Description: So Kain uses a lot of flame? Fight fire with firemen! ... Well, no, for this SNF we just throw two chi experts (Frei and Sakura) at him and see what happens. It's a close finish! (Winner: Kain)
It's the weekend once again, and that means it's time for Saturday Night Fights! In particular, one of the two main events for this week, and those always draw an impressive crowd out to Howard Arena. This week is no exception, and the place is packed with fans for all three fighters, as well as some people who don't care /who/ it is doing the fighting, as long as somebody's getting beaten up.
tKain's entry into the arena is made with little fanfare, as he simply strides out from backstage and begins walking toward the ring. He's still slightly irritated about last week's fight; while a close match means that the fight actually required some real work and exercise of his skills, it would have been nice if he could have shut Alma up earlier. Why does he even bother trying to convince people like that? Ah well. At least today Kain doesn't plan on doing very much talking.
When he reaches the edge of the ring Kain bends his knees slightly than easily leaps up onto the fighting floor, all without taking his hand out of his pocket. He closes his eyes for a moment while he waits for his opponents, just feeling the flow of chi moving throughout the audience and the arena itself.
Since she's fought Kain before, Sakura has a pretty good idea of what fighting with Kain will entail, and has dressed accordingly.
In a fireman's asbestos coat, yellow with bright orange and white reflective stripes. It's gaudy as heck, but Sakura does attempt to keep some notion of her usual outfit beneath: a navy-blue sailor outfit. Though with pants instead of her typical skirt, the burns from Heinlein's flames might not hurt quite so bad, or be quite as obvious.
Even with the obvious nods to fire safety, her stride out to center stage is no less confident. V-signs from both hands are held high to her fans in the audience as she walks out to an uproar of applause. The acoustics of Howard Arena are amazing -- such that her voice can be picked out in the midst of the cacophony.
"How are you tonight, SOUTH TOWN?! Are you ready to rock?!" Smiling broadly, she stops in her tracks and flicks a big ol' thumbs-up to Kain. "We were teammates last S-N-F, but don't think I'll be goin' easy on you!" Clearly... she's trying to sway the audience's chi to her own advantage!
"But don't worry, Kain..." The showboating Kasugano gestures an open palm back to the gate from whence she came. "... it won't just be =me= kicking your butt! Say hello to my leetle friend!"
On the other hand, Frei has never fought Kain before in his life. There was supposed to be that one time, but the th--
[RECORD SCRATCHING NOISE]
Issues of the morale meter and past SNFs aside, Frei is clearly in his element (as it were) playing to a large crowd, though he gives Sakura a brief look at her particularly unusual attire. As the spotlight swings to the gate, it's obvious Frei decided to go for a change of wardrobe too. His long-tailed black headband is now a dark forest green color, contrasting nicely with his auburn hair. His oversize clothing has been traded in for something a little different: a mint-green tank top over khaki shorts and hiking shoes. His black leather handguards have been traded in for green ones matching his headband, gold rings along the middle finger keeping them in place. Apparently he's modelling the spring collection.
The monk certainly takes his time walking to the ring, waving to the crowd and beaming like a maniac before he reaches the edge and, crouching slightly, vaults into the ring, landing in a crouch at Sakura's side and then standing with a grin. "If only Don LaFontaine were here for this," he says cheerily, before making a really bad approximation of the movie trailer guy's voice. "In a world they never knew... two youths face off against..."
Beat. The monk tilts his head.
"... a blonde prettyboy in a really nicely tailored suit."
"Well, your enthusiasm certainly can't be denied..." Kain casually waves his right hand in front of him, leaving a brief trail of purple flame in the air. "And the outfit is clever, but I don't believe it will be of much use. Still, I believe this should be a worthwhile fight. As soon as the staff here sees fit to start." Kain's voice rises and his tone sharpens on the last line, as he directs his gaze toward the fight announcer, who quickly begins the final preparations for starting the match.
He also spares Frei a brief grin. "You'd be amazed how difficult it is to find a tailor who can produce suits that are up to the rigors of combat." Of course, no suit can help you much when people are, say, slicing you up with swords or some such, but at least Kain doesn't have to worry about tearing open his inseam while trying to kick somebody.
COMBATSYS: Kain has started a fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kain 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Frei
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Well... the outfit =better= be useful! She just wants something that's not gonna burn off in combat! Children could be watching!
