over to the camera crew, before turning to go. "I hope we can meet again someday... 'God of Battle'."
Log created by Shenwoo, and last modified on 04:16:27 12/21/2005.