Description: Gedo Dojo is the site of a no-holds-barred melee between Sakura Kasugano and Shingo Yabuki! Sakura starts off with a costume change, but Shingo pulls off a commanding lead -- only to have it turned around in the final stretch! (Winner by decision: Sakura)
It has been quite a while since Shingo has found himself involved in a match for Saturday Night Fight. It's been even longer since he last fought his opponent. And then more than that it has been an incredibly long time since he has fought in the Gedo Dojo. So long that he practically forget whether he has been here or not before. The Taiyo schoolboy waits on his side of the ring stretching out and warming up. Waiting because Sakura still hasn't shown up. The Gedo crowd looking a bit restless as they want this fight to start already.
More time passes, and Sakura Kasugano still hasn't made an appearance. The scorekeeper scribbles furiously upon his notepad, taking careful note of the crowd's displeasure over having to wait another three minutes for their fighting action.
And then... a Gedo student shouts, "There she is!" A finger is pointed towards the wearer of a familiar white headband who enters the dojo, sifting her way through the crowds.
It's not till she reaches the ring itself that most are able to see the noticeable difference in Sakura's attire -- a black leather jacket, unzipped and fashionably long-sleeved yet short in the trunk to leave her midriff bare and her bosom wrapped in bandages. With those, a matching leather miniskirt, and knee-high boots, it's pretty obvious she's appealing to the Gedo demographic.
An eraser is hastily applied to the scoring notepad, as the crowd erupts in hooting and hollering of applause. They approve.
Sakura smirks back at Shingo, hoping she managed to at least get some sense of surprise out of her opponent. Tightening the fingerless leather gloves upon her hands, she then cracks her knuckles. "You ready to rock?" Resting her hand on her hip, she flicks her wrist up, then over, finger loosely pointed downwards as if to indicate she's prepared. And, er, taunting.
Y'know, despite her being almost a foot shorter than Shingo.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shingo has joined the fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shingo
Yeah but you know who else is in that crowd? Well, actually he's not within the crowd at all. Sean Matsuda was at Gedo for a while, and as soon as his Pacific High uniform was spotted, he was empty soda-canned and boo'd right off the campus.
Tough crowd!
So our Brazillian hero spectates from the semi-safety of one of the dojo windows, standing on a couple of milk crates because, well.. He just doesn't want trouble today, he wants to see the fight just like everybody else! His cheers- Are very silent, obviously, but he hopes if anything this match will better expose some of Sakura's weaknesses.
Oh man, that'd be so sweet.
Cue the double-take. Shingo is definitely taken aback by Sakura's choice in clothing and scratches his head in confusion for a moment. He definitely didn't know they were supposed to dress the part too. Not that it would've mattered to him. Who has really seen Shingo wear anything but his rendition of Kyo Kusanagi's fighting outfit when he's in a fight himself?
The inital surprise of seeing the schoolgirl wearing she normally doesn't wear passes, his face lights up into a grin. "Heh. Let's go." His hands raise into a defensive stance while he waits for the match to start. As soon as the signal is given Shingo launches into action. The boy charges up to Sakura but instead of attacking her outright he steps a little to her side. Hands reach out to grab her by the jacket in order to lift, turn, and hurl her towards the other end of the dojo. Into a carefully placed wooden table waiting for her. "We're supposed to wreck stuff, right?" Grin. "Yah!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Medium Throw from Shingo with Medium Throw.
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Sakura 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Shingo
"Yo yo yo! Hold the phone!" Comes a loud speaker aided feminine voice,
"You cats can't start now - er, okay you already did, but come on! " The doors are burst opened by the emergence of a scooter inside the school. Probably not the first time someone did this, but likely the first it was actually an outsider using her Gedo high teacher house mate as a way to smuggle her way in.
"Okay, Umm, well ladies and gentlemen, you've seen the warm up of this great even, right so Ready? Fight! Now they're serious!" The witch who isn't using her hands on the handle bars to talk, promptly crashes, but ends up near the edge and after a moment rubs her head and gathers to her feet.
"Ough.. " she manages, just in time to see Sakura get nailed,
"Oh, a sneaky surprise attack! With two opponents as easily matched as Shingo Yabuki and Sakura Kasugano, you can expect we'll get a pretty close fight! And for those keeping tabs, Sakura and Shingo are supposedly dating, though both have been known to stray from time to time, so lets deem this battle, 'Lovers Quarrel !'." A big booming echo feature on the loud speaker is used to make this really well heard.