Sakura nods back to Frei, grinning like mad. If he's trying to mock her for her choice of attire, well... she's too excited and cheerful to let it drag her down. Rather... she knows that this =will= be an uphill battle, and she's been psyching herself up for a week. But don't spoil it for her!
"Actually, I don't have much problem with finding school uniforms!" she chirps in response to Kain, hopping from one side to the other.
The announcer, after going through the usual build-up which Sakura summarily ignores, finally gets to the word she's been listening for: "FIGHT!"
The young schoolgirl surges into motion, throwing caution to the wind as she leaps at Kain, aiming to plant a heel right in the tall man's sternum. "HYAAAAAAAAAA!" It's not =quite= a dropkick, though -- she'd be aiming to grab hold of his lapels and wrench sharply, applying just a bit more force to knock him over! If she has to use her other foot to kick off his neck, then so be it. Points for enthusiasm, maybe?
And all the while, she's belatedly pondering who this Don Fontaine person is!
"I bet," Frei murmurs at Kain briefly. The interesting thing is that Kain's pre-fight animation really catches the monk's eye (though we're probably short the comets overhead here; the SFX budget is mostly used up early in the week). Why? Because 1.) purple flame is rare, 2.) purple flame is vaguely familiar now that he gives it some thought and 3.) that is one remarkably strong power he's sensing. "I dunno I'd go for white, though, must be a bitch to Shout Out the stains."
However, he can't just sit around being cowed forever. It's just not how he is. Seeing Sakura charging Kain, he decides to hang back, grinning as he gathers blue-white spheres of chilly ice in each hand. "I'm not much for the big acrobatics, but like Acacia said... my special effects are pretty nice!" Crossing his arms in front of him Athena-style, the monk hurls both icy orbs at Kain in Sakura's wake, hoping to use her charge as cover. It's a good thing Frei's got excellent control, too, as otherwise the burst of frost shards that results might put the hurt on his schoolgirl partner too!
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Hyoushou Rengeki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Sailor Shoot from Sakura with Schwarzer Stob.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ///////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Kain deals with the incoming Kasugano in the most simple manner possible; by interrupting her path with his foot. He jumps toward her as she leaps toward him, leading with a flaming kick to the girl's torso. He's got an advantage in both range and power when it comes to trading blows like this, although Sakura's leg does still manage to clip him.
It's not quite enough to distract him from Frei's attack, though. As he lands from his kick he brings up one hand, waving a wall of flame in front of the incoming balls of ice. They aren't completely melted away, but what makes it through the flames is considerably smaller than what entered, and doesn't appear to have hurt Kain very much.
Ooh, harshed! Sakura was planning on, y'know, doing a bit more damage than she took! Shrieking as she gets swatted back to the arena floor, crumpling upon impact and bouncing a few times, it'd be *really* easy for her to just stay there for a moment and recover.
But the coat's on fire, and she needs to get rid of it. Hence, she stops, drops, and rolls a few times, before springing back up to her feet. "Nngh... not bad!" she declares, patting out the rest of the flames on her upper arms. "But you can do better than that, can'tcha?" She passes Frei a quick wink, grinning broadly despite the fact that she's probably got bruises all along her back. Clearly, she's under the spell of 'Anything can happen if you believe it!'
Which is why she makes another suicidal run at Kain, her body practically blurring a shade of blue from her sudden burst of speed. "C'mon, show me what'cha got!" And, leading in with a hard rushing elbow, she aims to follow it up with a leaping uppercut to the chin! "SHOOOU'OU KEN!"
Frei just got out-special effected. This cannot stand.
In reality, he blinks in surprise at Kain's facility with that purple fire. He doesn't know too many fighters who casually use energy on the defensive like that. Well, except himself, but he'd hardly call it 'casual' in his case. "You intrigue me, blonde well-suited purple fire man," he says with a grin. "Do you have a newsletter?"
However, Frei can't just sit around like an idiot taking in the scenery. Deciding not to keep his distance this time, the monk circles around to the left, joining in Sakura's fist attack with a kicking attack of his own to add to the pain. With a Bruce Lee-like "WATAH!" he makes a short hop, then a second, higher jump that brings him down in a high axe kick right at Kain's head and shoulders, a crescent of scarlet-red flame erupting in the path of the kick. "Comin' atcha!"
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Sakura's Shou'ou Ken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ///////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Kain dodges Frei's Kouen no Tsurugi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ///////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Kain swings down his arm as Sakura rushes in at him, meeting her elbow with his own, and driving the attack away from him, upsetting her follow up. He then suddenly pivots on his left foot and hops back, leaping out of the way just as Frei comes crashing down. Apparently he's not going to respond to the good-natured chatter, although he doesn't appear to be angry or any such thing; just concentrating on the fight.
