Description: A trip to the noodle shop ends in tragedy! ... Tragic loss of noodles! T_T
Midday on a Sunday afternoon -- perfect time for hangin' out with friends! Sakura's done with training for the day, and she'd walked into the Southtown Village on a lark... lo and behold, she'd stopped by one of the local chow mein shops when her mouth started watering. But it'd be a shame to stop at one of these places alone -- wouldn't it be better to share?
So, Sakura had called up Hinata and invited her to come along. If she'd had thought things out before, she would have called -before- she'd gotten to the chow mein place, but hindsight's 20/20 and all. And... it'd just be =rude= to go in without Hinata, so Sakura mills about outside the restaurant, anxiously glancing at the display of her cellphone. "Geez, what's =taking= her so long?" Heaven forbid the Sunshine Girl take longer than three minutes to get from one side of town to the next. Sakura's just =so= impatient, sheesh!
And so, three and a *half* minutes later, Hinata arrives. Panting heavily and red-faced, she doubles over to put her hands on her knees and catch her breath. "S-.. Sakura! Wh-.. *huff* What's the big emergency?" The poor girl literally ran all the way from her house after hastily throwing together something to wear. Without having to put thought into it, she just grabbed her Taiyo uniform again, but it's all wrinkled and her bow's not straight. "What's the matter? Why'd I have to run over here 'OMG ASAP super-quick'?" Hinata's pretty sure that's some kind of code for 'there's big trouble so come and help me'. Or it could be 'there's awesome stuff on sale so come and loan me money'. Either way.
What could be more urgent than chow mein noodles? Hel-looo? Looking up from her cellphone to see Hinata dashing up, Sakura inquires, "C'mon, what took you so long, Hina-chan? Sheesh... " Rolling her eyes with an impatient sigh -- it's a completely sincere reaction -- Sakura points over at the restaurant. "Look, okay, they close in like thirty minutes and if we don't get in there -now- they won't feel like serving us, okay?" So maybe Sakura's priorities are a bit mixed up, okay? ... Now, whether Sakura actually brought money for herself is another story, but it's quite possible she has some in the pockets of her hoodie, or maybe even her bluejeans. Who knows?
She starts to usher Hinata towards the chow mein place, with a mention of, "C'mon, they've already stopped cooking the pork, so we'll probably have to settle for chicken or something. And hey, how the heck did you get on the team with that Kain guy anyway? That guy's bad news... heck, this whole -tournament- sounds like bad news to me. Like a big excuse for whoever's running it to just go on a mad power trip or something..." Of course, Sakura may be just a wee bit biased, considering, y'know, the fruitcake in charge of the last King of Fighters tournament.
The Sunshine Girl just gives Sakura a big flat-eyed staaaaare. "... noodles? I ran all the way over here for noodles? I was at the final boss of Super Kicky Fighter, on HARD difficulty level no less, and I switch it off to come running over here for noodles?! ... Sakura, I-.. oh, they're on sale!" Yes, an instant 180 attitude turn there. Food, Friendship, and something else that starts with F are the high points of her life. Probably Fighting.
Hinata just hopes Sakura has her wallet with her. It'd be just like Kasugano to call her all the way over here then 'conveniently' forget her money and ask Hinata to pay. "I'm totally getting the extra spicy bowl."
Already flipping through her pocketbook, Hinata quirks an eyebrow. "What, that new tournament? I dunno, I just signed up. Seems like they gave teammates at random, or else I would've asked to be with you or Yabuki-kun or something. I've never even heard of most of the people in it, much less my partner, but it seems like it's getting some publicity so what better way to show off the power of Saikyo and how hard I've been training lately!" She counts coins with a little frown. Don't go overboard, Sakura. This is the last of her allowance for the month already!
Sakura has been training, but for what? Certainly not the tournament that is fast approaching -- that has, in fact, officially /begun/ now. Certainly not, because Sakura Kasugano never /joined/ the tournament. Mildly disconcerting, isn't it? One would think a girl so dedicated to improving herself would accept the gracious invitation to a worldwide event that could only help to test the extent of her limits. It's really, disappointing.
And what kind of man would the host of the tournament be if he didn't confirm the reason as to Sakura's reluctance? Certainly /not/ a good one.
"So is that why you chose not to join in my humble tournament, Ms. Kusagano...?"
The voice comes from behind Sakura and Hinata, and for all the polite attitude the words suggest, the tone says something entirely different. Amused, and mocking, even as the owner of said voice watches them with a grin. Refined red clothes. Large build, and a cybernetic eye that shines with a crimson glow. Rugal Bernstein, former host of the King of Fighters, current host of 'Second Victory' -- and concerned fighter. "I certainly do hope that it's not because you think you wouldn't be up to the /challenge/, miss. That would be most disappointing."
They might be a bit late for their chow mein.
