Description: Sakura rematches Mary in the western outskirts of Southtown. (Winner: Blue Mary)
The last time Sakura had fought against Mary, the girl was pretty upbeat. Brash, energetic, she'd even poked fun at the older woman in an attempt to find out what seemed to be bugging her.
Between then and now, though, Sakura's been the one moping around, for various reasons. It's mostly passed by now, as the girl's starting to move past the problems she's been facing, but a slight frown can be caught on her face, from time to time, as she prepares for this rematch. She's early, for one thing, and she's performing a series of leg stretches as she waits -- something else she rarely does.
But, when she springs back to her feet, she takes in a long draw of breath, showing off her cheerful side to the fans once again. Smiling with anticipation, she pulls her long, white headband off her shoulder, wrapping it around her head and pulling the knot taut.
It's as if she's making a resolution to herself: This fight will be different.
Blue Mary has seen a lot of different situation in her life, and it would take a lot more than what Sakura could pull out to faze her. At the very least, the woman manages to keep a cool head and keep her calm even in the worst of situation. Nothing like getting beaten up by schoolgirls, but Mary has grown to acknowledge to their potential. Maybe she's just been getting old and out of shape. Sakura just got to fight her when she finally swallowed up her pride, and it was a new, even more powerful Blue Mary she got to fight.
This little rematch actually made her smile at first. It'll be her chance for Sakura to make up, but Blue Mary has no intention in giving it easy to her. Those two are pretty close to each other in terms of points, and finally, it'll be payback time for this little fight they had when they were both struggling for points... Or will it? Perhaps Mary will be able to win this one as well and knock Sakura farther down? Only time will tell as the last battle had proven to be a pretty tight one. Got to love those energy ball flinging schoolgirls.
"You're here early," The blonde woman says as she makes her way through the crowd and into the fighting ground, hands into her leather jacket's pocket. A fint smirk grows on her lips at the resolve Sakura's presence seems to radiate -- guess that's the power of youth, to feel invincible and never giving up.
Mary takes off her leather jacket and she tosses it aside, letting Anton grab it in his jaw to hold it for Mary. She idly stretches and she points toward Sakura, thumb up and one finger in her direction while the rest of her hand is closed, "Are you ready?" She asks her.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: BlueMary has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
BlueMary 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura turns to face Mary with a broad grin, flipping her hair so that it hangs properly over her headband. It just wouldn't be the Sakura style any other way! "You bet!" she shouts back with a nod, alternately clenching and releasing her fists in anticipation. "You'd better be ready too, because it's an all-new Sakura you're gonna be fighting today," she announces, thumbing boastfully at herself.
A car races by, one street over, a pleasant sound contrasting with the relative silence of the outskirts, overlooking the water surrounding Southtown's western banks. It's beautiful weather -- a pleasant end to the wintry months -- and Sakura seems to look rather refreshed all of a sudden.
But she doesn't move far, instead just shifting her feet into a proper fighting stance. Once the ref gives the word, Sakura launches straight at Mary with her fist outstretched!
"BUUUURN KNUCKLE!" What was that about an 'all-new Sakura?'
COMBATSYS: BlueMary blocks Sakura's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
BlueMary 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
The blonde woman blinks, resting her other hand on her waist. She lowers the hand she used to point at Sakura and she shifts her weight, "Oh, really?" She asks, a faint smile spreading on her lips, "Well, just show me what you've got then," Blue Mary states as she cracks her knuckles through her fingerless gloves and she prepares herself, setting herself in her combat stance, arms goings up to protect herself.
Mary doesn't move as the ref gives the word -- she figures Sakura's going to take the offensive. Just her fighting spirit shows that much, she won't miss the opportunity to show her that 'new Sakura' and Blue Mary'll be ready for it when it'll come.
