Description: Makoto decides to take out the trash when she finds that Roberto doesn't take fighting seriously enough. Will Makoto preserve the honor of Rindouken, or will Roberto snag victory with his Shining Clutch? (Winner: Roberto)
Neo League... You've gotta love how they can set up blind match ups at a moments notice. Roberto received a call from the Neo League telling him he was to meet his opponent at the Southtown Mall. To be completely honest he was surprised he received the call considering the fact that he hasn't been doing too well in the Neo League. On the other hand college money is college money.
When Taiyo's soccer genius arrives to mall he's clad in a yellow spider web goalie jersey and black sweat pants and his trademark sky blue visor and red goalie gloves. While usually he carries a mesh bag full of soccer balls he's only carrying one. He didn't want to bring a lot of them without knowing how the audience would be partitioned off from the fight.
When he looks at the area he notes the fact that it will be wall to wall with the entire section of the street to work with spectators on either side and it opens up more futsal based tactics for him. What does this mean for his opponent? It's unknown until the fight begins. But while he waits for his opponent, he'll be juggling the soccer ball and impressing the crowd with fancy tricks.
Makoto is, on the other hand, ready for a fight any time!
Except during dinner, which she took the opportunity to have while waiting for Roberto. In defiance of the diet she normally restricts herself to (Masaru always told her that eating healthy was important for a fighter) she has a piece of pizza...although at this point it is more like 'had a piece of pizza'.
She wipes her hands on a paper napkin, shoves it in the garbage, and pushes her way through the crowd to one end of the cleared space. "'scuse me, Rindoukan student coming through!" she says, although both Makoto's strength and the fact that she is one of the fighters they came to see mean she doesn't actually have to do very much shoving.
"Ahh... So you are my opponent, am I correct, Miss?" Thank god for You-tube because that's the only reason he knows that the tomboy is a she. He does do a bit of research on his opponents before fighting. He'd rather have some knowledge of what he's getting into before he fights. Anyway he finally finishes with showing off for the crowd and lets the soccer ball hit the ground then step traps it to a halt and waits for her to come in as he shifts into a stance that looks like he's waiting for a penalty shot to come his way.
COMBATSYS: Roberto has started a fight here.
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Roberto 0/-------/-------|
Makoto is moderately famous (more for being incredibly enthusiastic than any particularly good showings, although she did OK when teaming with Haggar), and they DO call her the Steamroller Girl, so this isn't that hard to find out.
People still get it wrong all the time, though, so Makoto is pleased to find someone who doesn't. "That's right! I'm Makoto, daughter of Masaru and the head of the Rindoukan dojo!" She looks at Roberto like she expects him to know who she or Masaru is, or what Rindoukan is while dropping into her own fighting stance, left side forward with her left hand held open and her right hand back, in a fist.
After about five seconds of this, Makoto apparently decides it is time to start whether Roberto has answered or not, something agreed on by the match coordinator. She charges toward him, planting just in front of him with her right foot forward and delivering a rapid series of straight punches, left hand first. Her scarf flutters in the breeze behind her, apparently caused by the force of her own swings. "Haaa!"
COMBATSYS: Makoto has joined the fight here.
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Roberto 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Makoto
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Makoto's Shimaki.
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Roberto 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Makoto
"Nice to meet you." He doesn't have enough time to say much as his hands dart in front of hers with the reflexes born out of spending most of his life playing as a soccer goalie only improved by having both of his brothers take shots on him with two balls at the same time. "I'm Roberto Miura, striker and goalie for Taiyo High's soccer team." However with Makoto's close proximity, it does limit his options a bit and as a result he tries to give himself some room by kicking the soccer ball between her legs and then performing a slide tackle right at her legs taking her down to the ground ideally, and allow him to get near the ball after his attack.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Makoto with Sliding Kick.
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Roberto 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Makoto
Makoto is not used to fighting people who hit so low. Low is bad.
Makoto does not quite go all the way down - her shins are surprisingly solid and her footing stable - but she does wobble off-balance for a few moments once Roberto strikes her, and he can get to his ball with no difficulty. "You're a /soccer player/? I'm fighting a soccer player?" Makoto doesn't seem to know what to do about this. If she loses, it is going to be embarassing - Rindoukan can't even beat a sport where you're not supposed to tackle people!
The only solution, therefore, is not to lose. "Aaiya!" she yells, rearing back before delivering a rather stunning karate chop; she hits the ground hard enough to crack it, and her head jerks up afterwards to look at Roberto. It /does/ tend to leave her more than a little open.