"Oh, that? That game's easy! All you gotta do is nail the boss with your little spinny-kick thing, just aim for the face and keep the pressure on, he'll fold like a pancake!" Sakura dismisses Hinata's complaint with a wave of her hand -- and yet she says she doesn't like videogames. Hypocrite much?
Sakura -is- a bit excited about the sale items though, nodding her head. "That's a good choice too! I might sample a bit from your bowl..."
As for the partners: "Well... Kain's a pretty brutal guy. Screwed with the head of my friend Jiro and all that, made him into a pretty hateful guy. If he turned =you= into a meanie, I mean... I got no hope for the world, y'know?" She laughs a bit at Hinata's defense of Saikyo-ryuu -- though her eyebrow does twitch as she recall's Ken's reaction.
Then... th-that voice! Sakura turns around to face the speaker -- she knows -exactly- who it is. "Kaaa-suuu-gaaaa-noooo. If you're gonna be a busybody about stuff, at least say my name right!" She talks tough -- and indeed, she's already stepped in front of Hinata, subtly moving to shield her from the big man as if he plans to, you know, punch her or something! "And no, I just don't got nothin' to gain from takin' home a victory in some other tournament. I mean, life's short, I got better things to do with my life than fill my mantle with trophies, y'know?" She smiles faintly, brushing her hand through her hair. "Besides, there's plenty of other people you'd like in the tournament, right? I'm sure it'll getcha good an' rich." As if -money- is Rugal's ultimate goal there.
Of course, Sakura's stomach gets the final say here. *gurgle* Paling slightly, Sakura adds, "... We're pretty hungry though, so if you don't mind, Mr. Bernstein... we'd like to get some grub?"
Hinata puffs out her cheeks petulantly. Hmmph! Sakura just has advice on how to do *everything* doesn't she? Here's how you win at this game, Hinata. Here's how you do a Hadouken, Hinata. Hinata, if you stuff your bra everyone's gonna notice. But.. eh.. Most of the time Sakura has a pretty good idea of what she's talking about. Most of the time.
"I dunno... if we're supposed to be partners for this big tournament, I'll at least have to meet him first. We'd be at a real disadvantage if we didn't even know how to cooperate, or knew nothing about how the other one fights or anything." But from the way this Kain guy is getting painted, it doesn't sound like it's going to be quite as much fun as Hinata had envisioned.
Then a man's voice, and Sakura stepping in front of her. The Sunshine Girl's head whips back and forth between Rugal and her friend like she's watching a tennis match in fast-forward. Sakura knows the guy who's running the tournament? And what's more.. he looks familiar. Like she could forget a guy with one big freakin' GLOWY RED EYE who beat up her and Xiangfei outside the arcade that one time! With a little snort, Hinata lowers her face and looks to the side, but doesn't comment.
"Miss... Kasugano. I apologize. Sometimes its hard to remember people like yourself." His smile is not pleasant.
"You understand, I'm sure."
Whatever Sakura and Hinata may have intended to do, they'll not be able to get to it tonight. That much is clear from the look in Bernstein's good eye. He's having too much fun keeping them here. He came to be /entertained/, after all. They'll provide it adequately.
"Don't worry, Ms. Wakaba. Kain Heinlein is very competent and highly skilled. You shouldn't let Ms. Kasugano discourage you... she DOES have an awful tendency to exaggerate, after all." An eyebrow archs in mild amusement as Sakura interposes herself between Hinata and Rugal, shaking his head. "You needn't be so concerned! I only came here for you, after all."
He takes a single step forward, slowly, casually, removing his hands from his pockets as he tugs his gloves on tighter over his fingers. "I wonder. Or maybe it's just that you're afraid you lack the skill without being able to ride on Ryu and Ken Masters' coattails? You see, I would like /more than anything/ to let you get your food. However..." He grins once more, shaking his head.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to prove to me that it's disinterest, and not fear, that's keeping you from entering. Please forgive me." In other words, they're not going to get to go anywhere just yet.
So Sakura can get a bit bossy at times! But it's all built on solid experience -- which is to say, Sakura only remembers the successes, and not so much the numerous failures that lead up to it. She'd probably lose if she ever picked up Super Kicky Fighter again, herself! But that's all rolled up into one confident smile from the Ansatsuken prodigy.
Not that she has the time to actually -answer- Hinata, or divulge her top-secret reconaissance on Kain R. Heinlein, since she's staring down Rugal at the moment. ... And because, heck, Rugal answers =for= her, drawing no small amount of consternation from Sakura. But at least he apologized for saying her name wrong. Setting her jaw tightly, she nonetheless makes a concerted effort at giving Rugal the same kind of false smile he's giving her now.
It must be nice, to be able to have that kind of emotional control. Sakura... doesn't, and consequently fails miserably at holding her irritation in check once Rugal insults her like that. But she -is- able to give the man a surly quip in exchange, "I don't think they even -wear- coats..."