Well, it's not like they were =supposed= to dress up -- Sakura just did so to curry favor with the judges. Transparent? Possibly, but it seemed to do the trick, at first.
But... Sakura's projected image of badassery seems to fall short as Shingo closes in. Sakura steps out of Shingo's way, halfway expecting to snare his fist as he steps in for a punch. But... since she was expecting a faster punch instead of a grab, she basically walks right into it -- getting hucked to the side, shattering the table into a shower of splinters. Sakura ends up in a =most= uncompromising position as a result, but... well, at least the miniskirt does its job: attracting more hooting and hollering from the crowd.
Of course, the splinters kinda hurt. Plucking one table fragment out of her thigh, she pushes back to her feet with a cocky grin. "Tricksy!" she comments.
That's Shingo for you. Another one of those tricksy hobbits. Ok, not really but close enough. If changing up his opening tactic to a grab instead of a strike is considered a trick. What is not a trick is how quickly he follows up. The boy already taking off in a dash behind Sakura hoping to catch her before she regain her balance. There he goes with the tricky stuff again. Shingo picking up a loose bat off the ground as he closes in; holding close to the middle than to the end. If that's any indication of how he intends to use it. Taking a bat to his girlfriend. Can you feel the love?
Except that the bat is just for show. Sakura hasn't even cleared the debris of the smashed table yet but Shingo is gaining on her and fast. He jumps into the air and swings his leg inward in a wide arc at her upper-body. As usual Shingo's taking care not to kick her in the head. At least on purpose. "I'm not done yet, Sakura!" The kick is merely a ploy as even if she blocks it, he lands then shoots out two quick jabs to her gut. Just to soften her up some.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Shingo with Medium Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Shingo
"For all of you who have followed Shingo NotKusanagi in his battle history would know that he does not hold back against any opponent, which could be considered an insult or a compliment to their skillz, in this case even against a girl in a hot outfit, looking good Sakura - Errgh! I spoke to soon. Sakura is getting hammered!"
The loud speaker goes on while Naerose opens a 'borrowed' pc from one of the teachers and checks online.
"Ladies and gentlemen I just checked Vegas odds and Shingo has two to one for winning this match! Better pick it up a couple of notches there Sakura!"
By this time some of the students are very annoyed at the witch and start making some rude gestures toward her which she ignores.
Tables to crash into? Loose bats on the ground? What kind of crazy dojo is this, anyway? You'd think they wanted folks to get hurt or something here!
Sakura's eyes go wide at the baseball bat -- of course, she doesn't really have time to see what he plans to do with it yet, as the boy's leaping into the air at her! Gritting her teeth, she twists backwards, her eyes locked onto target as a bright blue orb of energy forms in her hands!
... It vanishes, though, as Shingo's foot is busy crashing into her shoulder right about the time she ought to have been lobbing it up at him. Perhaps she misjudged the speed! In any case, she crashes into a trio of spectators who hadn't gotten out of the way of the quickly-maneuvering fighters yet, bowling them over like, er, bowling pins!
Sakura pushes back to her feet, wincing a bit as she rubs her shoulder. "Didn't like that, didja?" she boasts... as if she's actually hit the boy yet!
She does manage to get a few points for effort, though... right?
Gedo wanting people to get hurt? Of course not! Not such an upstanding and well-established academic institution. They would never want that sort of thing here. Not even if it is all part of the SNF rules where mayhem and destruction abound. Shingo blinks as he narrowly escapes getting nailed by a hadouken in mid-kick and whews to himself. Maybe that fight he had with Saishu helped improved his skills. This thought brigtens up his facial expression and he grips the bat even tighter to run up on Sakura yet again.
"Come on, Sakura! Are you going to stand there and let me toss you around for the entire match or whaaaaaaaah?!" The baseball bat armed boy would finish the question properly if he didn't suddenly trip over a glass bottle that someone in the crowd sent rolling on the ground just as his foot steps down in mid run. Struggling to maintain his balance and failing, he goes stumbling right at Sakura face-first in a rather ungraceful-like manner to land on her. Or not. Depends on how quick she is.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Shingo's Strong Throw.
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Sakura 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Shingo
No, no... =this= time, Sakura is smart enough to get the heck out of the way, by leaping backwards at the last instant, allowing Shingo to fall face first onto the tatami floor. (Repairing that must get expensive!) "Nope! I'm just gettin' warmed up!"
