Description: One of these things is not like the others. One of these things isn't the same... o/~ (Winner: Shinobu)
Perhaps because it's called the 'Crossroads of the World', Metro City has been the focus of a lot of Neo League bouts lately. Surprising, too, since for a city it's not particularly large, at least not without taking into account the sprawl into the tri-state area. Having sprung back admirably from Rolento's takeover, an event which seems a million years past by no, the citizens have taken pretty well to suddenly being a center of fighting activity. Of course, the Masters Foundation is probably reaping the benefits of that too. Winners, all.
Of course, topping the new and exotic locales booked by the League commissioners is getting steadily more difficult. With places like Easter Island and the inside of a working clock tower cropping up, plain old Metro City is looking kind of dull. But, it's also easy to get people to and getting a crowd there is no sweat. What's the solution?
Gimmicks.
It is for that reason that we find one of the outlying commuter trains running from the city proper into the boroughs currently hosting, in one of the nicer cars, one Frei, monk by trade. Normal seating would probably have been a little cramped with all the benches; thus, one of the lounge cars from an old Amtrak transcontinental liner has been hooked up just for this occasion, with... some obstacles about, but enough room to really fight in. Frei is actually sitting on a stool at the small bar, sipping some bottled water and waiting for his opponent to arrive while the camera crews set up. And... he's singing. "o/~ Train, train, take me away, far away..."
The door from the far car slides upon, and from there ventures a Shinobu. This is the second time she's come to Metro for a league fight, and thankfully the tourney foots /this/ bill. After the damage to a historic site last time, she's really not in a position to foot any more bills! As she walks in, she looks back and forth, scratching her head. She's more used to wide-open spaces, but this'll do.
Looking over to Frei, Shinobu blinks. "Huh? It's you...", she says in surprise, her brow furrowing. "I thought monks only fought for justice." She walks further in, rubbing her neck and then quickly rolling it around in a stretch.
Shinobu's entrance catches Frei mid-sip, surprising him a bit. However, it's difficult to keep him off-balance for long. Something he'll probably need in this fight, for sure. He drains the rest of the bottle and then hands it off to a cameraman with a smile, hopping off the stool and coming over to stand a reasonable distance from Shinobu, ready to fight. The cameraman, for his part, just looks at the empty bottle in confusion.
"Depends on the monk. Some fight for lechery instead," Frei quips with a big grin, falling into a passable and loose tai chi stance, somewhat reminiscent of Chun-li's. "I fight for fun, myself. Did you get your day-old cakes, by the way?" the monk asks, genuinely curious. And giving away the secret on international television.
COMBATSYS: Frei has started a fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|
"They were delicious!", Shinobu replies shamelessly with a wide smile. Other people's loss is her cake! "But... they're gone now.", she adds more sadly, She doesn't really enter a stance initially, just hanging casually, but then quickly straightens up, sliding her feet together. Putting one hand behind her back, she raises her other hand in a gesture of challenge... flexing her fingers in a 'c'mere' motion. Her face tightens a little with determination. "Come at with with the best you've got, okay?"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu has joined the fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shinobu
Well, typically Frei's not the first move type. But she did ask, and so the monk is only too happy to oblige. "Well, New Year's was a while ago, so hopefully they're gone, yeah." Knitting his brow for a moment, Frei actually looks up, testing the height of the ceiling for a moment, and then back at Shinobu. That's a schoolgirl, that is. Best to get things moving now before she gets a chance to warm up... "Alright, then!" Taking a short hop forward, the monk launches himself at Shinobu in a low arc, falling in a reversed aerial axe kick, a crescent of flame erupting in the path of the attack. "You're FIRED!"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu blocks Frei's Kouen no Tsurugi.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shinobu
Without moving her feet, Shinobu blocks the kick with her free arm, shoving it aside. It still *burns*, but at least the impact is muted. With a wince, the arm comes back, and she says, "Man, I hate fire...", softly. "... it's annoying! Yayayayayaya!" And with the cry, she throws out a flurry of punches with the same arm. More a blurred barrage than anything else, she's clearly just trying to catch Frei off guard with her quantity over quality attack! But there's real power behind it, if he isn't careful...