Swinging his arm back with a wave of flame, Kain suddenly rushes toward the place where he was previously standing and, therefore, Frei. He thrusts his arm outward as he draws close, unleashing a concentrated explosion of purple fire right at Frei.
Sakura leaps backwards once she can tell her fist won't hit. Darn lack of reach! It's just not cool to be so short, people!
But it's not like she's =retreated=. Not completely, anyway! "Hey, c'mon, that was weak!" In fact, she's just waiting for Kain to make a move! And as soon as that purple flame leaves Kain's hand, en route to Frei, Sakura lurches forward, hoping to snare Kain by the arm and then suddenly fall backwards, hoping to pull Kain overhead in the style of a Tomoe Nage! "Hyaaaaaaaah!"
COMBATSYS: Frei just-defends Kain's Schwarz Cutter!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Well, the crowd paid for a show... and they're going to get it. As Kain's hand comes in, Frei starts to realize the enormity of what he's actually facing just as he hits the ground from his kick. For once his particularly fine senses do him credit; even before Kain starts to make his attack the monk notices the sharp disruption in the flow of chi around the room... in fact, the power of Kain's attack might be working to his advantage in this case. Even as he rises, Frei's hands are glowing white-blue, just as before, and when he hits the level of Kain's explosion he all but thrusts both hands INTO it, purple flame and white frost meeting in a clash of energies that is very nicely sparkly for a split second before both disappear in sparks and sparkles that make the crowd gasp.
And Frei, too. "...whoa."
But! There's no time to be wasted. Grinning wildly at Kain, the monk rears back one hand, golden-red yang chi gathering in his palm, before thrusting it forward at this close range, looking to explode a nice localized firework right in Mr. Heinlein's pretty face. "That was FREAKIN' SWEET."
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Sakura's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Frei
> ////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Kain endures Frei's Hizashi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Frei
> ////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Kain does get snared when Sakura grabs his arm, but there's a bit of a snag in her plan. Namely that when she goes rolling backwards, he's prepared enough to not go with her. So his arm does get tugged on, but that's about the extent of the damage. It does, however, prove a bit of a hindrance to moving about. So when Frei thrusts his hand forward, the blast goes off right in Kain's face.
But when it clears away, Kain's eyes are open, and although he's got a few scratches on his face, that's not what Frei should worry about. What he /should/ worry about is Kain's foot, which is both on fire and rapidly rising toward Frei's chest with the intention of launching him skyward. While at the same time Kain shakes his arm around, trying to shake off Sakura.
While Kain is prepared to not fall with Sakura, Sakura is not prepared for Kain not to fall back with her! Effectively, this means the scrawny schoolgirl's heels slip out from beneath her, dangling from Kain's arm for a moment while he deals with Frei. Bother!
But the =best= martial artists profit from adversity! And this seems like a perfect profit-making opportunity for the schoolgirl, as she's both in range of her opponent, and practically right in his face. All it takes is a little bit of acrobatics work! Using Kain's arm as a support, Sakura whips her feet up and overhead, inverting herself. Sure, it might *look* cool, but the goal here is a bit more lofty than just looking cool.
That is to say, Sakura starts spinning rapidly, in an inverted approximation of her usual Shunpuu Kyaku. More properly -- the copycat martial artist is cribbing from the Chun-Li movelist in an attempt to hammer six rapidly-whirling kicks squarely into Kain's face while she's right up close and personal. "SPINNNNNING! BIRRRRD! KIIIICK!"
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Kain's Schwarze Lanze.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Frei
> ///////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sakura
...crap.
Frei's fantastic defensive effort was, as is much of what happens to him in combat, sheer momentary intuition. Kain's second assault has considerably more effective results. Blinking in surprise, the monk hastily forms a silvery shimmer over his arms and tries to blunt the force of Kain's oncoming kick and instead gets smacked right on the forearms, *hard*, for his trouble. Skidding back a few feet along the ground, Frei winces... that stung, and that's counting having sheared some of the initial force off and keeping himself from being launched skyward.
"You're pretty good at that," he observes, grinning at Sakura's kick and deciding to keep his distance. "Are you self-taught, or what? And where have I seen that kind of flame before..." Regardless, he throws his arms down to his sides and balls his hands into fists, the wind in the arena kicking up in response to Frei's gathering chi. "If we're going to make this a shiny battle, then let's go all out!"