And... since this match seems to be catered towards wanton destruction, someone's been nice enough to leave a trashcan along this wall of the dojo -- a trashcan which Sakura nimbly lands right behind! "Give a hoot! Don't pollute!" she shouts, just before doing the opposite of what she preaches -- whirlwind kicking the filled-up trashcan towards Shingo. "Hyaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Shingo dodges Sakura's Large Thrown Object.
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Sakura 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Shingo
"And Sakura fires back with. . . Oh god please don't quote her on that. I think we have a winner for this years' weakest come back catch phrase. Usually sharp witted Sakura has just dealt Shingo a huge victory in that weak line. Simply being silent while she gave such a painful deliberation would of been preferable. The only thing that would be worse is if someone fires back with a Smokey the bear line, Shingo, only you can save your girl friend from bad cliche remakrs." Naerose says into her loud speaker. Clearly appalled.
"Owowowowowowow!" Shingo cries out when he faceplants on the ground. Strange boy he is. Making all that commotion for a little fall when he barely grunts when hit by energy projectiles and big clubs. He begins to push himself up off the ground when Sakura is nice enough to alert him that she just kicked a trash can over in his direction. "Uh-oh." Shingo's only saving grace is giving up on getting back to his feet. It would take too long. Rolling out of the way to the side is much easier and faster. The crowd backing up out of the way to make room for the boy. That and to avoid being struck by the can.
Popping back up to his feet he grins at Sakura, "You know me better than that, I don't litter!" A glance is given to the can on the ground. "Here, you can have it back." A solid kick is given to the trash can to return it to the girl in a feint, as he charges behind it and launches himself into a slide low to the ground while the can goes high. Double-attack? Another trick? If Sakura is observant enough, she'd see that Shingo is the main threat and not the flying object that will miss her as opposed to her opponent's sliding kick.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Shingo's Light Kick.
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Shingo
Naerose's comment catches Sakura a bit off-guard. She glares at the witch, wagging her finger: "-- Triple push-ups when we get back to training, you! Besides, I'm getting pummeled h--"
She doesn't get to finish, because Shingo's booting something her way! Lucky her, she's observant enough to notice the feint for what it is, and drops low to the ground instead -- catching Shingo's incoming foot with her hands.
Shoved backward rather abruptly from the blow, she grumbles a bit -- but manages to twist around sharply, scissoring her ankles about Shingo's neck! Of course, with anyone but her boyfriend, she might be a bit more nervous about it, but here... it's different! She then attempts to twist herself sharply to the side, applying a bit of sharp pressure to the boy's windpipe while he's nice and close! "Hnnnyaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Shingo with Quick Throw.
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
"Unfortunately for Sakura, I'm just doing my job here, but an astute observation is made, Sakura is getting positively pummeled by a merciless onslaught of Shingo's. His style right now appears to be turn on the heat, hard and leave it on. There is no rest or mercy for the wicked," Naerose comments while watching the fighting continue.
"Oh look I spoke too soon, a quick attack has put Sakura on the board, don't give up yet Sakura, there is still plenty of fight left folks!"
A lesser man would probably submit right then and there. A more desperate man would savour the experience for as long as he could before passing out with a smile on his face. Shingo is none of those. He's the man that has no problem beating up and getting beaten up by women. So while it is very uncomfortable and painful, he bears with it. It's a sacrifice he's willing to make for the glory of Kusanagi-ryuu kobojutsu. Doesn't mean that he's not fighting the impulse to tap out though. Because he surely is. "Grk!"
Shingo forces himself to roll over then to slowly push up to his feet with Sakura still hanging on. Gasping for breath, he grits his teeth and does what he thinks is best situated for this situation. Other than using the baseball bat he maintains his hold on to bash her in the head. The alternative being that he's just going to fall over so as to land harshly on the girl's much smaller and lighter frame. Just for the impact and not to smother her.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Sakura with Strong Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Sakura 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
Man, that Yabuki boy's a total klutz! Every time Sakura finds herself in a low position, the boy's just falling over her like whoas. Never mind that, y'know, he's standing up and practically *dragging* her for the second before she manages to disentangle herself.