COMBATSYS: Shinobu successfully hits Frei with Rumble Punch.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Shinobu
It looks so easy at first. You know, in the movies all you have to do with lots of light attacks is keep your guard up and shift it ever so slightly. Unfortunately, that's just not how it works in this instance. Why? Because that's the movies. Also because Frei sucks. He goes to throw up a forearm and does get one of the punches. The rest, however, hit him so hard he goes flying back into the bar he was sitting at a moment ago... and doesn't actually get back up. Apparently, he's content to just kinda sit there for a while. "...ow."
COMBATSYS: Frei takes a breather.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Shinobu
Blinking, Shinobu raises her hand to her brow as she loosens out of her wannabe stance, and leans forward. "Eh? You alright?" Then, quickly, she shakes her hand, and holds up a fist in challenge! "Oh no! You won't trick me into going easy on you! C'mon! Try again!", she says more loudly, trying not to let her fighting spirit wane!
COMBATSYS: Shinobu gathers her will.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
It's a good, long while before Frei actually pulls himself standing again. That hurt... a lot, and despite his looks he's actually fairly good at sucking up hits, or at least rolling with them. "It's not a trick..." he grumbles, sounding a little hungover, for lack of a better term, as he gets back up. Ow. Taking a deep breath out, he tries to center himself again and get back into the game. Apparently this schoolgirl doesn't even need time to warm up. "Okay..." Ducking in low, like a boxer, the monk makes a grab for Shinobu's arm. It's a little ungainly, but if he can manage, the result isn't anything fancy: he simply intends to do a half spin and chuck her across the room. "Orrriyaaaaaaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu blocks Frei's Strong Throw.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Shinobu
Shinobu goes flying, but twists her body around in midair so that her feet meet the wall rather than her face. She springs off of it, landing on her feet as she wobbles forward a couple of steps, clearly off-balance. "Waaaa!", she cries, heading towards the monk, and her arm looks ready to clothesline him... seemingly by accident. In either case, it's positioned to hurt.
COMBATSYS: Shinobu successfully hits Frei with Monkey Mistake.
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Frei 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Shinobu
Frei actually looks pretty impressed with Shinobu's safe fall. So impressed, in fact, that he fails to properly block her resulting counterattack, sending him skidding back across the floor and into the bar... again. Rubbing his aching neck, he looks more perplexed than angry. "I wonder if this is my old sifu getting back at me, maybe... he always did say in his next incarnation he wanted to be a woman..." Wobbling a bit as he stands up, Frei actually pauses to tap his finger against his cheek in thought, before lashing out at Shinobu out of nowhere, looking to make another grab for her arm...
COMBATSYS: Shinobu dodges Frei's Ame no Murakumo.
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Frei 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Shinobu
Rubbing her arm, Shinobu gets out of the grab's way as she wobbles to the side... and finally regains her balance. As she does so, she blinks, saying, "I'm not a sifu... I think.", with a blank, puzzled expression. Then, she raises up her hand, a blue bubble forming in her palm. "I don't think I could teach...", she says with an embarassed smile, and then quickly hops back, winging it forward towards Frei. It may not look like much, but the geyser-like detonation might be hard to avoid in a space like this!
COMBATSYS: Shinobu successfully hits Frei with Petite Pop.
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Frei 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1 Shinobu
Hard to avoid is right. The water chi actually catches Frei right in the face, hard. Unlike previously, however, he doesn't go anywhere. Instead, he just... stands there. Sure, it was a clean hit, but Frei's taken a chair to the face before too, and no offense to Shinobu, but it hurt a hell of a lot more. Of course, it didn't make him quite so dizzy... Stumbling forward a step, the monk attempts to get both arms around Shinobu in a bear hug. If it works? He simply throws her *straight up* into the ceiling. Crude, incredibly slow, but hey, it it works it's going to hurt like hell.