COMBATSYS: Makoto successfully hits Roberto with Oroshi.
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Roberto 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Makoto
The one thing that both the fights with Adelheid had showed and the fight with Makoto is showing is the main vulnerability of the slide tackle so while it is fairly fast on delivery, it's problematic when it comes to recovery. And so while he's near that soccer ball he's still somewhat prone on the ground when that chop comes down on him HARD right his chest leaving a crater on the ground where he got smashed.
Roberto still doesn't have the luxury of staying down on the ground when he can take advantage of the opening that Makoto has. While her head is so low to the ground Roberto's gonna swing a glowing chi covered foot right for her face and high into the air. Hopefully carrying the steamroller girl up with it.
COMBATSYS: Makoto fails to interrupt Thrust Kick from Roberto with Hayate.
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Roberto 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Makoto
Makoto's response to someone trying to kick her in the face is to take half a step back and then thrust her entire body forward, the momentum focused on the tips of two fingers aimed toward Roberto's leg.
It doesn't work. Makoto steps right into the kick instead; it smacks her solidly in the face, hard enough to launch her upward. She lands on her back a moment later, heavily, with her arms outstretched, and fails to get up for a second or two; after that, she gets her feet back under her and rolls backwards to get some distance from Roberto.
Distance... That's probably that last thing Makoto should want to give Roberto Miura. He did mention that he is a soccer player and most important part... He did also mention the fact that he was a striker. What this means is that he has a damn good foot and another detail Makoto should pay attention to is that there's a soccer ball right next to him. Said soccer ball is about to go flying at Makoto. If all goes well... Or if Makoto dodges it will be bouncing back to Roberto's posession.
COMBATSYS: Makoto blocks Roberto's Long Shot.
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Roberto 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Makoto
For the record, Makoto has enormous hands.
She uses her hands now to bat aside the incoming ball; it's hard enough to sting but not hard enough to do all that much damage to her. "Hey! Don't you start with this whole...ball thing," she warns, pointing at Roberto with one hand. "I'm not here to play catch all night!"
She takes advantage of the distance to catch her breath. Makoto was breathing pretty hard, but now that she's had a few moments' break she's doing much better.
COMBATSYS: Makoto gains composure.
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Roberto 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Makoto
Roberto isn't going to let her enjoy her rest for too long while he's heavily breathing he still needs to press the attack and not give her time to get her bearings back so he moves towards the soccer ball and with a spin move, makes his path to his opponent darting left and right as he heads towards Makoto and then he stops dribbling, steps around the soccer ball to set up a kick to her ribs before spinning around to dribble the soccer ball again.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Makoto with Heavy Kick.
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Roberto 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Makoto
The boot to the ribs hits Makoto solidly despite her attempt to twist away from it. It doesn't quite knock her over, but it forces her to take a couple steps back in response; she's getting awfully close to the crowd now, and automatically, she turns so that if she's hit again she won't go flying into them.
She looks back, over her shoulder, for a moment, and sees what she's looking for - a trash can, the one she put her napkin in before. Malls have them sitting everywhere, even outside, and there's nobody between her and it; Makoto darts back to it, hefting it up and throwing it at Roberto all in the same motion. It spins through the air, dropping only a little bit of trash on the ground - it is a covered can, after all. "Ha! See how you people like having crap thrown at you all the time!"
No fireballs must be a sore point.
COMBATSYS: Roberto reflects Large Thrown Object from Makoto with Shining Clutch.
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Roberto 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Makoto
When the trash can goes flying at him, Roberto kicks the soccer ball just enough to the side that it's not in the way when he gracefully moves back into a goalie stance that he took at the beginning of the match. His hands move in front of the trash can as they glow. When the trash can makes contact, Roberto slides backwards slightly before he pushes it outwards and back at the tomboy-ish powerhouse. "It doesn't matter to me... Goalies are used to things flying at them... And after my last SNF, People throwing trash is nothing new to me either."
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Makoto with Reflected Large Thrown Object.
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Roberto 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Makoto
Makoto has never been very good at dealing with things that were thrown at /her/, so maybe she shouldn't have thrown such a big thing at Roberto.
Once again, she tries to get out of the way and fails, the can clattering against her body and almost - but not quite - sending her to the ground again. "Gah, I hate this stuff," she complains, picking a banana peel off her gi and tossing it to land on the can (there is always a banana peel in this sort of crash). "But that's all right! Rindoukan can deal with anything in a fight!"
