Neo League 201 - #213: Alma vs Blue Mary

Description: The Australian Outback is about to heat up even more, folks: Alma Towazu versus Blue Mary in a battle of the hot blondes! Well, whether it was the rhythm of the desert or the fact that there weren't any panty shots to foul him up, Alma actually turns the tables in this fight, and manages a startling victory! (Winner: Alma)



Alma Towazu is a pretty lucky fellow.
Of course, in some sense, how lucky you are depends on how you look at your life. Looking at Alma's past, one might say he's been pretty unlucky. Then again, looking at the talents he's been born with -- not the least of which being his good looks -- one might say he's been pretty lucky. But in the end, he took both that bad luck /and/ that good luck and tried to turn it into something cool. Whether he did so out of straight-up strong will, and if his ability to do so makes him a superior individual, is debatable. Whether the passion that fuels him is something he can call his own is also debatable. But what can't be disputed is that Alma's passions and will and talents have taken him to an incredible place early in his life, and with a mindset that tries to take little for granted, it's easy for him to say that what got him to this place was simply luck.
At the moment, this place is Australia.
The Outback, to be precise. In a true testament to his zen powers, Alma Towazu... is chillin' in the desert. Sitting -- okay, maybe reclining is a more 'Alma' word -- on a hard rock outcropping in the midst of the dusty expanse, the tall youth gazes out mild-eyed toward the horizon, smiling slightly with gentle inscrutibility at the distant sun. Favoring tan and beige tones in his clothing to match the environment, he's left his greenish-beige overshirt folded on the rock beside him and now just relaxes in tan cargo pants and a white tank top, blond bangs half-shading hazel eyes from the light and gold earstud glimmering brightly.
It's a beautiful place, if you can see beauty in desolation.
Guess whether or not Alma can see beauty in desolation.

It seems like it's Mary's fate to encounter many schoolgirls and boys and fight them in gruesome battles. This time though, Blue Mary can only hope that this boy won't be another one of those fireball flinging school-type person. At the very least, he's a boy -- or rather, young adult. That's a nice change of pace. Despite his young age though, Mary has no intention on going easy on Alma. Nope -- after all, he deserves a good fight. And if he's so high in the ranks of the neo league, it's for a reason, he has to have some talent.

The reason Mary picked up a fight with him is for a simple reason. One that is good enough to counter Alma's youth. She knew the name. She can't remember where exactly, since Mary is good at forgetting things but the name seemed familiar somewhat. For that very reason she's pretty eager to actually see Alma, if only to see if she can replace his face and recognize him.

The fighting place? Australia. Mary's glad it isn't Russia or some other cold place. Finally! Hot weather, the sun... Ahhh. Oh yeah. With a pair of shades, a classic cowboy hat, Mary is glad in her usual red sport bra. Though she subbed her pair of jeans for jean shorts. With the heat of the desert she might as well. Beside, she doesn't mind getting a lovely tan while she's here, no? Every girl needs to give herself a treat every now and then. She's still wears her good old worn out brown leather boots though, that never changes.

Here she is finally. Relaxed, calm... She has performed her stretching before and made some exercice to make sure she'd be at her peak for all of this. The blonde woman lifts her hand up and reaches for her hat, using it almost like a fan to warm herself up a little. Her skin's still glistening with a thin layer of sweat though, "So, you're the guy?" Mary asks.

Alma's heard the name Blue Mary before, at the very least from her King of Fighters foray, but he was never much of a fighting fan before his own 'evolution' (as it were) and wasn't able to place the name when he saw the challenge. But by that pleasantly serene look on his face, he doesn't seem to particularly mind who she is -- this place is pretty sweet. And it's always nice to have an opportunity to put an image to a name.
Eyes clearing at the sound of someone speaking to him, Alma glances over his shoulder with a smile. "Yes, I am--" *poik* That's the blink. The one blink, the only sign you're going to get that Alma's been got off-guard. So, /this/ is Blue Mary, says his face in its moment of subtle shifts. Yes, placing an image to the name was definitely worth the trip. Aiyaa. "--and it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ryan." See, we should look on the bright side like Alma, and pay attention to how quickly he /recovers/ from his brain farts. "I'm Alma Towazu." The taller boy extends his hand in greeting, a little moment of tenativeness followed by a genuinely friendly smile.
Meanwhile, the cameras have been set up in various strategic locations, the main area of combat denoted by a simple large circle in the dust. Several desert plants and large rocks have been included in the 'battlefield', but mostly there's not a lot of leeway for environmental improvisation. It's pretty bare. That's okay; eyes will be on the fighters. Most definitely. Oh yes. But the fight announcer is signalling to the two of them as the cameras begin rolling and he turns to face their invisible audience...
"Please," murmurs Alma, leaving his overshirt on the rock and casting Mary another gentle, mild-eyed smile as he turns to walk slowly over to the fighting area, the blond half-Japanese subtly limbering up by flexing his muscles and rolling his shoulders lightly. Time to see what the power of Hiten-Ryu can do against /this/ fighter...
...on the bright side, there won't be any panty shots.