And, oddly enough, the crazy fall works -- with his elbow landing right in her solar plexus. The Ansatsuken pupil unleashes a soundless scream from the pain, spine jacknifing from the sudden impact -- but at least Shingo's fall ends mercifully soon, as Sakura's convulsion causes her to roll him over to one side.
Gasping, she pushes back to her feet, coughing as she edges away for a moment. Just a moment to catch her breath -- and slowly back away towards the busted-up table!
COMBATSYS: Sakura gains composure.
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Sakura 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
But more importantly, WHERE'S SEAN! Well, at some point while he was pondering if he had seen Naerose on ESPN or not, was suddenly jolted awake by the loud crash and burn of trash cans and bodies.
Which promptly causes him to knock himself silly (against the wall behind him) for a good long moment, making an even louder clatter as he falls over, "OH GOD OW!"
Needless to say, his cover is blown. A couple of Gedo students nearest the open window peer outside, and a couple of punks that happened to be outside peer around the corner- And instantly recognize him.
"That's the kid!"
"Get him!"
"Er, wuh oh," Sean sputters, scrambling to his feet and he dashes off in the opposite direction to make one of the sweetest escapes in mankind. That is, running circles around the building a couple times, and then eventually escaping over a wall. Battle on, Matsuda!
Argueably Sean was too old for Naerose anyway, but if he wasn't and she had seen him and she was not preoccupied she might of thought those were some pretty awesome tricks and that she had to get his number! But that didn't happen, instead she has to dodge flying trash cans displaced by Sakura's immense girth. But since we know Sakura isn't actually fat, but in fact freakishly inhumanly skinny, as are all idol'd videogame and anime characters (Naerose included) none of that is actually said, what is said is,
"Woah! now that's what we call Big damage. I think that puts Shingo up on the board at six to one so far for those at home keeping score."
And where did she get those numbers from? She made them up.
Unforunately for Sakura while it is probably in her best interest to do what she does to catch her breath, the crowd on the other hand isn't too keen on it. They came here to see a fight, not watch some girl stand around to breathe easier! They let her know that too with heckling and taunting about how this is no place for girls and that she's in over her head if she needs to take a break. As well as she should probably go back to that pansy Taiyo High. Yeah, standing around is not the best way to gain crowd favour in Gedo. Not like Shingo who is already on his feet and ignoring the other scenes going about. His focus is on Sakura.
"Are you okay?" Funny how he asks this while advancing on the girl trying to catch her breath with a bat in hand. Yeah, because he's really concerned about her health. Which is why he almost feels bad having to make use of said bat now that she's backing up to the no-longer-functiona-as-a-table table. He swings hard and true right for her side with that Louisville Slugger, "Sorry!"
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Sakura with Fierce Punch.
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Sakura 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Shingo
Sakura shoots Naerose a glare: "Stop helping!"
Of course, right about now is when she would, of course, be absolutely clobbered by the baseball bat. Even though she had every intention of getting out of the way of the slow swing, it just wasn't meant to be as the bat slams into her side, quite possibly breaking a rib or three in the process!
Staggering back to muted applause from the violence-loving Gedosians, Sakura wipes a drop of blood from her lip. "Yeah, sure, never better!" ... okay, maybe it hurt just a =bit= more than she's letting on.
But she isn't about to give Shingo another moment to figure out where to cram that bat... she's going to step forward and ram her shoulder at him! "Burning!" Fragments of busted-up table swirling around in her wake from the rapid motion, as onlookers raise their arms for cover!
But she won't land that shoulder, as she's twisting a bit too fast for it. Instead -- she slams her hands forward, a blossom of blue-white chi sprouting from her empty palms into a gigantic inferno, and streaking onwards at Shingo as she slams to a halt! "Hadoooooooooooouken!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Shingo with Shinkuu Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Shingo
A Shinkuu Hadouken. Hah. Shingo fears not this attack as he has a defense against it. He has...a baseball bat. A whole piece of shaped wood to stand up against a much bigger burst of concussive chi energy. Um, yeah. This obviously won't end well. At all. Undoubtedly so when everyone behind and around Shingo clears out of the way. They're not taking any chances even as Shingo gets ready to send the hadouken flying with a mighty swing of his bat. Then he stares straight at it and realises that he made a very dumb choice. "Oh crud..." Saying that he gets floored would be the understatement of the week.
