Description: Facing off with Megumi in Howard Arena, Shenwoo shows a decisive control throughout most of the match... But can Megumi's tenacity help her pull out the win? (Winner: Shenwoo)
With SNF returning to the airwaves, some people got matches with some variety to them. Bouts with 'school rules', three way fights, and a 2 on 1 for the main event. But there was also a pretty standard fare match set up at the arena, and people had filled into the seats for that fight as well.
With everything in place, the usual announcements went through to announce the fighters for tonight. Megumi is called up first, and she goes with it; dashing out into that brightly lit aisle leading up to the stone arena, making sure to mingle with the crowd a bit as she goes and even taking off a spare wristband to hand out to a kid in the audience; all the usual things a sports celebrity can do to help their image.
But she doesn't have too long to do this, mindful not to delay things. With the crowd played up to, Megumi jumps onto the arena floor and...waits. There should be someone else coming soon.
Just what IS a 'school rules' match, anyway? That's something Shenwoo's been vaguely curious about since he first heard there might be anything of the sort... But thus far, the brawler from Shanghai hasn't been able to figure out just what it means. It's all Greek to him, as it were. Then again, he's never gone to school!
Shenwoo, as the second entrant, is no stranger to fighting in the Howard Arena, though it's been a long time since he last did - when his fight with Cammy was interrupted by that Lord Winnebago dude. But even if he's somewhat familiar with fighting there, it still gets his blood pumping; the huge space, the roar of the crowd, the whole /environment/. It's just what the doctor ordered to combat his recent boredom, oh yes indeed.
In a sharp contrast to Megumi with her enthusiastic dash towards the fighting stage, the self-styled 'God of Battle' stalks his way down the aisle, walking in a slow but measurd pace, grinning wildly as he does, savouring every moment of it. Who's his opponent? Who cares, so long as they're strong! His silk shirt flutters behind him a bit as he emerges into full view of the crowd, and he stops, right there, laughing quietly as he basks in the attention. It's almost as good as the fight itself, you know?
Then, his attention settles on the stage, that wolfish, possibly insane grin fixed in place, his dark eyes focused. And suddenly, Shen vanishes from sight leaving a flickering afterimage behind, just as suddenly appearing on the stage, striking the slate with his beringed left fist, creating small cracks in it from the force. Yeah, he's grandstanding, but that's part of the fun!
Rising, he stalks a bit closer to the center of the stage, and then he settles into his casual boxing stance, right hand leading. "Hey, hey, don't I know you from someplace?" Shen says, apparently not recognising Megumi! "Well, whatever... Let's have some fun!!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo has started a fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-------|
Megumi waits patiently while Shen approaches, apparently not having a problem with him taking his time. Though, she does blink a few times when he sort of 'blurs in' to the arena itself, then props her arms behind her head while he talks. "Huh, you don't remember me? Guess that's your loss, I'm pretty cool to my friends. But since you look ready...I'm good to go!" She leaves that posture by dashing at Shen, then sliding slightly sideways to try and go past his legs. Her plan is to grab one of his legs and continue sliding by, hopefully taking him to the ground where she can rise, lift the leg, and apply an ankle-lock to Shen's foot.
COMBATSYS: Megumi has joined the fight here.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo dodges Megumi's Storm Hold.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
"Heh," chuckles Shenwoo as Megumi gets right to the point, and charges at him; he watches her come, waiting to see exactly what she's going to do... And when she slides along the ground, he says right where he is, even though she manages to grab his leg. He doesn't go down, his leg doesn't budge, not an inch, presumably stopping the grappler as well! "C'mon, what was that?" he asks, sounding a little bit disappointed... And then he quickly turns on the leg Megumi's grabbed, to kick her right in the head with his other foot. It's not fancy, but it might be /quite/ effective!