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Frei
> ///////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Shunpuu Kyaku from Sakura with Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Frei
> //////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura seems determined to hang onto Kain's arm. And while determination is something he can appreciate, he'd rather not have her using him as a staging platform for kicking him repeatedly in the face. She does manage to land a kick or two, but given her position it's not too hard for Kain to line up a punch with his free hand. A glow of blue chi surrounds his fist as he drives it into Sakura's stomach, hoping that the combination of the blow and the fact that she's upside down and spinning around will leave her unable to avoid being knocked from him, at least for a moment.
Hey, it was a good idea, right? Can't blame the girl for trying!
And while the girl =was= basically perched upon his arm for a moment, her helicoptering legs were slowing her fall somewhat. But she can't really keep that up once she's had a punch to the stomach strong enough to knock over large farm animals! And then there's the fire, for which there's no suitable analogy that relates to farm animals. Shut up.
"GNNH!" exclaims Sakura, limbs flailing every which way as she falls to the ground, once more taking a particularly nasty tumble on the hard concrete floor of the Arena.
Gritting her teeth, Sakura picks herself up off the floor, plucking the still-burning coat off her shoulders and tossing it aside. "Well, you were right about one thing!" she exclaims. He can be tacit, but that doesn't mean the brash schoolgirl will shut her yap. Nor does it mean she'll go easy on Kain! Tossing caution to the wind yet again, Kasugano charges forward once more, not wanting to give Kain an opportunity to catch his breath! "Let's see how long you can keep this up!" And Sakura charges forward with a rushing one-two punch combination, followed by a rapid backhand! "HOO! HOO! HYAAAAAOH!"
The theme today is Chinese martial artists, apparently.
Fighting people who are fairly stoic has never been Frei's speciality. He prefers matches with people who are kinda lively... like Sakura. Still, they picked these three for the main event for a reason, and the monk plans to give the people the show they were asking for. "You might be stronger, mister, but we're too stupid to know when to quit!" he says with a goofy grin, cracking his knuckles.
Dashing forward, Frei follows in Sakura's wake again, not exactly using her as a human shield but something almost like it. Leaping up and OVER her attack, the monk drives doward at Kain with both feet extended, looking to find purchase on the tall blonde's chest with both feet. If it works? Frei snags Kain's lapels for balance, then pushes off to continue his little leapfrog onward by kicking off Kain's chest. Of course, the purplish glow around his feet as he dives in might belie the result, as an arc of purple-blue lightning streaks out of the sky the second Frei makes his second jump.
COMBATSYS: Kain dodges Sakura's Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kain 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Frei
> //////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Tenrai Enbu.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kain 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Frei
> //////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
Kain leaps nimbly to the side as Sakura throws her punches, but it's not quite enough to get out of the path of Frei's assault. Bringing up his left forearm, Kain actually catches Frei's kick on that, rather than on his chest. His arm gets pushed back by the impact, but gravity ensures that it's not something Frei can keep up for long.
Pushing out with his arm to complete Frei's fall or leap to safety, Kain then pulls both of his arms back and to his side. There's a glow of blue light from between his hands, and then he thrusts them both out toward Sakura, revealing a rapidly growing ball of swirling chi energy which quickly leaps forth toward the schoolgirl.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Kain's Himmlische Seele.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Frei
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Sakura's beginning to wish she'd kept the coat on.
Eyes widen as the glow of blue light emanates from Kain. It's quite a bit different from his prior attacks, both in hue, and in magnitude.
It's a good thing she's used to taking full-on hits from her master, to say the least. Curling both arms in front of her, she weathers the onslaught of the flames rushing into her, forced back a good three or four steps but standing strong nonetheless.
And as the flames sweep by, her hair an utter mess, her navy-blue sailor uniform still burning, she rises back to her full 5'2" height and pats out the flames. "... Oh, hey, you don't have to go soft on us, Mr. H!" She flexes her arms to either side, strutting her little noodle arms. "We can take it!"
Stalling? Probably. But she's got something planned for Mr. Heinlein, you just wait and see!
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Frei
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Frei winces in sympathy with Sakura. That looked like it hurt, and everyone present has enough knowledge and sense to know that what Kain just did was Big Mojo. The monk is left with either the option of rushing in like a lunatic... or biding his time again and seeing what he can do with the situation. Besides, something's on his mind...