Burn Knuckle? Well thankfully, it's not really all that burning as Mary takes a step back to receive Sakura's charge, raising her forearm up to block the incoming fist. The woman smiles, though she stays silent as she counters, only letting out a slight shout as she uses her other fist and attempts to strike Sakura's midsection. Though it's main purpose isn't to actually hurt, it's more to destabilize Sakura and allow the pain to give Mary an extra edge to grapple Sakura, and even if she manages to block or deflect the incoming fist, she'll still try to grab Sakura's outstretched arm and turn to press her back to her waist so she can shove her over her and down to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks BlueMary's Combo Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura's no Terry Bogard, that's for sure. But that won't stop her from trying to harness the coolness from other people's moves, if not their full impact! "Heh..." she notes of her own move, cracking a smile as she hops back with a quarter-twist, turning her forearm into the punch. And, perhaps predictably, that leaves her arm open for a grab by Mary -- but Sakura also seems to be expecting =that=, and leaps into the toss, dampening the effect.
Tumbling as she hits the ground, she springs back to her feet, grinning as she whips back around to Mary. In a blindingly quick strike, she whips her foot up high, wheeling it overhead to crash down onto Mary's shoulder. "Hriii-HAAAA!" Mary might not be concerned with the upskirt view that accompanies the dreaded Flower Kick, but Sakura's fans in the audience sure seem to be cheering pretty loudly!
COMBATSYS: BlueMary endures Sakura's Flower Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Sakura
Quite predictable that little Blue Mary, isn't she? Very unlike Sakura who's actually pulling out a whole new repertoire, Mary seems to be sticking with her good old tactic. It worked last time though this time, perhaps things will be a little different.
Sakura recovers so quickly from the fall, Mary's actually pretty surprised and she barely has the time to react to the incoming. Her way to react? Well, Mary simply bends down, as if to offer the most delicious opening Sakura could wish so she can perform her axing kick right down on her shoulder with no trouble at all.
In fact, Mary simply attempts to harness the power of Sakura's strike to her own advantage. It's painful. A lot, it means to actually take the full blunt of the hit, but it's a risky move Blue Mary's willing to pull, the best thing she could have done at the moment. With the force of the kick Sakura delivers, Mary actually swings herself foward, actually using it to help her somersault at the same time.
She flips almost on herself and through this little risky stunt, she comes down with her own axing kick, though it holds no power into it, nothing at all, it does come fast enough, but it's merely a way for Mary to actually cling to Sakura and she actually tries to get a hold of the girl's arm in the process, and if she does, while hanging on her, she swings herself backward to actually make Sakura flip foward and fall to the ground, to her mercy and lock her arm into a dreadful Mary Spider.
COMBATSYS: Sakura endures BlueMary's Mary Spider.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
It isn't often that people are able to take Sakura's infamous kick and actually use it to their advantage. Usually, Sakura expects them to be, y'know, rolling on the ground in pain afterwards.
Not everything goes according to plan. Sakura makes a light squeak of surprise as her foot not only knocks Mary over... but throws her into a somersault! Rather than duck out of the way though, Sakura squares her feet, standing her ground. She can sense the kick crashing down, but doesn't shy away -- she takes it! It's just a kick, right?
Unfortunately, she gets a wee bit more than she's bargained for, as Mary pulls her forward sharply, her arm locked away. Her *good* arm, at that! But since she's being tossed off balance =anyway=, she tries something unorthodox -- throwing all her weight to the =right= instead! The end goal here would be to try and sling Mary around in a tight 180-degree spin, using the momentum of Mary's fall against her! ... Or she could just fail in that, and crash to the ground in a dizzy heap but she won't know unless she tries, right?
COMBATSYS: BlueMary counters Medium Throw from Sakura with Reverse Facelock.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Sakura
Unfortunately, Sakura really didn't pick the good person to try to turn a grapple into her favor, because Blue Mary happens to be quite reknown as a technical fighter. Not only for her submission, but the various other jujitsu and aikido techniques she knows.
Sakura's struggle though forces Mary to actually shift her strategy -- she doesn't intend to let go of Sakura, not yet, she's not done with her. Her arm's probably sore, and while she could continue the damage there, she doesn't risk it. She has a better idea that comes to her mind just as Sakura attempts to sling her off.
Mary allows herself to spin, though only to a certain degre. She doesn't let go of Sakura's arm though and she manages to catch herself instead of falling down -- and with her new position, she uses her feet to trip Sakura as she quickly hurls her down, slamming her belly and face first to the ground and Mary's hands quickly move around to actually lock up her face and pull backward while she squats over Sakura's back to further enhance the back stretching of the submission.