COMBATSYS: Megumi fails to counter Heavy Kick from Shenwoo with Flood Reversal.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi makes a strange call, staying on the ground as Shen fails to be particularly moved by this. She's expecting a counter-attack, and lets go of the leg to try and catch the incoming kick. Nice idea, too little room to make it work; she's punted in the head and sent tumbling away with enough force that, by all appearances, she seems to be stunned as she starts to push back up rather slowly...
Mm, the delicious feeling of foot meeting head! Shenwoo doesn't even realise he came very close to getting a taste of Megumi's own counterattack right there, focused as he is on the sheer fun of it all. He takes just a moment to play to the crowd a little, raising his arms and basking in the cheers that always follow a particularly dramatic bit of violence like that... And then he turns back to Megumi, pushing herself back up groggily. "Having fun?" he wonders of her, before he suddenly rushes forward, covering the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye, hair and silk shirt and wallet chain trailing behind him... And throws his left fist, big metal ring and all, forward in a punch aimed right at Megumi's face. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo successfully hits Megumi with Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Megumi
"No," Megumi snaps back to Shen while she's apparently quite disoriented, the proof lying in Shen managing to connect with a follow-up attack quite easily, sending her tumbling back over with another hit to the head, falling out of the arena in fact. She jumps back in a few seconds later, but looks nowhere near as energetic as she was just seconds ago.
"This is ridiculous," Megumi remarks with irritation, hands coming together in front of her. A sparkling red ball forms, nearly the size of her head. It hovers in place for a moment, then with a light push she sends it flying towards Shen, aiming for a hit to his chest.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo blocks Megumi's Crimson Comet.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Megumi
Energy, energy. Always energy. Shenwoo knows he has a weak point where that's concerned, but... What to do about it? Right now, he doesn't have any fancy tricks up his sleeve... Instead, he just crosses his tattooed forearms over his chest, his chi flaring as the Psycho Power attack hits him, before throwing his arms apart to dissipate the brunt of the attack. "QUIT THAT!!" he roars, slightly disoriented from the BURNING PAIN, and then he lunges forward at the grappler again, aiming to bury his fist right in her gut. "RAAAH!!!"
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo successfully hits Megumi with Strong Punch.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Megumi
Sometimes, one just can't get things together.
Megumi's having one of those matches right now, as she rushes to meet Shen head on. Her plan is to meet his punch...but slip just away from it in a very close evasion that should leave her in position to strike. What ends up happening is she starts her evasive spin and mis-calculates Shen's fist just slightly, enough that his punch hits her rib as she spins, and sends her spinning all the harder before collapsing to the floor. "Shut...up," Megumi hisses out before getting up again, albeit shakily. This time she stays back, surveying the situation and taking a moment to think...
COMBATSYS: Megumi gains composure.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Megumi
That's not very nice, Megumi, telling him to shut up. Shenwoo's just having a good time here, what's wrong with that? Though yes, perhaps the other fighter can't appreciate the situation as much as the brawler can. With a sigh, Shenwoo shrugs his shoulders, and just... Stands there, watching Megumi. "I figured you'd be stronger than this. What, aren't you really trying?" he sounds disappointed, which is really both genuine /and/ taunting, all at once. "Or... Are you scared?" Shenwoo wonders, arching a brow faintly, taunting her loud enough for the microphones to pick up, and perhaps even enough for the crowd to hear.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo focuses on his next action.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Megumi
Megumi takes a step forward at Shen's taunt, but...holds back immediately after that. "I'm not falling for that. All that'd do is show people I'm an idiot." she insists while spreading her arms out wide apart. A thin 'wall' of sparkling red energy forms, then flies out ahead of Megumi. It begins to glide back toward her, but Megumi is also running up to meet it head on. In any case, it's not heading towards Shen, so it's probably not an attack.