She smirks afterwards, but it's a darker expression just the same. "Look, if I was scared, d'ya think I'd be fighting Kyo Kusanagi head-on? I knocked him down before, y'know, and this was -after- he beat your sorry butt in the last King of Fighters you ran. So if =anyone's= chicken, it's you for letting that two-toned freak take away the reins of KOF. Think I'm not interested? You're right... 'cuz you ain't got nothin' I want." She turns half-askance, keeping her eyes on Rugal but talking so Hinata can hear her better, "Save me a seat, willya? This won't take long." She's not exactly counting on Hinata to -heed- said advice though...
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rugal has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rugal
"S-.. Sakura," Hinata whisper urgently. "I don't think is a good idea." And not just the fact that they might miss out on the noodle sale for today! Rugal Bernstein is one mean mofo. Hinata's seen it up close and personal before and however much confidence she might have in Sakura's abilities... this is really headstrong and dumb, even by Sakura Kasugano Standards.
Oh boy.. but then the Ansatsuken Angel starts talking smack and that means there's no backing down now. Then again, it's not the first time and it definitely won't be the last. Sakura thinks she can handle it all by herself, huh? Well, we'll just see about that!
"Okay. You wanted the bowl with chicken and no green onions, right?" Hinata confirms with a smile and a coy folding of her hands behind her back before trying to slip for the door. Good luck, Sakura-chan!
[OOC] Rugal goes for the Crit Hit Fierce Punch. C_C_
[OOC] Hotaru._. abandoning a teammate!
[OOC] Hinata says, "... What? c_c"
There it is. Sakura is undeniably hot headed, and it's regrettably easy to push her buttons. Case in point, with a few simple statements giving a reaction like this. Bernstein's eyes narrow faintly, out of amusement more than anything else, as the leather of his gloves creak with the flex of fingers. "You're the epitome of wit, miss." He offers faintly. Don't even wear coats.
"That doesn't undermine your accomplishments any less, of course, but a good show of wit nonetheless."
His eyes look between Hinata and Sakura slowly, a single hand shoving into the pocket of his overcoat. "Kyo Kusanagi, hm? Almost as big a fool of you, but one thing that I can at least respect him on is his power. You, girl... just have a very limited potential and a very irritating drive." His right hand curls into a fist, as Sakura turns to her friend and requests her to leave. But then... it uncurls. His eyes move to a sewer grate just below his feet. "You should have asked her to stay."
As the words slip from the lips of R's leader, he ducks down to pick up the sewer cover with that single, gloved hand.
"You're going to need all the help you can get, after all."
And with that said, Rugal lifts the thing into the air, and simply SLAMS it down to strike Sakura on top of the head. It's crude, yes. It's simple, yes.
It will hurt if she doesn't do anything about it, yes.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Random Weapon from Rugal with Large Hadouken EX.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Rugal
Well, the way Sakura sees it... Rugal's gonna punch her if he wants to =anyway=. And if that's the case, he'd be hitting her so hard her jaw could just, like... fly off and take out a window, and then she wouldn't be able to get in any trash talking =at all=. And where the heck is the fun in that?
Sakura doesn't seem interested in the way Rugal downplays the significance of her regularly sparring the greats in the street fighting world. Nor does she take his insults lightly. Eyeing Rugal as he stoops over to grab the manhole cover, she tenses up, quite noticeably. Her hands uncurl, twitching slightly as if she were in a spaghetti western showdown. "Annoying, huh? Know what's annoying? Gettin' all the way through a tournament and not even getting a t-shirt for it. Had to go make my own. So what'll annoyin' lil' me get in your thing, huh? Candy bar? Some drier lint?" Sakura has no problems talking trash here -- she'd just like to do simple stuff like limp back up a hill in Metro, cook breakfast for her master, and eat lunch with her friend, but oh, he has to go sticking his nose in anything. Sakura's pretty selfish about her free time, y'know?
She secretly hopes Hinata =would= stick around, though. It's hard to -not- act tough in the face of adversity.
And just as Rugal's aiming to swat Sakura over the head with a big 'ol manhole cover -- Kasugano suddenly =surges= forward, her body flickering a bright blue as she sticks her face right in Rugal's -- =headbutting= him! "Sorry! =Not= interested!" The manhole cover keeps on swinging, swatting her in the rear, but the real kicker isn't the headbutt at all -- it's what Sakura carried with her! Kicking back from Rugal, she brings both of her hands forward, slamming her palms into the one-eyed man's stomach with a loud scream of "HADOOOOOOUKEN!"
The burst of flame that erupts here ought to be sufficiently large enough to swallow whole even the imposing form of Mr. Rugal Bernstein.
And as Sakura falls back to the ground, she shouts over her shoulder to Hinata: "Hina-chan! Run!" She's =not= as callously brazen as she seems... not -completely- anyway, for Sakura is trying to cover Hinata's escape. Ryu's taught her well!