Thankfully, this is soon over and Blue Mary lets go of Sakura and she staggers back, to give her a few seconds to get back to her feet. "You're quite something..." Mary says, "That was pretty daring.. For a second I thought you might have gotten me there," She admits.
... Whoa! Sakura had expect to sling Mary aside, but instead, she finds herself slung to the ground! Hard! Once on the ground, she doesn't even have time to breathe before Mary's already there stretching her out from behind, making her back bend in ways it really, =really= isn't supposed to bend! She thumps the ground with her arms, flailing about helplessly. She'd scream, but Mary's got her hands on her face!
Luckily, her torment only lasts a little while, and Sakura rolls over to the side, panting somewhat. "Yeah, I thought that woulda worked!" she calls out, rocking her shoulders from side to side as she cricks her spine back into the proper position. "But, y'know what they say..." starts the Taiyo schoolgirl, as she takes a half-hop backwards. "'Almost' only matters in horseshoes, hand grenades, and these!"
And from the pretty surge of bright blue energy swirling about in her hands, about the size of a basketball, it seems like Kasugano has her own addition to the adage -- an addition which she suddenly thrusts towards Mary with a much louder voice. "HADOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits BlueMary with Medium Hadouken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
BlueMary 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Here comes what Mary had feared the most. The time where the fireball throwing would come. Because she knew it would. At least her previous experience with Sakura taught her that it would come... And in mass as well. This time like many others, Mary isn't quite ready to face the incoming fireball. The woman attempts to protect herself from the wave of chi energy but unfortunately, she fails to actually prevent it from hitting her.
The blonde woman coughs a bit and she staggers back a few steps, trying to recover and get her balance back. She glances up to Sakura and she narrows her eyes a little, one hand clenched around her midsection as she simply observes her. She doesn't want to dash in and get blasted again and so, she tries to make sure she'll get the good opening to do so, slowly but surely approching, keeping her calm and getting ready, all the while taking her breath back a little and regaining some composure.
COMBATSYS: BlueMary gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Sakura grins a bit, as her much-reviled attack slams home. "Heh, bet you didn't think I could hold out =that= long without one, didja?" Brushing the back of her thumb against her nose, she takes another half-step back, narrowing her eyes in kind at Mary. Though... rather than anger, the schoolgirl's taking a moment to prepare herself in a different way -- mentally! And, in doing so, hoping she doesn't leave any openings for the more experienced fighter. Any... =more= openings, that is.
Though, she's still very, =very= immature, to listen to her taunt: "Heh. So how many you think I can pull off from here on out, huh? Three? Four?"
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
BlueMary 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Is that how she wants to play it? Well Mary doesn't mind to play along. A little. At least not too much, it doesn't encourage a friendly competition. At least that's what she thinks, "Three or four, that's what you've done last time and it didn't help you win," Blue Mary simply reminds, "Guess some people never learn from their mistakes,"
While Mary doesn't quite see an opening, she supposes she got close enough to attempt to charge Sakura without any risk of her firing off one of those fireball at her before she can touch her. And as of sort, Blue Mary leans down slightly and she makes up the distance that separates them by a quick sprint right up to Sakura.
And as soon as she draws close enough, Mary attempts to deliver a sharp elbow smash to Sakura's midsection, bending down slightly to deliver it.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from BlueMary with Shou'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
BlueMary 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
Sure, just rub it in! ... Er, rather, that =was= Sakura's entire point -- to try and get Mary scared. ... It doesn't really =work= that way against the more experienced fighter, though, as Mary proves by leaning over to ram her elbow into Sakura's midsection. But... even though Sakura had =planned= to uppercut the heck out of her, rather than stick with the fireballs Mary hates, she finds that she's =not= rewarded for her patience -- nearly losing her lunch from the impact.
Careening backwards, she closes her eyes, smacking her cheeks with both hands. The 'all-new' Sakura just isn't doing as well as the good ol' Sakura, now, is she?
Now that she's close enough to Sakura, now that the two of them are in close quarter combat, she doesn't intend to let go of her that easily. Sakura can hold her ground fairly well in hand to hand combat and when it comes to use chi. However, Blue Mary is totally unable to manifest chi the way she does, and... Well, she wouldn't like to dodge the fireballs or get hit until Sakura runs out of breath or Mary's too hurt to keep on going.