COMBATSYS: Alma has started a fight here.

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Alma             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: BlueMary has joined the fight here.

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BlueMary         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Alma


The land is so barren, that while the two fighters actually get ready on the fighting ground, a gust of wind brings along with it a tumbleweed that rolls about across the field, between the two of them. "I see..." Mary says, letting her words trail off for a moment, staring at Alma for a long time, attempting to find out in her memories an occasion she might have met him but to no avail. A totally new face, who seems equally surprised to see her. Or probably for other reasons. Distracting her enemy with her attire was the last of her concerns when she picked it up. Comfort and maneuvrability were her two main concerns, though seeing Alma's reaction, perhaps she'll have to believe Mai on certain things.

No panty shot for him this fight. Considering her jeans shorts, it would be pretty hard for her to perform such a feat. The woman finally takes off her shades, revealing her azure eyes for Alma, perhaps making herself more vulnerable to expression reading now. She puts the shades into her hat and she tosses the two objects aside for the time being, so they don't hinder them during their battle. Mary closes her eyes and she slowly gets into her combat stance, "Well then, let's get to it.." She says, tightening her fingerless gloves before her hands tighten into fists.

She points Alma with a finger and she asks the half-japanese, "Are you ready?"

'And...'
"Always," replies Alma amiably, with a bit of a ^_^.
'Fight!'
And then that expression is gone so quickly it's almost shocking; not necessarily at the speed in and of itself, but simply that a smile so genuine could vanish so fast. As fast as his smiling eyes turn to firm intent, Alma is lunging forward, skipping forward once and shifting so that he appears to open up with a knee thrust while instead lashing out with two snapping right jabs, faking at Mary's face in an attempt to disorient her right off the bat. It's not all strategy. He's just trying to hit the beat. And not just to win.
The rhythm of the desert, he's decided, is something he wants to hear.
And the only way to do that Alma-style is to immerse your own rhythm into the general flow. So it is with the intent of establishing said rhythm that, spirit rising with his momentum, the youth flows into a kick graceful enough to belie his size, and then snaps out in a second one, unleashing the patented Hiten-Ryu double-kick to start it all off.
"Hou!" His bangs lift as he rises into the air, revealing how his eyes flash whenever he strikes.

COMBATSYS: BlueMary blocks Alma's Light Kick.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
BlueMary         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Alma


It's heart-warming. Finally one of her opponent who doesn't throw fireballs. In fact, a slight smile forms on Mary's lips as Alma lunges foward at her. It feels good, only to know she'll have the chance to go physical without fear of him pulling out something like that. He may be keeping it for later but for now... She's just glad things start this way. She has a hard time dealing with energy ball after all.

Unfortunately for Alma, his feint are unsucessful. The woman staggers back, to avoid the jabs and the knee thrust but considering how they weren't really intented to actually hit her, it's not too hard for her to see through his little game after the few first seconds. Mary has some experience after all when it comes to deceiveful oponent who relies on feint -- it's all part of the game and fair stuff after. Though considering her street fighting savvy, it'll take more than that to actually catch her off guard.

With each of Alma's kick, Mary rises her forearm up to intercept it, prevent it from going further and actually hitting any of her vital points. She winces a little but manages to push him off. Mary's lips curl into a smile, "Time to tango.." She says with a soft chuckle, before she lunges foward and lets out a loud shout escape her throat, "Kyaaaa!!" And with that, Mary gathers up all of her strength and she tries to counter with a nasty knee shot right for Alma's midsection. See if the young boy can handle being physical.