COMBATSYS: Hinata has joined the fight here.
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Hinata 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
"Psyche!"
That's the sound of Hinata Wakaba going inside, placing the order for two noodle bowls with chicken (one extra spicy and one with no green onions), then immediately turning around to head back outside! Sure, Sakura might be in the midst of one of those big power struggles against incredible odds and stuff, but after it's all over wouldn't a nice big bowl of hot noodles just be even more yummy?
Then again, it looks like Sakura's got things pretty well in hand anyway. Maybe Hinata didn't need to make a dramatic entrance by flinging open the door of the restaurant, announcing herself, and then leaping forward toward Rugal. Or maybe she did. It's kind of a toss-up.
"Hinata Wakaba, reporting for duty! You didn't *really* think I'd run out on you, did ya?" Exiting from the door with the cheerful bell over it, Hinata makes a quick dash to get behind Rugal. A schoolgirl in front of him and a schoolgirl behind him. Oh, the poor man. But the Sunshine Girl is there, waiting with open arms and a gigantic grin for when the smoke clears to grab Mr. Bernstein by the back of his exquisitely tailored suit, run straight up his back, and plant a sneaker in the top of his elegantly styled hair to vault herself over to Sakura's side.
COMBATSYS: Hinata successfully hits Rugal with Leap Frog Kick.
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Hinata 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
"You're an awfully shallow little girl, aren't you--" Rugal doesn't QUITE get to finish what he's saying. And why is that...?
Because Sakura is headbutting him.
In the end, the headbutt doesn't /really/ hurt. That's not what is meant to hurt, though; it does it's job well of staggering him backwards, the strength of the girl /that/ impressive. The sewer coves strikes, and still strikes hard, but what Sakura is planning might hit a bit harder. That burst of flames and chi strikes solidly as Sakura knocks Bernstein away -- it sends him toppling back, in fact, just in time to see Hinata coming flying for him. Rugal attempts to skirt out of the way, but unfortunately he's a touch too slow. The foot slams solidly into his head and Hinata goes leaping over, but... she might not get far enough.
Even as the girl is in midair, Rugal's right hand clenches. And in one smooth motion he intends to SLAM it right into Hinata's gut with extreme force, to send her quite literally flying through the air even further than she might have originally intended. She wants to join in too? Then she may feel free to participate.
Regardless, though, in the aftermath Rugal shrugs off his now smoking and ruined overcoat, letting it fall to the ground. "I hope you know..." He begins, slowly.
"... I expect you to pay for that."
Sakura finds herself grinning as Hinata joins the fray. She =told= her to leave, darnit! But this is almost as good. =Almost=.
But when Rugal lashes his fist out to try and smack Hinata, Sakura... well, she wants no part of that. "Not so fast, Mr. B!" she chirps, snapping her fist out in a rapid palm strike clearly intended to knock Rugal's hand =away= from Hinata before he can actually, y'know, =hit= her. At least, that's the =idea= behind it. "Haaa!"
Regardless of whether she's successful, she hops back and smiles back at Rugal. "What =do= you want with us in your tournament anyway? You get some kinda high from fighting people weaker'n you?" Yeah, she admitted that. But with a quick glance over to Hinata, she returns to the fight. "Just leave us alone!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura assists Hinata.
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Hinata 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Hinata with Medium Punch.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
You're so awesome, Sakura-chan! If Hinata had time to really reflect on the moment, on the true meaning of friendship and sacrifice and all that junk, it'd really make her weep. Truly, it would.
Thanks to both of their best efforts, Hinata's at twisting out of the way of Rugal's punch and Sakura's incredible efforts at helping her, the Bernstein punch gets deflected and doesn't hit her in the gut! No! ... It hits her in the face instead. Being a relatively light schoolgirl and a much stronger punch, she finished her vault over Rugal's head with a little less grace than she would have like, landing on her back and sliding a few feet on the concrete sidewalk with a loud scrape. Oooh. That's gonna leave a mark.
"Hey!" the girl snaps, springing back to her feet. "That wasn't cool!" Oh yeah, and like stomping on Rugal's head was the pinacle of good manners. "I'm already in your tournament, so why don't you just leave and let us eat in peace, huh?" Hinata raises her fists and rubs at her nose with the back of one hand. Erp. Nosebleed. That's not good. She's gonna have to watch Rugal more carefully from now on.
COMBATSYS: Hinata focuses on her next action.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
The palm strike hits, certainly. But again... the affect is like hitting a thick, brick wall. Rugall still carries through with the strike, though thanks to Sakura's diligent efforts Hinata gets struck in the /face/ rather than the stomach. Something Bernstein is sure that she's thankful for. Still, with Sakura so close now and Hinata so far away, he might as well simply deal with /her/.