Getting into the Charlie's Angels Whupass Pose, the monk looks Kain up and down and for once wears a very serious expression. "How are you DOING that?" he asks, even as the long tails of his headband flutter out behind him, wind picking up again around him in the DBZ Effect. "I mean, that's what I don't get. You're using fire, and it's tuned to rage or joy, but this is like fighting a mime. I mean, the only other person I know who can turn stoicism into flame is Ji..." Blink.
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Frei
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Sakura
"I simply choose not to let my emotions control me; something which is a hindrance, at best, in battle. They make an excellent focus for power, but to let them rule you is foolish." Holding out his right hand, Kain summons a ball of fire which he holds there for a moment. "But enough. Back to the matter at hand."
Frei seems to be building up for something, and Kain is honestly curious as to what it is. The monk definitely has some talent with chi, so it should be interesting. And, of course, Sakura is also plotting something. ...Probably. And he can really only deal with one of them at the moment. So Sakura gets to be the recipient of the ball of flame which Kain whips out from his hand.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Schwarze Flame from Kain with Shou'ou Ken.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Frei
> ///////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Well... truth be told, Sakura was *planning* for something else entirely. Kain hadn't been lobbing out a whole lot of projectiles this match, so she naturally figured he'd be keeping up with that strategy.
Oops. Her eyes go wide as the man tosses a ball of flame her way.
If it weren't for the fact that she was already tensed up, she might have tried getting out of the way. But seeing the flame... well, she freaks, and executes her planned course of attack anyway.
Which means running right at the blonde to uppercut him in the chin.
The look on the schoolgirl's face as she approaches is pretty priceless, actually -- the determined look of knowing she's started the action, she's committing to it, and she's following through... mixed with the absolute fear of running smack into that fireball. It's that fear -- the widened eyes, the accelerated heartbeat -- that causes her to flinch at the last split-second, to waver from that attack, to take it on her elbow instead of head-on. And to complete the maneuver at a slightly different angle than intended, slamming her balled fist right into Kain's chin, even as her trailing elbow gets slung off to the side.
It's not a particularly stellar example of her Shoryuken ripoff talents. But perhaps it's a serviceable one just the same.
Staggering backward afterwards, she drops low, curling her elbow close to her. This battle's been taking its toll on the schoolgirl, even though her dogged enthusiasm refuses to concede such to the crowd. Fans are at her back, after all, and so is Frei! "Almost!"
"Hey! My emotions don't cont..." The monk is about to get indignant about what Kain said, but in fact he's actually kind of right. Clearing his throat, the monk gets back into stance, watching Sakura take one on the chin for the sake of the team. "Maybe I do a little bit. But I don't think I'm weaker for it!" And that he says with whole-hearted belief. "I don't like static philosophies. Moving from one moment to the next is more my style. But... maybe..."
He pauses. Feel the emotions but don't be ruled by them. Is that actually Frei's problem? He knows that, at least for him, he needs to feel something to get something else. He needs to find inner calm to drag out water -- not hard -- but a sense of staid solidity to get Earth? Well, there's a reason he doesn't use his Earth-aspected move that often, isn't there? Is that what Sakura meant when she told him she was focusing on effect and not process? Is it possible that, of all people, *Frei* is *overthinking* something?
His green eyes, heavy-lidded, flash open.
"Sakura... this one's for you." Cupping his hands at his side, he gathers... an impressive display of power, motes of light of every color in the spectrum flickering around, forming a roughly spherical shape as the monk starts running toward Kain, hands still down at his sides as if he was bringing to bear a two-handed sword.
And when he gets close enough? The monk swings both hands forward, heels of his palms touching, and thrusts his palms at Kain at point-blank range, bellowing: "INCOMPLETE BUT MORE OR LESS OKAY FOR OUR PURPOSES CHAOTIC HADOU!" And in one huge rush he lets loose a... slightly different version of his typical strongest attack. Instead of the invisible force blast he's used to, the result actually looks rather a lot like Sakura's Large Hadouken... just very, very brighthly colored. "Taste the rainbow, blondie!"
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Kain with Fukami Reikai EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Frei
> ///////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Well... It's not a common occurrence that people actually run /through/ Kain's attacks in order to hit him. So he's not quite prepared when Sakura does exactly that, and manages to slug him on the chin, staggering him for a moment. And that moment is one that Frei manages to take advantage of by getting right up next to Kain and unleashing his attack. And it looks like Kain really felt this one.