COMBATSYS: Alma blocks BlueMary's Light Kick.

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BlueMary         0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0             Alma


Yup. She's pretty tough. Figures.
But generally Alma is too busy admiring fighting spirits to be intimidated by their intensities, and even now, he's too into the fight to genuinely do either at this point. His eyes don't flicker for an instant when she parries his strikes, even though he's definitely at a disadvantage hanging there in midair. But when she tries to catch him on the way down with a knee shot, reflexes and intuition hit at the same time, and Alma reacts well: keeping his kicking leg high, he thrusts down with his foot and actually /pushes off/ Mary's knee strike, giving himself a bit more airtime as a result. He's pretty offkilter now, of course, and he'll need some time to rectify that. So -- sorry, Mary, it's the way of the fighting world -- as the young man twists in midair to re-center himself, fading back and away from her with a "Kuu--", he lashes out with his hand and emits a spiralling gout of white pink-tinged soulfire.
"--seiha!"
His eyes flash again, with greater brightness, and the luminesence around his right hand does not fade. In fact, it continues to surge...

COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits BlueMary with Sacred Wave.

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BlueMary         0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0             Alma


Looks like Mary's illusions are quickly shattered -- there isn't a teenager that doesn't use one of those blast of energy. It's a constant, like a new trend everyone's getting into and there's no escape. Mary blinks a few times and she takes a step back. Alas, she doesn't have the time to react due to the proximity she has with the other fighter and even if she tries to move away, she's caught dead on by the blast of energy, engulfed within the flames that are hurled out of his hands.

That's definately no good. The solution? Attempt to close him and prevent him from firing more of that at her! With a shout, Mary literally dashes through the flames and she leaps up to catch with Alma in midair. If she suceeds? Well Mary well intends to keep him from having his head too much in the clouds and she simply attempts to bring him down with her and slam him down against the ground.

COMBATSYS: BlueMary successfully hits Alma with Fast Throw.
- Power hit! -

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BlueMary         0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0             Alma


~ No getting out of this one. Better brace myself-- ~
Good call, Alma. Too bad it... didn't work out. Trying to shift himself so that he'll land well even if she throws him turns into a fiasco when she ends up being a /lot/ faster than he anticipated, and he just gets himself tangled up, leading to an ignominious descent. Wham. Still, he rolls to his feet readily, the impact not harsh enough to shake his focus, and shifting his feet to reverse his momentum, he lunges again. Plowing forward and looking as though he's simply going to rush the woman, only a keen eye would notice that his right hand happens to have slipped behind his back for a second or two. And when he draws it out--
"Hmph!"
--he's prepared to lash out with a spike of sparkling surging Psycho Power before he even reaches Mary, unleashing a crackling jolt of mental energy that triggers short bursts in the air in front of him, the sheer force of his battle aura rippling through the air in the form of white flame.
Forget eyes flashing. They're /blazing/, now.

COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits BlueMary with Self Expression.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
BlueMary         0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0             Alma


Looks like Mary manages to nail Alma fairly hard. That's enough to bring a smile up to Mary's lips. She lands swiftly on the ground and the woman quickly swirls on her heels, turning around so that she can face the blonde man. Unfortunately, it seems that the more she beats on him, the more he's determined to actually use his super natural powers. More energy burst though this one is slightly different than the other one.

Mary tries to block the spike of mental energy but how can one actually 'block' mental spikes of energy? It pretty much just breaks through her guard and hits her dead on, the blast of force letting a shout escape her throat. Mary staggers back a few and she shakes her head, slightly destabilized by the blast.

She growls and lifts her gaze up to Alma, narrowing her eyes into a glare. Now she's not happy. Definately not. The woman takes a step backward before she somersaults foward. Quite a feat considering the distance she manages to do in midair, flipping on herself. She moves her right leg out and she brings it down, as if to axe kick Alma right on his shoulder, "Spin Fall!" She shouts... But alas! All of this is just a feint! The real stuff is what comes after...