"You're certainly in my tournament, but you included yourself in this fight, miss! Our friend here, though, needs to be taught a small lesson in manners." Whatever Rugal wants, what he truly wants, will remain a mystery. He simply offers Sakura a wide grin as he lifts a single foot into the air. "Just for the sake of providing fighters the most entertaining matches of their lives." And then, that leg bears down harshly against Sakura's shoulder in a vicious strike meant to unbalance her, before he lowers it down further... and simply snap kicks the girl RIGHT in the side, with all due force.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Rugal's Medium Kick.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|
Oh, whoops. "Sorry about that, Hina-chan..." But it's the thought that counts, right?
Sakura doesn't -exactly- know what she was planning with that, but it seems to place her in a better position to defend against that kick that follows. "Manners? How 'bout not butting in where you're uninvited, huh?" Gritting her teeth, she raises her arm to soften the blow upon her shoulder, sidestepping sharply to keep Rugal's foot from hitting her -quite- so hard in side. It still smarts like heck though, considering that Sakura yelps in pain even still.
But she =does= attempt to capitalize on the situation, hoping to thrust her shoulder under Rugal's leg before he can pull it back all the way -- and if she manages to do that, she'd just keep running, lifting his leg back and all but guaranteeing that he'd fall backwards onto his rump. "TEYAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Don't worry about it!" A little nosebleed isn't gonna keep Hina-chan down! What's more, there's still teamwork to be done! Watching Rugal for an opening hasn't really led Hinata to much of a conclusion, but she knows all about siezing momentum when it's presented to her! And if there's one thing she does know for sure, it's when to leap in and help out a friend.
"Yeah, if you don't lay off, our dinner's gonna get cold!" So it's all about the noodles after all. 'Cause seriously... Hinata already paid for both meals and if they spend all this time outside fighting, what'll she have to show for it? Will the waiter even let them put cold noodles in a take-home bowl? What good are cold noodles in February anyway?
All these questions and more are begging to be answered. Like exactly what the Wakaba girl is doing when she makes a running leap toward Sakura's back, plants a hand firmly on her friend's shoulder, and leaps up to get all in Rugal's face? Why, nothing less than a flying two-footed jumpkick to make *sure* he falls over.
COMBATSYS: Rugal endures Hinata's Heavy Kick.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Rugal interrupts Medium Throw from Sakura with Genocide Cutter EX.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 1/-======/=======|
"As far as I'm aware, Ms. Kasugano, ANYONE is allowed to Chinatown. But I will keep that in mind for future reference." Teamwork. Ah, how he loves teamwork. He loves it so much... that he honors it with doing his level best to make it work in his favor.
Two feet plant into his face, but the fact is -- something that Hinata may or may not notice -- Rugal does not even do so much as attempt to stop her. Mainly because Hinata gives Rugal exactly the momentum he needs, combined with Sakura's attempted throw, to spin backwards into the air. This might have been what they wanted all along, but Sakura forgets one thing --
Rugal still has a foot free.
A foot that smashes violently into her jaw as he spins backwards, a crest of golden chi following in it's wake.
The force alone is enough to send Sakura up into the air, where Rugal is close to follow with a second chi-laced kick to her back, before he spins gracefully.. and delivers a vicious, overhead axe-kick into her gut to send her crashing towards the ground, it too infused with that burning golden chi.
"If you want /dinner/ you're going to have to try harder."
Noodles -are- the reason for the season. Remember that, haters.
Sakura =really= didn't expect Rugal to be turning the fight around on her quite =this= quickly. It makes perfect sense of course -- Rugal's several notches higher on the badass scale, but that still doesn't stop Kasugano from dreaming, now, does it? But... at least Hinata hit!
At any rate, Sakura's gets caught in the stomach, coughing violently as she's slammed backwards, skidding not only along the ground, but careening into the side of the noodle shop as well, leaving a spiderwebbed memorial upon impact.
Staggering forward, she shakes her head. She knows she could keep talking... but heck, she's having problems =standing= at the moment.
Moving, on the other hand, is relatively simple -- easier to focus all her momentum and concentration into moving in one direction, rather than moving in zero directions. And her goal with =this= drive is to leap at Rugal, feet-first, and plant those feet right on his chest. If she's able to do that, she'd spring backward, grinding one heel into his solar plexus, another in the man's throat, sharply springboarding backwards. "Yutttaaaaa!" What's that about trying harder?
"Aaaah! Sakura!" The Sunshine Girl feels bad now. Sure, she got a flying jumpkick to Rugal's big dumb face, which is big and dumb and probably smelly too, but all she ended up doing was helping him! How uncool is that?!
The impact her friend makes on the ground and then against the noodle shop is painful-looking. Hinata turns and, perhaps foolishly, turns her back on Rugal for a moment to run to Sakura's side to steady her. Don't give up, Sakura-chan! Hinata puts an arm around her friend's shoulder and a few reassuring pats. Are those little cartoon hearts in the air? GUTS UP!