But even though it causes Kain to double over for a moment, and stagger back a couple steps, it doesn't have the perhaps desired effect of sending him flying, or perhaps taking him out of this fight. Because a moment later he's standing back up straight, and lashing out at Frei with a nasty chi-enhanced right hook to the jaw.
It's not common, no. And Sakura really hadn't wanted to do something like that, 'cuz it hurt like heck -- even just =grazing= the Kain's super-powerful attacks! Her side's still pretty tore up about the flames there.
Hearing her teammate throw out a Hadouken, though... that warms the heart. And that's a much better feeling than warming the body like Kain's been doing! "Aww, I think I'm gonna cry!" she quips, grinning ear-to-ear as she clears a path for the Chaos Hadouken to strike.
And... as she may as well strike *now* while the iron's hot, Sakura dashes in close yet again! "Hope you're ready for this!" Her left side's still a bit numb, but that won't stop her from dropping low and striking with the right foot, a whirling kick aimed at taking Kain's legs out from under him. "Iku yo!" she cries, grinning up a self-confident storm as she hopefully continues that low revolution, slamming up to five kicks at the man's shins before rising to deliver one final roundhouse to mid-torso. "HA! HA! HA! HA! HAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Kain's Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Frei
> ///////// ]
|===----\-------\0 Sakura
Kain meant it when he planned to make his reprisal swift and brutal. Perhaps what he didn't count on, however, was Frei's sheer tenacity... which, while it hasn't necessarily won him a lot of matches, has certainly kept him from losing more than his fair share. The blue flame-tinged fist comes around with crushing impact, and probably to a lesser individual it would be the deciding factor. It does, in fact, impact Frei right in the face without so much as a hitch. Primarily because he didn't bother to move.
From around the chi master's fist, the monk grins at him.
"That... stung." It's the truth. In fact, the smarter thing would probably have been to get the HELL out of the way. But Frei decides now's not the time to do that, especially since he hears Sakura coming in for what is certain to be a nasty strike of her own. Twirling back just a step to spin out of her way, Frei immediately throws both hands out to his sides, looking to trap Kain in a sudden, rising whirlwind. "Still, we should talk sometime. I feel like I could learn a lot!" And if Kain doesn't get out of the way? The sudden vortex sends him flying skyward, while Frei leaps up after him and then, with a deft midair catch, sends him hurtling back down to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Sakura's Haru Ichiban.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
> ///////// ]
|===----\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Kain with Ame no Murakumo EX.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
> ///////// ]
|===----\-------\0 Sakura
Twisting himself so that the side of his body faces Sakura, Kain shifts his leg forward to meet Sakura's sweeping kick head on, stopping it dead. But what's that Frei's doing? Kain notices the forces swirling beneath him, but not until it's too late to react to it. He finds himself launched up into the air, then grabbed and sent hurtling back down to the ground to crash into the arena floor.
"Perhaps that can be arranged... But for now..." Kain is actually looking a bit beaten up now. No matter how strong you are, eventually numerous attacks will build up and wear down your defenses. But he's not out yet. As he starts pushing himself up, he suddenly kicks of the ground, spinning around with a rising kick aimed to drive into Sakura's side, just beneath the ribs.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Kain with Shou'ou Ken.
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kain 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
Sakura's still a bit low, slow to recover from her own kick. It takes a lot out of one to pull something like that off, after all! But luckily for her, Frei's on the beat! "Go Frei! That's the way to do it!" she calls out, pumping her fist high into the air as she pushes back to her feet.
And it's with that one fist high in the air that Kain is able to land, and strike! Sakura had already pulled back, ready for another uppercut to counterattack him in mid-kick, but her reach problem makes itself evident again -- Kain's foot slams into her before she can even attempt a rebuttal.
"Gyyyaagh!" she howls, staggering backwards -- before finally teetering to the side and collapsing. Sakura's injuries finally catch up with her dogged persistence. Clutching her side, eyes wincing shut from the pain, she nonetheless keeps running her mouth: "Kyah... g...good match! Finish him off, Frei!"
Oh man. Sakura busted out the 'Nam buddy movie dialogue. That's not good.
Rebounding off the floor into stance as he drops from the aerial throw he just performed, the monk catches back up to the fight just in time to see Sakura drop out of the fight. He frowns, a little bit. Sakura's tougher than he is. But at the same time, a bunch of cornered small animals can do some impressive things to predators who don't know when to give up.