COMBATSYS: BlueMary successfully hits Alma with Mary Spider.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
BlueMary         0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1             Alma


What's the feint in here? Well she has no intent on actually hurting Alma with her leg, in fact, she actually moves her hands and she gets a hold of Alma's shoulder and arm, she uses him much like a gymnast would use a bar for practice. "Mary Spider!" She shouts as her legs rise up making a lovely candle in the air as she straightens herself up over Alma and then gives herself a wild swing, which is all about forcing Alma to spin around, flipping foward and falling on her back... With her legs wrapped around his arm and hands holding into his wrist as she jerks herself backward and crack... Ouch. Pain. It hurts. Bobo. That might be more than enough to snap a normal criminal's arm and make them cry 'mommy' or 'sorry auntie' but Alma's a real man and tough enough to take it, no? At least she lets go of him before too long.

[OOC] Alma laughs. XD 'Sorry auntie'.

[OOC] Mary is a specialist in submission. Can make them say anything once she grabs them.

[OOC] Alma sweatdrops.

[OOC] Dr. Tran says, "Mary is Alma's daddy. :|"

Well gosh that's a fast kick. Recovering from the effort-induced reflex-fuzziness of his last attack, Alma manages to stagger to the side and twist out of the way of her foot a little, bracing for the impact -- which doesn't come! His excellently ineffective movement means that he can't do much in the way of preventing the spin, taking the startled youth down with a mild 'Oof'. All mildness fades, though, when she gets her legs around his arm and starts to twist...
"Gghh--!"
Gritting his teeth, eyes burning with a passion for battle that's overcome pain more intense than this, Alma Towazu refuses to let his energy drain away. With a fury having nothing to do with anger, the young man roars as he does something that would be unintuitive for most people: he moves /toward/ Mary, twisting his body and bringing himself within reach of her. Using his remaining mobile arm, he brings his elbow up for close combat, and fiercely brings it down on her head, simply trying to stun her enough so she'll break the hold. Psychic he may be, but hey, he doesn't know she's gonna let go of him.
"Urryahh!"

COMBATSYS: BlueMary endures Alma's Quick Punch.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
BlueMary         0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Alma


[OOC] Mary says, "Aaaah. 4 Super away from a Mary Typhoon."

Kasumi has arrived.

Now that's more like it! Yes! Finally, Alma's decided to get physical. And Mary'll encourage him to do so. In fact, the punch doesn't stun her, it seems to make her want more of it. More, always more! She endures Alma's punch and Mary, however, lets go of him, "Ah! Now that's more like it!" Blue Mary says, lips curling into a wide grin. The Blonde woman moistens her lips idly and she forces herself up to her feet, rising rather quickly.

The woman even tries to give Alma a hand to rise back once again... However... This is the kind of help Alma might not want to have. Not at all. She tries to wrap her arms around of Alma's waist and unfortunately... If Alma fails to react quickly enough, there might be even more pain for him in store.

COMBATSYS: Alma blocks BlueMary's Backdrop Real.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
BlueMary         1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1             Alma


Alma's composure, unmarred even by his explosion of fighting spirit -- it was quite clearly not the same as rage or frustration -- fractures a little at this.
I mean, it's not like he /enjoys/ elbowing girls in the face. He's only able to do it because he thinks of them purely as fellow fighers and fellow human beings in the ring. (Which is why panty shots throw him off so much. Not because he's a pervert. So shut up. Shut up!) But in return, they aren't allowed to enjoy it back, you know what I'm saying?
So he doesn't quite rise as fast as Mary, both because he's a bit slower in general... and because he's pursing his lips and furrowing his blow slightly in an expression of mild worry. But he doesn't say anything. Frankly, he doesn't have time -- Mary's taken the initiative after his blow, and he's not able to escape her grapple.
Yet getting thrown doesn't mess up his composure yet more; rather, it seems to return completely as he begins his descent. Rather than struggle in the midst of the strike, he just relaxes his legs and shifts them slightly--
--and lands with his feet planting on the ground.
It's pretty sweet-looking, to be honest. One of those things they might put on the highlight reels just for looking neat. They form one long bridge, the two of them, both of their backs facing the ground. Alma doesn't fall only because he's holding on to his opponent -- but this is a situation he quickly rectifies, the coolness only hanging in the air for a dramatic split-second before he flips himself around to face her, arms twisting so he can maintain his light grip, and simply shoves her.
This may give him enough time to light his hands on fire.
And it may even give him enough time for him to start punching...

COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits BlueMary with Destined Duel.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
BlueMary         1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0             Alma


...and punching, and kicking, and punching.
"Uuuurrryaaaaahhhh!"
Alma roars again, this time with much greater intensity, as he begins a blurring string of high and low jabs and fierce low kicks, trailing white and purple and pink tinged flames, his own image a fading blue as he forces his opponent back. And finishes--
--with a Hiten-Ryu backfist.
"Wataah," he states with studious calm, as he bashes Mary in the face with the back of his hand.

For some reason, Mary's guard, unfortunately, seems to be really off -- maybe it's the heat of the desert or maybe it's something else but things aren't going too well for her. Alma manages to catch him from her suplex and just as Mary manages to straighten herself up, she barely has the time to avoid Alma's incoming rush. Plus, it's full of fire stuff to it and that's definately no good.

A series of kicks and jabs, which one Mary attempts to block and deflect but unfortunately, Alma is too fast for the woman. She staggers back a couple of steps and lets a groan escape her throat, panting loudly as she's forced back by the flurry of fierce jabs and kicks. The back fist to her face makes her scream and she actually falls to one knee. The woman winces and she pants softly, lifting one hand up to the side of her face to rub off a bit of blood, "Huh... Not bad... Definately, I'll have to try harder!"

And with that shout, Mary rises up and dashes toward Alma, rushing at him. No fire, nothing flashy but she's going to return Alma the favor with something pretty similar. Her own flurry of rushed punches and kicks.

COMBATSYS: Alma endures BlueMary's Splash Rose.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
BlueMary         0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1             Alma


Take that. And that, and that. Mary rushes around Alma, back and forth, punching him or kicking him, an elbow to the face here, a knee to the stomach here. And then finally, with a high leaping kick, Mary forces Alma off the ground and she swings her arms about a few times, smacking him up farther and farther away, letting him fly off some distance.

Alma takes it, alright. Takes it like a man.
He's not fast enough to stop those strikes, but subtle shifts show he's still in control of his body during the exchange; little twists that allow him to resist the damage and prevent the woman from flat-out bowling him over. He tilts his head to avoid being seriously stunned by the high kick, though of course he's not quick enough to keep it from hitting and lifting him into the air--
--there's a moment, an almost peaceful moment, where he begins to sail away.
It lasts for about half a second.
Then he /flips/.
Seriously, he just flips in place, right there, in a flash. It shouldn't be possible. You'd have to be able to suspend yourself in midair to flip like that, as though there were something inside you constricting and giving you extra torque...
And with that movement he draws his hand back, rearing back his head -- and revealing that his eyes are now simply fields of pure pink- and purple-tinged white light.
His arm, with liquid grace and blinding speed, casts out, for he's still close enough... to attempt to lightly tap the woman right on her forehead.
"Submit."

COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits BlueMary with Absolution.

[                          \\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
BlueMary         0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0             Alma


The battlefield is engulfed in light.
In suffering, there is understanding. If nothing else, Alma has learned that. But in understanding, there is forgiveness: for the suffering, for the causes of the suffering, for everything. This is the meaning of the flames of purification. The absolving light burns away your sins. Not making them as though they never were... but giving you the perspective to understand yourself... and forgive yourself.
So surrender. Surrender to the overwhelming and all-forgiving beauty. Let it carry you away, into sweet oblivion, and allow yourself peaceful rest for now.
Flipping back off the force of his own blast, invisible to all others due to the flash of warm light -- in fact, it was a purely mental wave anyway, and couldn't really have been seen -- Alma lands neatly on his feet, and rises to his full height with a slow, methodical, fluid movement.
Finally, he raises his head, too -- and smiles slightly.
~ How's /that/ for a submission move. ~

Mental power. No fair.
No like Mary can do much to fight against all of that, once her temple is tapped, she can only try to take the strain it all has on her, hammering how her consciousness with the burning light and making her slowly fade away. This isn't good but her instinct for survival actually force her to try and pull off one last move.. She knows Alma's not too far off in front of her so..

The woman snarls, struggling to remain conscious and she takes a leap back, somersaulting on herself and spinning off in Alma's direction, "Spinfall!" She shouts as she attempts to land right on Alma and cling to him. She's been hurting his arm, might as well hurt it pretty badly.

COMBATSYS: BlueMary can no longer fight.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Alma             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Alma dodges BlueMary's Mary Spider.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Alma             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Alma has ended the fight here.

Log created by Alma, and last modified on 10:44:17 03/03/2006.