COMBATSYS: Hinata assists Sakura.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 1/-======/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Sailor Shoot from Sakura with Scorpion Blow.
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Hinata 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Well, at least she's stopped talking.
That's one goal accomplished.
Rugal falls gracefully into a crouch as Sakura lands rather messily and painfully across the ground, slamming into the noodle shop. He takes his time to get up, in fact, slowly rising to his feet and dusting off his shoulders of some imperceptible dirt. "You have a distinct lack of skill." Whichever one he's talking to is debatable. Maybe both of them. But Sakura is coming towards him again, LEAPING in fact, and even though Hinata gave the girl a cheerful pat of reassurance beforehand, Bernstein is not intent on faltering quite yet.
In fact...
As Sakura leaps right at him, Bernstein... just darts to the side with relative ease, letting her sail right past him. One would assume, but that's not quite right -- as soon as her face is close enough, the crimelord snatches out with a single, gloved hand with lightning-fast speed, gripping her by the head and JERKING her forward in front of him. And if her abdomen hasn't received enough punishment yet, Bernstein slowly lifts Sakura up into the air... and SLAMS a fist into her stomach to send her hurdling through the air once more.
"I imagine you intended to do something like that, yes?"
Distinct lack of skill? ... Skill's relative, and Sakura's still the cream of the crop when compared against, oh... most of the folks in the world. She knows this, and it's been proven!
So, in short: Of =course= she intended to do that. After coughing up blood, Sakura replies, "Yes... all part of the plan!" Never mind that she hasn't even hit the ground yet... nor has she adequately recovered from the serious set of blows to her stomach. Perhaps fortunately for her, she's able to call on another power to aid her.
Two, actually. First and foremost is the power of =love=, offered so freely by Hinata! Kasugano knows she has the support of her friend, and she's bound and determined to put it to use as she lands in a crouch, throwing her hands out to either side for stability, pushing her body well beyond its normal means.
Second... is the enormous wellspring of chi -- a well she taps when rushing forward with a rapid burst of speed, her body once more adopting a blue hue as she rushes straight towards Rugal with a flying elbow. "Here it =comes!=" she shouts -- no one can say the schoolgirl isn't passionate about fighting! "Shin!"
And what's this? Did Sakura Kasugano suddenly fission into a doppelganger, mimicking her every movement? You might think that, except the Sakura-double seems to be wearing the standard Taiyo uniform. Well behind Sakura, Hinata Wakaba is doing the *exact* same moves, keeping time perfectly like a practiced dancer.. but standing about two meters behind. Is this the way Hinata offers her support?
"Shin!" she intones as well, rushing up right behind Sakura.. but she's not quite sure where the rest of the move goes from there. A little sweatdrop appears on the side of her head. Umm.. she isn't sure how this one goes anymore, so she'll just improvise!
"Umm... Shin-Shouyouken!" Breaking from the well-practiced mimicking, Hinata throws all caution to the wind and just goes for broke, cocking her fight fist back and swinging it wildly upwards with a massive flash of bright orange energy.
COMBATSYS: Rugal blocks Hinata's Shouyouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Rugal endures Sakura's Midare Zakura.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/--=====|
And once she slams her elbow into Rugal's stomach, Kasugano follows up with her opposite hand -- a hard right uppercut soaring right into the man's jaw! "SHOOOOOOURYUKEN!" No running dashes, no scrambling about with any of her usual panache -- just a solid, powerful uppercut drawn channeling the strongest flow of energy she can muster.
And here they come again. Bernstein's eyes narrow ever so faintly as Sakura seems to be fueled by the power of love and friendship. How... how...
Disgusting.
Of course, Bernstein can work with this too. And he does so... by waiting for /both/ of them to come and strike him. And when they do, he maneuvers himself as much as possible. With a good bit of grace and skill Bernstein moves INTO Hinata's chi-infused uppercut, intercepting it with an outstretched palm. He shows no expression of pain at all -- simply smiles widely at Hinata. "A double team, hm? Let's see how well this works out for you."
And then comes Sakura's attack. This one, he doesn't even both blocking. Instead, he ACCEPTS that elbow into his stomach, moving back a step, before the uppercut sends him UP into the air. But there's too much give there. Bernstein goes /with/ the momentum of the attack, flying upwards as a massive amount of blue-white chi gathers up around his arms. He does not proclaim his attack name, as he bends backwards. But when he snaps FORWARD, and releases a monstrous wave of blue-white chi down on the pair of them?
The attack should be somewhat obvious.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Sakura with Kaiser Wave.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Rugal
[ <
Sakura 1/---====/=======|
Sakura didn't really expect Rugal to just stand there and -take- the hit. Then again, she doesn't even realize it till she's recovering from her copycat-Shin-Shoryuken and happens to see Rugal grinning back at her. "Ohhh crap."