Brushing his index and middle fingers of his right hand under his lip a second, the auburn-haired fighter grins at Kain, dropping into a lower stance. "Sometimes being ruled by your emotions is a good thing, if you know how to put it to use." Rushing forward, the monk grabs for Kain's well-tailored lapel with a quick snap of the wrist. If it works? He turns that sudden grip into a quick, violent chokeslam right into the ground, the impact enhanced by a sudden surge of Earth chi, green motes of light spreading out of the impact point. "Besides, it's more fun this way!"
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Daichi Kudaki.
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kain 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Frei
Kain really is getting worn down, so he's not able to avoid getting grabbed by Frei. But he still has some strength left in him. So when he's getting slammed down into the ground he thrusts both hands out beneath him, blue chi glowing about them as he drives them against the floor, stopping his fall short and dispersing Frei's chi away from the point of impact.
As soon as he can get his feet flat on the ground, Kain kicks off, hopping away from Frei. He's breathing rather heavily, and looking a bit beaten up, but he's not quite done yet. Even if his body is starting to get near its limit, that doesn't necessarily mean things are over. You don't get to be called a master of chi without learning something about the way it flows through the human body. And judging by the faint blue glow surrounding Kain, he's using his prodigous energy reserves to keep him going that much longer.
COMBATSYS: Kain gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Frei
The monk is actually a damned energetic fighter, usually; more than one Neo League opponent has commented on his ability to keep throwing attacks out there when all logic seems to dictate that he shouldn't be able to. Still, he's just a human being and even he has his limits. Although not exhausted, he's clearly taking deeper breaths than he was just a second ago. He's also pretty familiar with using chi to revive the body himself, and he knows that if he just lets Kain keep going on this way, things are going to come to a bad end. Soon.
"Sorry, but, I gotta put you on the mat NOW," he says, charging forward. It's probably not the best plan, but it's all he's got... and win or lose, that's just how Frei is. His feet already start to flicker purple as the monk practically attempts to run up Kain's body and then vault off his collarbone, twisting through the air in a spiral away from the chi master. As before, a bolt of blue-purple lightning arcs out of seemingly nowhere at the moment of kickoff to add some extra power to the attack.
COMBATSYS: Kain fails to interrupt Tenrai Enbu from Frei with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Frei
While Frei is attempting to run right up over him, Kain reaches out in an attempt to grab the monk and send him tumbling back down to the ground. It doesn't work out, though, as Frei slips through his hands and bounces away with a blast of lightning which sends Kain staggering backwards. And yet, he's /still/ on his feet, although that faint blue glow surrounding him flickers for a moment.
Frei's not about to let his momentum go to waste; he hits the ground facing away from Kain, but as he hits the floor he lands in a crouch and immediately kicks off the ground and spins through the air parallel to the floor, like a swimmer pushing off the wall at the end of a lap. As he regains his footing and rushes on toward Kain, his breathing heavy, the monk cups his hands to his sides, gathering another orange-red globe of yang chi. "Man, you are tough!" the monk says, clearly impressed. "Please fall over now, thank you!" With a swing of his palms he explodes the golden orb in Kain's face. Hopefully.
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Hizashi.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
Kain swings out his left hand, a bit wildly, knocking away Frei's hand as the orb of golden chi begins to explode. There's a flare of blue from Kain's hand, absorbing most of the explosion. And yet Kain doesn't follow up on it, instead taking a few steps away from Frei. It's taking most of his energy just to keep himself on his feet. He'll probably pay for it later, but why not push his limits like this in a situation where he won't have to worry about dying if he fails?
If he /can/ manage to get an opening, he can probably unleash some rather painful chi in Frei's direction... But if he exerts himself at the wrong time, he may just end up falling right over.
COMBATSYS: Kain gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Frei
Sakura hasn't totally passed out yet -- but between all the burning, and all the energy the schoolgirl spent going full-tilt at Kain... well, she ain't doing much. But ... when she picks her head up to see Kain standing there and biding his time against Frei... Sakura =does= throw up a fist.
"Hey, Kain! Your shoelace is untied!"
Of the many things one can expect from Sakura, maturity shouldn't ever be on the list.
Gritting his teeth, the monk backs up a step and tries to evaluate the situation. He certainly doesn't have the energy to keep up this assault. The crowd is, for sure, getting antsy. Nobody appears to be DOING anything, and considering the otherwise high-energy fight, that's not good at all. But it's obvious that Frei doesn't have it in him to rush Kain again... not without leaving himself so wide open to attack it's the equivalent of throwing the match.