But! He's not defeated yet. It was a solid blow that Sakura landed on Shingo but it may or may not have been a decisive blow. He's still in a better condition to fight than she is currently. Even if he is picking himself up off the ground for like what the fourth time this match? "Ow, geez. Those things still hurt as ever." He rubs his head. "Ok...that was a great hit, Sakura. But..." The bat swings in again at Sakura's side, shouting out as he hops in just close enough to give himself maximum leverage for his weapon, "Take this!"
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Sakura with Dokugami Mikansei.
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Shingo
"Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll! Sakura gets more points with that I'll tell you, but with Shingo scoring on penalty kicks and the corner kick from that out of bounds missed shot has put Sakura far behind in this match! Now if you've been watching, Sakura has been issued a yellow card for cheesy dialogue while Shingo still remains mostly penalty free. As we come to the ninetieth minute on the match, it is looking like this is going to go for Shingo. Fans of Shingo are on their feet, but fans of Sakura have not given up hope," Naerose describes.
Hey, it's not Sakura's fault Shingo likes the ground so much. Besides, she hardly has anything to do with it this fight!
Conversely, it =is= Shingo's fault that Sakura keeps staggering backwards. All that violence, and the crowd is loving it -- if only because they know Sakura can take the abuse better than most girls her age would be able to. Otherwise they'd, y'know, dogpile the boy! But that's got nothing to do with Sakura taking another massive hit to the side, the bat breaking in two from the ferocious impact! Crack!
And yet... Sakura's still standing, miraculously! Though she rushes sharply to the side. "Hey, you guys might wanna move..." she says to Shingo -- or rather, the trio that she's maneuvered to place Shingo behind. Her wrists snap forward, and a gigantic wave of chi washes forth, sending the splintered pieces of table flying every which way again! "HADOOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Shingo with Large Hadouken EX.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Shingo
So whose fault is it that Shingo keeps getting hit by those pesky hadouken things? The person who's throwing them or the person who can't seem to catch a break when it comes to defending against them. What's a guy to do now? He's got half a bat left and is looking particularly distressed about it. Not because he got hit. No, he's upset the bat broke. Which is what really sets him up for the man-sized chi projectile to floor him humorously into the guys behind him. "Oh! Sorry!"
Shingo leaves what's left of the bat laying on the floor with those three guys to scamper back up to his feet. "Yeah...those things definitely still sting." Out of the corner of his eye he sees some of his self-appointed fans sliding another table into place and lifting it so that it now rests on its side. Much in the same way one would flip a table over to hide behind. Now Shingo's a smart kid. He knows what they want him to do, but he's not sure that he can. But he must if he's to win over the crowd. There's a faint sigh. Shingo next circles around Sakura to make sure both of them are facing the proper directions. Then the plan is put into motion. "Um, yeah. Sorry about this, Sakura!" The Kusanagi student takes a deep breath and stampeded towards his girlfriend, "CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" If he pulls this off correctly the powerful shoulder charge will be enough to send both Taiyo students crashing through the table a very exciting and destructive manner. Splinters everywhere.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Burning Shingo from Shingo with Shou'ou Ken.
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
" And the end of regulation has come, Sakura making a dramatic attempt to come out on top with a thrilling goal shot as the last seconds tick down! But the judges have added time to the clock for delays! Sakura is still in this match, Shingo has dominated the whole way and need only close out this girl in the next few moments, but Sakura could close out this match too, it's anybody's ballgame now in the extra minutes added on," Naerose exclaims, sounding quite excited, then the batteries start to give out on her megaphone.
Sakura takes =another= moment to catch her breath as Shingo goes flying, taking a moment to commandeer an innocent bystander's shirtsleeve, using it to mop up the blood on her lip. "Thanks, man, owe ya one!" Being a jerk in Gedo goes a long way, after all.
Anyone who's watched the =first= part of Sakura's fight may know that she has a tendency to, y'know, run straight into attacks. Thus far, it hasn't worked too well.
No longer -- as Sakura once more valiantly marches into battle! She made reference to the terrifying Burning Shingo a few moments prior, at the beginning of her Hadouken rush, so it's pretty obvious she's familiar with her opponent's eponymous specialty attack. Grinning... she takes a quick sidestep, slamming her left shoulder into her boyfriend's at an angle! "Sshhh--" she spits in what sounds like a curse, as the drive nonetheless slams her back into the table -- but it only breaks because she's =kicking off= of the surface! Her kick sends her flying forward, her right fist hammering forward into Yabuki's solar plexus as she completes her battle cry: "SSSSHOOOOOOU'OOU KEN!"