What to do, what to do? Sakura just winds up, plowing her fist forward through the wave. Why the heck not, right? Maybe she'll get lucky and find the critical point which would cause the whole thing to completely unravel. Or... maybe reality will assert itself and just =wipe her off the face of the earth=.
No such luck for Rugal there... it's enough to tear the fabric of her hoodie right off of her, and put some pretty sizable holes in the t-shirt she's wearing beneath -- not to mention pepper her jeans with scorch marks. Oh, yeah, and flatten Sakura to the ground, making a Sakura-shaped indention therein.
Yet... somehow, the stupid girl just =stands right back up again=. She's quivering with rage... but something, =something= is giving her the power to stand up again. And with a reality-defying *giggle*, Sakura slumps forward--- yet still has the power to smile, and wag her finger. "All... part... of the... plan..."
And despite her ragged breaths, she launches straight forward into Rugal. =AGAIN=. "SHIN! SHOOOOOOORYUKEN!" Because that, friends, is what =friendship= is all about.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Hinata with Kaiser Wave.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hinata 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
The power of friendship, Rugal! Learn it and fear it! Well.. maybe not fear it is the right thing but... well.. y'know! It's awesome! Seriously! "BOOYAH!" Except.. unfortunately, her totally awesome Shouyouken just gets.. caught in an open palm. Talk about not taking the Wakaba girl seriously. That's cold, Mr. Bernstein.
But that big energy explosion thing he does right afterwards, now that's just sticking the boot in. Hinata feels a bit helpless under the incoming impact, and despite her best effort to do anything about it... winds up thrown down onto her knees first and finally loses all ability to stay upright. The sheer force of it rips into her and cracks the pavement underneath the poor little Taiyo girl.
But if Sakura and her friend have anything going for them, it's guts and big mouths! "Is that *all* you've got?" Hinata says, standing up amidst wisps of smoke stirred from a sudden gust of dramatic wind. She brushes some imaginary dust off the end of her uniform's bow, heedless of the fact that one sleeve of her shirt is missing, the bow is still smoking, and her skirt has a big rip up one side. But she's cool and doesn't pay attention to minor details like that! "Cleared my sinuses, though!" Sure, she talks big, but it really did hurt. She's just not gonna say that.
Rubbing dust from underneath her nose where it stuck to the thin trickle of blood, Hinata smiles just as annoying as Sakura. Stupid schoolgirls never know when to give up. "Are you ready?"
Hinata drops to one knee and slaps an open palm on the fractured concrete. The lingering dust in the air is blown back in a large circle all around her as if an invisible sphere is pushing it back. There's a tingling in the air, a bit like too much static electricity, except it finally starts to highlight the few dust particles too stupid to get out of the way. They start to glow, dim orange like falling cinders at first but brightening to dancing motes of bright yellow. No, make that BURNING yellow. "IN YOUR FACE!" she yells, springing forward to execute a leaping backflip kick to.. well.. Rugal's face, leaving a bright streaking trail of energy in the path of her right foot.
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Hinata's Rasen Enbukyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Rugal with Midare Zakura.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Hinata 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
These stupid schoolgirls certainly do not know how to give up, that much is definitely certain. But, unfortunately... neither does Rugal. Love and friendship? He has pure skill. Let's see how it measures up.
The fact that he strikes the two of them is only natural. After all... that is not something that can be easily avoided. Yet they still /persist/ and it irritates Rugal to no small degree. Landing solidly on his feet, the man frowns at the duo, his eyes narrowing dangerously. They both come in, Sakura with yet another one of those uppercuts, and Hinata with that flying kick. Rugal skirts to the side, in an attempt to get out of the way of /both/ of the assaults. And while it works with Hinata, it does not work /quite/ so well with Sakura's attack. In fact.... Bernstein darts RIGHT into it, smacked into the chin and sent upwards into the air. But it's not going to stop him. Not this one, or the last one. Instead?
Rugal goes sailing through the air, twisting towards Hinata as she flies. A single foot bears dowd to catch Hinata in the shoulder as soon as she strikes the ground, hitting once, twice, /three/ times in an attempt to simply DRIVE her straight into the concrete. From there, he'll land on his feet. Eyes narrowed... but grinning all the same.
Sakura is getting -really- freaked out by this man's grin. The noodle-shop operators are probably wondering what the heck is taking their customers so long. (They're hard of hearing, and even with all the noise? -Totally- oblivious.) Then again... it's probably not so different from her -giggling- from an adrenaline high. How -else- would she be able to withstand such an onslaught?
No time to delay -- Sakura sees Rugal going for her friend, and she charges right towards him! The goal here, though, would be to leap for the man's back, wrapping both legs around his torso and wrenching one arm around his neck. It's something of a desperate monkey tackle, but she's got a plan for this hold -- and that'd be ramming her elbow repeatedly into the base of his neck, if she should be so lucky as to connect! "You sure you wanna be stickin' around for this, Mister B?!"