Here comes the first elbow shot. And Mary takes a second to regain her composure, though she quickly drops to the ground, holding herself with her hands and she uses her whole body almost like a weapon, spinning on the ground and sending both of her legs over Sakura's one to attempt to kick legs and knock her off balance.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Light Kick from BlueMary with Shinkuu Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
BlueMary 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura pushes back to her feet, at that, curling her fingers in anticipation. A bright swell of energy forms, swirling into her palms, but... well, the fact that Mary's aiming =below= that probably speaks volumes. Experience will beat out youth every time, or something like that! Sakura's legs go flying out from under her, the gathered energy fizzles into an amorphous blue cloud before fading away, and Sakura's left with a bruised body and an even more bruised ego!
That was a close call. Blue Mary is actually pretty grateful that she managed to prevent Sakura from flinging another fireball at her. Small, medium or big, Mary just hates them with all her heart. It's a little victory for herself against those dreadful fireballs.
If Sakura's still on the ground, she'll find herself dragged up rather quickly, or if she had the time to do so, Mary's quickly going to try and sneak up behind her to grab her around her neck, holding her neck tightly and keeping Sakura well locked around her. And if she suceeds, Mary spins on herself quickly, "Dynamite Swing!" She shouts after a few turns on her heels and she throws off Sakura off the distance.
COMBATSYS: BlueMary successfully hits Sakura with Dynamite Swing.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > / ]
BlueMary 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Sakura
And so, even though Sakura bravely attempts to kick herself out of the way, she's nonetheless snared by Mary's grab, and caught in the pull! ... Thus, she's tugged close to Mary and swung around in a circle!
Mary might find the temperature getting a little bit hot though, as a bright blue circle forms around her in the midst of that swing. It grows hotter and hotter -- until Sakura is tossed away! "Shinkuu..." And when she does so, Sakura's hands are pointed to her -- with a crackling blast of energy soaring right for her. "HADOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
BlueMary 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: BlueMary interrupts Shinkuu Hadouken from Sakura with Straight Slicer.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
BlueMary 0/-------/--=====|
Wait a second... Throwing Sakura away... Now that wasn't the brightest idea. It means she gets range and distance, meaning that she could throw more fireballs at her! Ahh! Curse!
Quick, Blue Mary needs to tend to that problem! As of sort, Blue Mary dashes over toward Sakura -- oooooh, and she knows her schoolgirl well, she's just about to do that fireball thing! Quick! Blue Mary attacks, she leaps up toward Sakura and she slides to the ground just as Sakura fires off that ball of energy. Thankfully, Mary is low enough on the ground to get burnt by only a part of it, but as Sakura fires the energy ball, her legs wrap around Sakura's one and she trips her down rather hard, going over to lock her legs together and hold her firmly in a submission.
A submission, the way to go down that might hurt one's ego the most. Mary waits a little, enough for the ref to actually figure call Blue Mary being the victor so she can let go of Sakura's legs.
Submission? ... Well, Sakura isn't really in a position to get away from it -- despite her tendency to pull off surprising turns of fate, it's just not working for her advantage this time! Sakura flails a bit, but from how hard she's tapping the pavement... well, safe to say, she's out.
The refs swoop in to call the fight, and declare Mary the winner!
Straightening herself up, Mary heaves a soft sigh and she glances down to Sakura. The blonde woman offers the younger one a hand and she smiles, "Don't give up," Mary adds with a grin, "You'll suceed one day," She says with a nod, "I guess today just wasn't your day..." She simply says as she gives Sakura some help if she needs it.
Well... no sense in being a spoil-sport about it. After the declaration is made, and Mary offers the hand -- Sakura takes it with a grin. "Yeah. Thanks." It's a warm, open smile -- she'd been having a bad few weeks, and this... well. "Thanks for the fight, Mary," she offers, nodding her head. "Maybe some other day, then!"
And with that, she bows politely, and walks off! ... With help from the League officials, of course.
Log created by Sakura, and last modified on 02:55:30 04/12/2006.