And the crowd, it goes wild from the storm of splintering wood, and the no-longer-defended bystanders scatter!
On the plus side he perfectly executed the plan. It just didn't end the way he perfectly wanted. All that he needed to do was plow Sakura through the table and that would've been that. But noooo, she had to be all non-conformist and decide to put up a fight. Imagine that. Putting up a fight -in- a fight. How insane is that for anyone to grasp? Almost as insane as being hit with an uppercut right out of your supposedly strongest attack. Shingo goes staggering backwards but for once doesn't fall over. "Heh, nice one," he compliments with a smile. "But now, your body is wide open!" If he's hearing the 'guest announcer' properly this match is timed and coming down to the last few moments. Better make this count.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Shingo's Aragami Mikansei.
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Sakura 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Shingo
It's not like Sakura's gonna try and totally evade his follow-up -- she's just been warned that her body's wide open, after all! "Oh really?" she answers, twisting to interpose her right forearm into the path of Shingo's strike. Thus, she proves him wrong! Kinda.
And it gets even closer -- as now Sakura's in melee range yet again! But, just to tick off someone else who might be watching, Sakura smirks back at Shingo for a brief instant. Her right hand is still ringing from the Aragami Mikansei, but her left hand is free to slam forward, with a brilliant, coruscating burst of blue chi blossoming from within. And it just happens to be in Shingo's direction, as luck would have it!
"Ko'ou Ken!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Shingo with Small Hadouken EX.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
Ever see a jaw drop? Well, Naerose' just did. Ko'ou Ken? Yes, she seriously has no idea what is going on with that.
"Okay folks, Sakura seems to of just used a Kyokugen style technique, known as the Ko'ou ken, it is also a well known variant of the Saikyo version whose name I forgot. Anyway, I'm not sure where Sakura learned that or if she simply doesn't have enough energy to send a real honest to god hadouken. but I'm calling foul ladies and gentlemen, can Shingo land anything through that and get a penalty kick tie at the end of the round?!"
Anybody who's anybody in the world of fighting knows that Shingo plus chi projectiles doesn't exactly blend together very well. Well, no better than the average fighter of his calibur. Not because of a lack of training but because he's better at taking strikes than anything else. This explains why despite taking a hadouken to the face (doesn't matter what Sakura calls it as far as he's concerned) he doesn't fall over but just looks dazed. Retaining enough coherency to give one last final spinning punch directed right at Sakura's torso, "Kurae!" And then falling down from spinning so much after balancing himself on one leg to land on his back. Dazed and out.
COMBATSYS: Shingo can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Sakura with Dokugami Mikansei.
[ <
Sakura 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
Sakura didn't =aim= at the face, but some times she gets a little overly excited, especially when she's about to pull off her first win against Shingo in, like, forever! And the chi tends to, y'know, react accordingly! Better for the crowd appeal that way, at least!
But ... well, by overdoing it, Sakura's stepped forward a bit too far -- and that *just* so happens to mean she's forgotten to step back after hitting him. Her eyes wide with wonder, she's too stunned to get out of the way, even though there should have been no reason *not* to! And she gets tagged, taking another hit to her already-beleaguered ribs, and crumples to her knees with a whimper. Panting, she finds herself unable to stand again, supporting herself with both hands.
Moral: Naerose is a bad luck charm :|
A bad luck charm indeed, a tie after that beating!
"Well folks, like all good soccer games the score is a tie! Fifteen up to both sides, an amazing comeback for behind on what was otherwise a domination by Shingo! Both sides should be thrilled at their performance and the fans know they got their monies worth!" Naerose booms, then her batteries totally die.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[OOC Note: Log ends here, pending arbitration from the judges. Both fighters were told 'There Can Be Only One!', so a winner had to be decided. Hence, the official recap follows...]
The Gedo judges were locked in debate for some time about this, having been informed that a draw would not be acceptable under the ruleset they were working under, but the final point tally came up to 16 against 15, with Sakura just barely achieving victory. Though Shingo gained small amounts of points consistently throughout the match, Sakura evened it up by being awarded larger point totals for her actions, if more infrequently. The audience themselves were riotously split on who should have won, but in the end... maybe it just came down to the skirt.
Log created by Sakura, and last modified on 06:42:28 07/23/2006.