Can't blame a guy for trying, right? Shenwoo tilts his head to one side as Megumi takes a step forward but thinks better of it... And then she's using that weird energy on /herself/? That can't bode well. "No time for that!!" he yells, rushing right at her. He can't get there in time to prevent her from meeting up with her 'wall of energy', but he can certainly get close enough to clasp his hands together in a double axehandle position, swinging it down at the girl's head and face, the blow arcing on past her even if it hits... And then following it with an /upper/ swing, to just add, uh, injury to injury! "ORA! ORAA!!!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Megumi with Restoration Aura.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Megumi
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Shenwoo's Kouryuu-Geki.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi expected Shen to come after her, but he's sped up her plans considerably...and in a bad way for her. The wall begins to fragment as Shen gets closer, until barely any of it actually touches Megumi. But it must have helped a little, as she rolls aside out of the path of his axehandle smash. Then she backflips away from him, landing some distance away and...repeats her trick from seconds ago, another -- smaller -- wall sent out and back toward her. Probably not the most crowd-pleasing approach...but they're probably getting their fill from how one-sided this match has been so far.
After his attack hits nothing but air, Shenwoo... Laughs. "See, that's more like it!" he declares, turning to face his opponent... Who's making another one of those wall things? Pfft. "Boring," he says, slowly stalking towards Megumi, letting her complete her technique unmolested... And then suddenly lunging forward with a simple right hook aimed at her jawline, quite clearly without all of his power behind it. "Is that all you can do?!" the self-styled 'God of Battle' demands, as he lashes out.
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Megumi with Aura Mend.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Megumi
COMBATSYS: Megumi blocks Shenwoo's Quick Punch.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi has better success this time, and her posture stands much more upright in light of that. When Shen flicks a faster punch at her head this time, she brings her arms up to block it...though it still hurts; she's just not built for a slug-out like that. "Call it what ya want. Not fighting for your sake," Megumi retorts as she reaches for the arm that just struck her, trying to take it with her in a spinning motion behind Shen, where she intends to wrench it upward and then release while continuing her spin away from him.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo endures Megumi's Medium Throw.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Megumi
The block, at least, gives some sense of a satisfying impact, as Shenwoo lets out a faint 'heh'. Megumi's retort, similarly, rolls off him like water off of the proverbial duck's back, and as for the grab? He doesn't even try to avoid it, letting her grab and wrench his arm as she gets behind him, trying to use it to hold onto her /just long enough/ that he can aim a mule kick at her without turning around. "Hahahaha!!" he laughs - quite cheerfully - as he does it, rather than actually expressing any normal human reaction to the pain.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo successfully hits Megumi with Light Kick.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi changes her mind in mid attack as she realizes Shen is barely defending against her hold, instead deciding to try and meet his counter-attack and...No. His rear-kick drives her up into the air a few inches from the force of it, even if it was fairly 'mild' for him. That seems to have convinced her to back away again, studying him and clearly standing rather tense...
COMBATSYS: Megumi gains composure.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Megumi
Well, honestly, Shenwoo didn't have the /room/ to hit her any harder than he did. It was kind of an awkward position. "You sure you want to keep going like this?" he wonders as he turns towards her, his wrenched arm apparently not paining him in the least. Is this guy even human? "But, I guess it's no fun if you just quit," he adds, half to himself, surging forward again to try and grab Megumi by the shoulders, or the front of her outfit - whatever he can get hold of first - and then smash his head down onto hers in that most ancient and beloved of fighting techniques: The Headbutt! "RAAAAAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi counters Strong Punch from Shenwoo with Flood Reversal.
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Shenwoo 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi has an answer for Shen immediately: "Yeah. What's the point in stopping? Nobody'll like that, y'know. Plus if I quit..." She quiets down while Shen rushes in for another head-on strike, this time very literally 'head on.' But his shoulder-grab is deflected by her hands shooting up beneath his wrists, holding them as she thrusts one of his arms upward, then executes a very quick wrist-lock on his other arm to flip Shen off to the side. "...I don't learn much and there's all the other nasty little drawbacks to it. So, I'm still here."