Instead, he plants his feet apart, pushes both palms down toward the ground, and then suddenly shouts a loud kiai, throwing his arms to his sides, hands balled into fists. The scream is accompanied by a sudden burst of chi from him, a snap surge rather than the slow gather that is typical of this sort of move. "Well, I've done all my shiny ILM-type stuff." He grins and, with one hand, makes the Neo-in-The-Matrix "bring it" gesture. "So either come over here and show me some badass kung fu, or go home and knit yourself a tea cozy!"
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kain 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Frei
Kain lets his head hang for a moment, drawing a deep breath. The blue glow around him begins to darken in hue, then seems to be absorbed back into his body as he raises his head once more to look at Frei. "I'm afraid I'm a bit too worn down to engage in much fancy physical activity, which is a testament to how well the two of you have fought. However..."
Kain's right hand begins to glow blue again, but much brighter than he was glowing previously, and then the glow spreads up his arm. "That doesn't mean all my options have been exhausted." Kain sweeps his arm diagonally down across his body in a clawing motion, and the energy leaps from his arm in a large and fast moving wave of energy as Kain falls down to one knee.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Frei with Himmlische Seele.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Kain 0/-------/------=|=======\=======\1 Frei
Oh... heck.
The huge blast of chi -- something like flame but not quite, perhaps, although only Kain knows for sure -- heads toward Frei, who makes an attempt to defend simply by pushing against it physically, not even bothering with chi... he's going to need that for something else. The blast knocks into the monk, who grits his teeth and does his best to weather the storm. His defense is useless; the full brunt of Kain's attack batters his already-hammered body with crushing force. But Frei's not fighting to minimize the damage.
He's fighting to stay on his feet.
When the blast wave passes, and the smoke clears, Frei is a foot and a half back from where he started, with deep gouges forced into the arena floor as he was pushed back from the blast. But he's still up, and with the very last ounce of power in his body he rushes Kain, hands already glowing the same prismatic color as before. "Guess what? Neither are mine!" When he gets close, the monk shoves his hands forward. There's no point in mimicking the Hadou this time; instead he simply unleashes a hellacious force blast, an invisible shockwave that cracks the arena floor behind him from the backblast. A bit slower than normal, but hopefully enough to take Kain out of the fight.
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Fukami Reikai.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Kain 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Frei
Kain takes a deep breath, plants his feet, and crosses his arms in front of himself as the invisible blast comes rushing over him. He might not be able to see it, but he can still sense it. And he still has the power to combat it. His coat and hair flap out behind him, and his sleeves get torn to shreds as the blast impacts with his arms, but the blue glow surrounding them largely protects his body from the onslaught.
Even so, Kain looks pretty dead on his feet as he lowers his arms. That blue glow fitfully surrounds his body as he takes a few unsteady steps toward Frei, and as he lifts his arm it almost looks like he's a puppet being pulled on strings. With a minute or two to rest, Kain can probably recover... But there simply isn't time for that in a fight. Lunging awkwardly at Frei, Kain attempts to drive his fist up and into the monk's stomach, trying to knock him off his feet with a blow that he hopefully won't get back up from.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Frei with Medium Punch.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Kain 0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1 Frei
Wham.
There's actually a tiny amount of blood as Kain's fist impacts Frei's stomach with a gut-wrenching *SMACK* sound. The blonde fighter may be disappointed to know, however, that the monk is legendarily resistant to being knocked really far away by finishing blows. Instead he stands there, Kain's fist in his stomach, eyes wide with pain and shock. "Ngh... damnit..."
It almost seems like he's going to topple like the victim in an iaido scene from a samurai flick any day now. Instead, though, he starts laughing, though part of it is as much coughing as laughing. "Pretty good. You got me for sure... so... let me leave you a little going-away present." In a flurry of last minute, desperate motion, he brings both hands to bear and basically explodes a HUGE burst of colorful chi fireworks in the space between himself and Kain. The blast sends Frei back as well, skidding across the floor to an unconsciuous stop. Whether or not it manages to take down Kain in the process... that's another story.
COMBATSYS: Frei can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Kain 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Frei's Hizashi Ronde.
Kain does get knocked back by the blast, but once again he takes the brunt of it with his arms and with his monstrous chi reserves. And then, when the fireworks fade away, and Frei is sprawled out on the ground, Kain falls to one knee, bracing himself with a hand on the ground. No, it's not very cool. But god /damn/ does he need to catch his breath.
COMBATSYS: Kain has ended the fight here.
Log created by Sakura, and last modified on 21:22:10 09/02/2006.