COMBATSYS: Shinobu dodges Frei's Rebound Throw.
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Frei 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1 Shinobu
Well, Shinobu's not going to stand for that. Instead, she jumps back, almost whacking her head on the ceiling as she does so. As she skids on the floor, she then suddenly dashes back forward, and leans back as she throws a punch out, trying to catch Frei more with momentum than sheer force. It's a bit telegraphed, but its harder to find an avenue of escape in a place like this.
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Shinobu's Strong Punch.
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Frei 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1 Shinobu
There's always one useable avenue of escape: duck. This is precisely what Frei does, in fact, as Shinobu's punch sails through the air right where he used to be. Deciding that now is as good a time as any to counterattack, he immediately springs back up from his crouch, lashing out with a backwards flipping somersault kick right out of a Bruce Lee movie. Of course, as long as we're talking about telegraphed? The loud "WATAH!" that's obligatory for such things isn't helping his case either.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Shinobu with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Frei 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Shinobu
Finally, she gets properly struck. "Cool!", Shinobu exclaims with the cry, being a fan of things cinematic and martial. So much so, in fact, that she forgets to defend herself. Struck hard, she flies back, crashing down to the floor hard, looking a bit dazed by the blow. But nonetheless, she gets up, shaking her head clear. Closing her feet together again, she narrows her eyes, resuming her starting stance - hand behind her back, the other hand ready to defend. Not too far from the movies, herself. "Give me your best!", she requests, as she readies herself for a counterattack.
COMBATSYS: Shinobu focuses on her next action.
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Frei 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Shinobu
Hey, Frei looks just as surprised. Usually physical blows aren't his thing. He can pull off flashy and acrobatic, but actually forcing them to do more than token amounts of damage without chi involved is kinda hard considering his frame. "Thanks, I think!" he responds with an embarrassed smile, getting back to his feet. And then he rubs his chin in thought. Best, huh... "Well. I like to think my best is yet to come. So how about instead I give you my favorite?" Holding his hands palms angled toward the floor, the monk gathers a blue-white sphere of chi. "Now let's see if that one guy's trick actually works." Rearing his arm back, Frei hurls the sphere at Shinobu. "Hyoushou..." And when it gets close? He snaps his fingers, the ball exploding into a hail of ice shards. Looks like these two have something in common after all. "...Rengeki!"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu slows Hyoushou Rengeki from Frei with Thrown Object.
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Frei 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Shinobu
Whipping a hand beneath her sweater, Shinobu draws out... a shuriken! In one smooth motion, she flings it forth, and it connects with the icy projectile... but then bounces away, and she ends up taking the blast in the chest, falling back. Shivering, she shimmies all over, and then raises her fist. "Okay!", she declares. "Now I'm gonna get serious!" As if she hasn't been already...?
Cognitive dissonance in full effect. "Wait... I thought you were a schoolgirl." He glances at the shuriken as it falls to the floor, then back at Shinobu. "Now you're a ninja. You gotta pick one or the other. Unless you're some kind of part-time schoolgirl-slash-superhero combo." He actually gets kind of a distant look there, trying to imagine the possibilities. "That would actually be kind of cool..."
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
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Frei 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Shinobu
Pouting, Shinobu says, "They wouldn't let me be a ninja, but I learned some from watching... aren't they cool?" Then, she rushes towards the monk, balling both her fists this time. Telegraphed? Sure. But what she has in predictability... she makes up for in sheer force, throwing out a hyperfast series of punches just like before! "Yayayayaya!" But that's not all - then, she throws out /another/ series of punches from her other arm. "Yayayayaya!" Then, there's a pause, and then, she's suddenly flailing with random punches with both arms, showing her spirit as she punches off to the sides /and/ the front. Clearly, she's trying to exhaust Frei as much as out-and-out /hurt/ him. "YAYAYAYAYAYA!", she cries, continuing her kiais in a machine-gun fashion!
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Shinobu's Dragon Entry.