Head on, straightforward attacks are pretty much Shenwoo's whole arsenal... Flexibility is not his strength, though overwhelming power often is, as Megumi's probably learned the hard way. The deflection of his attack gets a faint look of surprise from the brawler, but not nearly so much as the one he gives when he gets wristlocked and flipped, hitting the ground a bit roughly. "Oof!" Yeah, it kinda hurt! He rolls back up to his feet, quickly enough, though, grinning that feral, wolfish grin. "That's it, that's the fight I wanted!!" he declares, staying in that low crouch for a moment longer... And then he simply explodes forward, suddenly in front of Megumi.
At least, that's how it's bound to appear from her perspective, others in the audience might see more of the self-styled 'God of Battle' suddenly rushing forward. It's much like his distinctive rushing punch he employed earlier, but much, much faster - and this time, his flung-forward left fist carries with it a blast of energy, making the technique even more powerful than the regular Gekiken! "SHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi fails to counter Zetsu Gekiken from Shenwoo with Gentle Redirection.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Megumi
And if it works, one may as well go with it. The results this time are much like before; Megumi stays where she is, waiting for Shen to launch towards her, and swings her arms up at his fist with the intent of pushing it just over her head.
What ends up happening is she pushes it /into/ her head, sending her tumbling end over end, falling out of the arena once again...and staying down for several seconds. Shen probably has this match in the bag, yet...just before she can be announced as defeated, Megumi climbs back in, bringing herself up to a crouch. She is, technically, up. In reality however Megumi's not moving much, just...staring at Shen. Not very happy about what happened, but pretty worn out from it all the same.
Breathing a bit raggedly after that powerful attack, Shenwoo also ends up a few feet back from where he actually impacted with Megumi, by virtue of the recoil from the Zetsu! Gekiken. "Hah... Hah..." But he's not really winded, just momentarily so, and soon he's gotten all his juice back... Not looking very tired at all.
So, he's left to wait to see if Megumi's getting back up - and back into the ring - again, his attention focused right on where she fell off, just in case the girl has any funny tricks up her sleeve. "Heh... You're tougher than you look," Shen says to Megumi, once she's back up and glaring at him like that. "What's with that scary look, though? It's a fight... Aren't I supposed to try to win?" Of course, for him it's more important to enjoy himself... But winning can be fun. He rushes at Megumi again, heedless of any possible danger, and snaps out a quick one-two punching combination, trying to take her down and end the match once and for all. "Hah! Graaah!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi counters Quick Punch from Shenwoo with Tornado Slam.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Megumi
"...Yeah," Megumi concedes between breaths to Shen's question about if he's supposed to try winning. "I just get really pissed off when I lose, so I'm gonna keep at this." Megumi manages to get to her feet, knocking the first punch aside with a flailing block and catching the second with her free hand, then dragging that arm outward and beginning to spin.
And spin, and spin, and after several seconds of that she finally tosses Shen away, out of the arena...then falls down to her knees again, gasping for breath. That might have been a significant reversal, but it looks like it took a lot of energy out of her.
An unexpected turn of events? Maybe. Shenwoo gets quite thoroughly spun after his first punch is deflected... And then he slams into the wall of the arena, which kinda hurts! Dropping towards the ground outside the ring, he does manage to land in a kneeling position, and he sits there for a moment... Before he bursts out laughing again. "That's it! THAT'S IT!!" Okay, maybe he's a little on the crazy side, perhaps? "NOW WE'RE HAVING FUN!!"
The self-styled 'God of Battle' doesn't remain there long, but with a wild look in his eyes and that feral grin on his face, he races from the spot where he landed, seemingly rejuvenated by the sheer joy of fighting, leaping into the ring easily despite the obvious damage he took in that attack... And then he twists quite suddenly on one heel, thrusting out his opposite leg in a straight kick, trying to drive his heel into the most vulernable part of Megumi he can reach. "HAAAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Shenwoo's Tenrenshou.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi isn't as thrilled about all this as Shen seems to be, her only response to his laughing and yelling is to just stay quietly kneeling, which would likely make her head the target of Shen's kick.