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Hinata with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Hinata 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Rugal
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
Hinata feels so good, so awesome! She's got all the energy in the world at her fingertips, just begging to be used to kick some ass! And then she whiffs. Totally swings and hits absolute jack squat. "..."
Only to find a return kick coming her way. She throws her arms up in a cross block across her chest, but bracing herself doesn't too all that much. The first kick shatters into her shoulder, almost buckling Hinata's knees underneath her. But defiantly she stands. The second kick drives her to her knees on top of the shattered concrete. She doesn't even cry out, just giving a loud grunt of exertion to stay upright. And yet despite her efforts, her resolve, and her desire to kick Rugal's ass, the third kick breaks her and sends Hinata down flat on her face. She cries out in pain as she thuds painfully onto the ground.
An invisible ref starts to count over her. 1! Hinata groans, quite sure something in her shoulder is broken. 2! A hand tightens into a fist, crunching dust and gravel in her palm. 3... With a loud groan, she pushes herself back up. These schoolgirls sure don't know when to quit.
"Sakura!"
Hinata pushes herself up quickly. Moving this fast is taking all the energy she's got left. In an instant, she's somehow not on the ground anymore, but rather on her feet and rushing at Rugal with a single elbow extended. A large.. LARGE flare of orange energy surrounds the rushing elbow tackle.
"Get him!"
Even as she rushes to drive her elbow into Rugal's gut, she already knows the strength in her legs is gone. Hit or miss, she's going down after this.
COMBATSYS: Hinata can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sakura 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rugal
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Hinata's Rival Launcher.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sakura 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Rugal
COMBATSYS: Rugal interrupts Medium Throw from Sakura with Genocide Cutter.
[ < > /////// ]
Sakura 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Rugal
Two attacks. Two tackles, though one looks more potentially painful than the other. So what is Rugal to do... except respond in kind? Firstly, he deals with Hinata. The girl rushes towards him, blazing with chi. She comes at him... but she comes at him sluggishly. So, as she charges, it is a relatively simply thing...
... to leap over her.
Which leaves Sakura. The girl makes her proclamation along with an attempt at tackling him in midair, and though she strikes his body -- his boot strikes her chin with that familiar crescent wave of chi.
"Yes. I'm fairly certain that I do."
Shot into the air, Sakura knows the story. One strike to her back, sending her up higher, and then a twisting axe-kick to pllow her straight vertical into the ground, with enough force to make her very own SakuraCrater here in Chinatown. She'll be a legend! Just, only if she can pull herself /out/ of it.
"Right!" chirps Sakura... though... it's kinda difficult for her to follow through with that when she's getting plowed in the chin with one of those hellaciously strong kicks. Propelled into the air, her body goes limp for a moment, the world spinning before her eyes. Tragic, tragic stuff, man, but it all flits by too fast for words.
Yes, she lands in the street! Yes, she makes another Sakura-shaped indention in an otherwise flat surface, this time a horizontal one. But no, she =can't= go down like this!
Indeed, once more, in utter defiance of any sane bounds, the adrenaline-pumped Sakura pushes herself out of the crater, listing first to one side, then the other, like a re-animated zombie. She takes two shaky steps towards Rugal, "All... part of ... the plan..." Though =this= time, she starts falling towards the ground.
Into a spin kick for the man's shins. She may be near exhaustion, and her -body- might not obey, but the chi at her control is more than enough to kick her around into a wild spin, thwacking away at Rugal's legs like a human weedwhacker. "Here I come!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
> /////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Rugal
COMBATSYS: Rugal reflects Haru Ichiban from Sakura with Dark Barrier.
> ////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Rugal
(All... part of... the plan...)
"I'm glad to see your plan was to lose, then. I would ask Ryu about that particular strategy, however..."
He says this, even as Sakura peels herself off the ground and rushes towards him once more.
"... It doesn't seem particularly sound to me."
Rugal is calm in his actions. He can see the chi that the girl is using, and that gives him a distinct advantage. That kick comes toward him, but it's slow. Sluggish. Just like Hinata. Except this time... Rugal has a way of dealing with this beyond skirting out of the way of the attack. One hand thrusts forward, palm up. Sickeningly green chi flares across his arm... before exploding /outward/ into a wide green disk that completely stops Sakura's attack. Not only that, though... all that chi that she put forth into it?
Absorbed, rechanneled, and CHARGED right into her leg, into her body, to send her crashing through the window of the noodle shop.
"Enjoy your noodle bowl. And please... try a bit harder next time."
With his need for some entertainment for the day appeased, Bernstein turns... and simply leaves the ruin he has caused behind him all too casually.
"I'll send you the bill for my coat within the week, Ms. Kasugano."
COMBATSYS: Rugal takes no action.
> /////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Rugal
COMBATSYS: Rugal has ended the fight here.
Log created on 18:55:52 02/12/2006 by Sakura, and last modified on 10:37:07 03/02/2006.