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Frei 1/-======/=======|-------\-------\0 Shinobu
"Oh, definitely!" Frei responds enthusiastically, apparently having hit his second wind (metaphorically, for he does not have the ability). Amazingly, he appears to have been ready for this sort of attack, though his eyes do go wide at the scale of it. Redoubling his defensive efforts, the monk goes into a whilrwind of partial parries, throwing hands and forearms every which way in front of the impressive flurry of strikes. It's a little exhausting, and they still hurt quite a bit, but he's spared the brunt of the real damage thanks to an aggressive defense. "I don't think I have what it takes to be a ninja, though. I'm too... flashy. Lemme show ya!" Grinning, the monk draws a circle in the air with his right hand, which suddenly bursts into a halo of rainbow-shifting light. Reaching out, he does his best to just... get his hand near Shinobu's tummy.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Shinobu with Fukami Reikai.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Shinobu
He doesn't even need to touch, simply to get his hand more or less near. And when it does? Frei's green eyes flash with the effort of controlling it, but with effort he takes a number of elemental forces and squeezes them to a single point, right in his palm. With a shout of "Break!", he just... lets it loose, creating a hellacious blast of raw force that ripples the air between himself and Shinobu from the aftereffect.
Though Shinobu takes the blow hard, her body twists back with the blow, taking it... well, better than she might've, considering. Though it strikes true, she appeared to have at least readied herself for the blow in the half-second prior to it. It throws her across the car, and knocks her up against the far door, denting it hard, and she nearly slumps to her knees. But she rises, giggling softly. "So that's how it's done...", she mumbles, and then looks up at Frei through her bangs. Then, she wavers a little as she takes a step, and then quickly rushes up towards Frei, throwing out a clumsy hook towards his chin. Apparently she's still a bit dazed from the blow, but not enough to slow her too much!
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Strong Punch from Shinobu with Medium Throw.
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Frei 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Shinobu
Deciding he doesn't want to lose the momentum just yet, Frei tries an aggressive defense, trying to snap out a hand to catch Shinobu's fist and then toss her to the ground aikido-style. Unfortunately she just powers right on through it. With a surprised look, the monk suddenly snaps up his other arm, deflecting the blow JUST slightly. Still hurts, but at least he doesn't get socked in the face. "How's what done? And that trick with the punches was kinda cool, by the way."
"Really?", Shinobu says with a grin, and then follows up her punch with an uppercut, boxing away at Frei. Since - for once - she seems to have the physical edge, she might as well press him on it. Sakura said her fists were her strong point, after all! "Ah, you took my punches really well, I saw the trick... but I wasn't as good at it..." As the uppercut reaches its apex, she flicks her arm forward, trying to follow up with a surprise backhand.
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Shinobu's Strong Punch!
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Frei 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Shinobu
WHAM. It all works really well. Why? Because Frei actually kind of threw himself right into it. The fight hadn't really been going too well for him, after all... so, there's nothing left to do but start doing the really crazy risky stuff. And Sakura was probably right. Shinobu's punches are mighty. But the monk doesn't fall... at least, not yet. His hand actually snaps up after the backhand, trying to snag Shinobu's before she can pull it back. "You're good at other things, though. That's the way life is." Hopefully, he can make the grab stick...
COMBATSYS: Shinobu blocks Frei's Ame no Murakumo EX.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
Grinning, Frei smiles at Shinobu. "Gotcha!" There's no room for how this maneuver usually goes, not with the low ceiling. Thus the monk is forced to improvise. Hopefully twisting the schoolgirl's arm just a tad, he pushes her forward just a bit... only enough to keep her off-balance as he spins around and points both palms at Shinobu. "HAAAAAAAAAA!" From said palms he lashes out with a huge burst of wind chi, hoping to just... blow her away. Still, the maneuver is complex, and there's plenty of time to figure out some sort of last-minute defense.