And it comes very close to hitting, as she rolls sideways just out of the way and rises...then begins staggering away from him, anything to get a few seconds more of meaningful respite from this. He's having fun; she's struggling to stay in this match. The contrast is rather apparent...
COMBATSYS: Megumi gains composure.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Megumi
The missed kick makes Shenwoo chuckle a little again; it's not quite as amusing to him as what she did earlier, really. And there she goes not taking the opportunity to attack him again... Which is a little distressing. He's seen that she's got some power, why would she go so far to avoid using it? "C'mon, c'mon," he mutters to himself, shaking his head... And then he starts stalking towards Megumi again.
It's a relaxed pace, hands held in loose fists at his sides, walking towards her, rather than crossing the distance with any sort of speed, in a deliberate attempt to intimidate... And then, suddenly, he launches forward again in a third rushing punch, covering the remaining distance with frightening speed as he once again tries to punch her in the face with his beringed left fist, and hopefully takes her out once and for all! "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Megumi blocks Shenwoo's Gekiken.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Megumi
That's nearly what happens, in fact. Megumi doesn't look particularly unnerved by Shen's approach, she just looks tired. But the other half of his plan nearly goes off as hoped, as he swings another punch at the head...and just before impact, Megumi raises a hand to try and deflect it. She instead gets clipped in the jaw, head reeling back as she falls over...
...And rolls backwards, rising rather swiftly and leaping at Shen on more adrenaline than anything, trying to wrap her legs around his head and flip backwards to slam him down.
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo dodges Megumi's Strong Throw.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Megumi
Bouncing back slightly from the recoil of the Gekiken, Shenwoo watches Megumi roll back, and then... She lunges right at him?! It doesn't look like a very good situation for the Shanghai-born berserker, but he's got a solution: He does a pretty simple forward somersault, letting Megumi go right over him, through the space where he /was/, moments ago. "Too slow!" he taunts, getting his footing for a moment before he turns and lunges at Megumi again, aiming a single, powerful punch at the back of her head. "THIS IS IT!!" Or... So he hopes, y'know?
COMBATSYS: Megumi fails to counter Strong Punch from Shenwoo with Crimson Blast.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Megumi can no longer fight.
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Shenwoo 0/-------/----===|
And finally, Megumi's exhaustion catches up to her. She lands on her back after Shen is simply not there to be leg-grabbed, and starts to pick herself back up. She can see Shen already coming in by the time she's halfway up, and her right hand becomes a fist wrapped in red energy as her other arm swings out to stop Shen's punch.
Had that gone exactly as she hoped, it would've worked fine. But Megumi has apparently had it, as the energy on her hand suddenly vanishes before she even gets a chance to swing, too tired to keep that field up. The end result is Shen's fist strikes her head again, and once again she's sent tumbling back.
The difference this time is Megumi does not get up. Primarily because she's no longer conscious enough to do so.
It would seem that Shenwoo was correct in his assessment of that last attack, which is probably for the best... As he's obviously quite worn down. "Hah... Heh...." he breathes raggedly, straightening himself up as the official counts Megumi out, and finally, the Shanghai-born fighter is declared the winner of the match.
The crowd at Howard arena explodes into cheers - and they probably would've cheered just as loudly if Megumi at won, except of course for the defeated grappler's own fanbase - and Shen basks in the adulation of the spectators, as his fist is raised in victory. It's like he thought earlier... The most important thing is having fun, testing his strength against a strong opponent, but winning, well, winning feels pretty damn good too, you know?
COMBATSYS: Shenwoo has ended the fight here.
Log created by Shenwoo, and last modified on 06:47:37 07/23/2006.