Getting grabbed, Shinobu puts her other arm up in a block, turning her side against the attack... sliding back rather than getting blown away by the burst. "That's cool! But not quick enough!" In return, shethen throws out both fists at once, trying to batter away at Frei's chest with power over finesse. She's gotten a bit too cocky this time around, and so she's gotta make up for it in the last quarter with a bit of ruthless brutality.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Shinobu's Strong Punch.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
Whoa! Quick on the uptake, this one is. It takes all of Frei's reflexes to snap up an arm, catching Shinobu's palms with a horizontal block that actually forces him a step or two back. "...aaaaaaaah ow ow ow!" he grumbles, shaking his now-numb arm out. "Thanks," he says, genuinely pleased with the comment. And since it's turned into a close-quarters brawl, the monk decides to match tit or tat. What the hey! Doing a quick turn back into his tai chi stance, the monk lashes out one palm downward at Shinobu's navel... "Hou..." And then his other upward, right at her chin. "Hya!"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu dodges Frei's Fierce Punch.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
Turning sideways again, Shinobu steps away from both attacks as she slams down into horse stance. "Nice try!", she shouts. "Waataaa!" She then slams her fist out in a powerful backhand, aimed at Frei's solar plexus. A bit repetitive, perhaps, but this is going the way she wants. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it's got big, sharp teeth!
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Shinobu's Strong Punch.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
Oooh, a 'watah'! This is a fighter Frei could get to like. Unfortunately that doesn't mean he likes Shinobu so much he's going to let her smack him in the face. Pivoting on his heel, the monk spins a few degrees to the left, raising his palms upward as he does so. "Likewise!" he singsongs, before flinging his palms out in front of him, hoping to surprise Shinobu with a quick burst of golden energy in the side that explodes into a shower of colorful sparks. "Sunburst!"
COMBATSYS: Shinobu blocks Frei's Hizashi.
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Frei 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Shinobu
Shinobu raises her arms in a boxing guard, dispersing the attack on her arms rather than her gut. "Shiny!", she says with a smile, before hopping back and turning away, lashing out with with high... but surprisingly fast roundhouse, as she puts more speed behind it than sheer power, hoping to catch him off guard with something that /isn't/ a power punch.
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Light Kick from Shinobu with Kouen no Tsurugi.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Shinobu
So, Frei had a plan. He was going to do this neat flaming flipkick and just boot Shinobu's attack out of the way. Sadly, it doesn't work out the way he planned it; instead, her roundhouse sends him off balance. Luckily, he catches himself before he hits the ground, minizmizing the attack's full impact. But still... looks like it hurt. Although grinning faintly, Frei doesn't say anything. Why? Because he's exhausted. Shinobu could probably knock him over with a feather at this point.
Lacking any feathers, Shinobu's going to have to rely on other tricks, sadly. Stepping forward with a hop, she kicks high with her leg, swiftly bringing it down in a axe kick as she continues the pressure on Frei. "Hiyah!" Subtle it ain't, but she's gotta wrap this up before he gets any better ideas.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Shinobu's Light Kick.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Shinobu
COMBATSYS: Frei takes no action.
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Shinobu 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Frei can no longer fight.
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Shinobu 0/-------/-======|
The monk doesn't even try and defend, or if he does it's so fractional the human eye can't see it. If Frei did block, he more or less blocked with his *face*; the axe kick sends him crashing down into the bar again, but this time there's no groggy retorts; he's out cold, proving that Frei doth suck, but Shinobu doth not. The officials wander over, verify the KO, and pronounce Shinobu the winner. Cheering sounds come from the other cars.
Shinobu scratches her head. Well, he had some cool moves, that's for sure! Filing away the lessons learned regarding his near-cinematic kung fu, she shrugs, and looks down. "Out already? Oh well..." She blinks, as if suddenly remembering she's in pain, and crouches a little. "Atatatatata...", she mumbles as she straightesn up, and then turns to the officials. "Eh, yeah, I won.", she says with a smile, seeming a little dazed as her brain grinds away in the background.
Log created by Frei, and last modified on 23:24:56 01/13/2006.