Makoto hesitates only a split second after that before returning to dealing with Roberto. She launches herself in a massive forward leap that ends in a diving kick...which she follows up with a flurry of other strong kicks, all delivered with her left leg and all the strength in her body. "Haah! Abare! Tosanami! Kudeki!"
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Makoto's Abare Tosanami Kudaki.
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Roberto 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Makoto
Well Roberto did warn her. One of the first things he said was that he was a goalie. Stuff like things that you throw at him coming back to you was to be expected. He has fast hands and an ability to knock stuff away.
It is also because he's a goalie which is the reason he's able to do what he does with her attack, in particular, bringing both hands together balled up in fists as if deflecting a soccer ball away. His hands meeting her left foot blow for blow until the attack is over and then he steps back shaking out his hands before taking a deep breath as he watches Makoto's movements.
COMBATSYS: Roberto drops his guard to recover.
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Roberto 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Makoto
Makoto could accept having her attack deflected in such a way. That happens all the time in fights.
The fact that he drops his guard is different. It's insulting. It says that she's not worth it. Her face starts to go red, and not all from exertion. Lashing out with a foot, she tries to hook it around Roberto's leg and trip him to the ground, assisted by the grab at his arm. If he goes down, she follows this up with a gut strike, almost straight down, against the fallen opponent. Treat her so casually, will he?
COMBATSYS: Roberto just-defends Makoto's Araiso!
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Roberto 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Makoto
When Makoto goes to hook the foot around his leg he pulls it up and out of the way of the take down attempt but even still, he still has the problem of having her still gripping his arm which he addresses by attempting to jam a knee into her gut and ideally pushing her far enough away from him that he can kick her away. If he manages to kick her away, he begins to work the give and go with her as the soccer ball passing her back and forth between himself and the wall until eventually he kicks her into the barrier keeping the spectator's out.
COMBATSYS: Makoto blocks Roberto's Pass and Shoot.
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Roberto 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Makoto
Makoto manages to bring up her hands once again; she catches the first knee with those hands, sending her sliding back in a controlled fashion rather than uncontrolled and leaving her more able to deal with the kicks with more, slightly sloppy blocks. Makoto is by now breathing quite hard and not doing so well at controlling herself. It shows.
She hesitates for a few moments. She knows she's nearly defeated, but it just isn't in her to give up; rather than do so, she delivers a straight punch with her right arm toward Robert's chest, solidly.
COMBATSYS: Roberto interrupts Medium Punch from Makoto with Mundane Save.
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Roberto 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Makoto
Roberto waits for Makoto to make her move before leaping as if to make a goalie style save. His body stretches out and in the process of diving out he gets clipped in the shoulder and almost loses his ability to grab ahold of her waist and pulling her down before rolling to his feet to kick her. He steps back rubbing his shoulder grateful he didn't take the attack full on.
The last kick sends Makoto rolling along the ground, right into the trash can she threw before and then discarded. It makes a loud clattering noise, tips over...and then lands on top of her. Fortunately, it is not full enough to shower her with trash, because that one really /would/ be embarassing.
She stays down afterwards, too dazed to get up.
COMBATSYS: Makoto takes no action.
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Roberto 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Makoto can no longer fight.
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Roberto 0/-------/----===|
Roberto pulls the trash can off Makoto, checking to see if she is ok. After the official announces the winner he heads back to the fallen opponent and offers her a hand up to her feet if she is willing or aware enough to do so. He offers no words, not until he's given some sign that she's aware of him.
COMBATSYS: Roberto has ended the fight here.
Makoto is reasonably OK aside from being a little concussed. She'll be fine in the morning!
She does get up on her own, waving away the hand. "Don't think that shows that your style is better! Rindoukan will persevere and one day I'll win!"
This would be more dramatic if she was looking directly at Roberto instead of slightly to one side, because her eyes didn't focus quite right.
He pulls back his hand shrugs as he heads towards his soccer ball. "It was never about proving style for me." He turns towards her as he reaches down to pick up his soccer ball and clutch it under his arm and in the process rising to the upright position. "Unlike most fighters in the circuit, I'm soccer player first and formost.." He begins to head towards the barrier before turning one more time. "As far as I'm concerned, this is just cross training to me."
This also sounds, to Makoto, like 'I'm not taking you seriously because I don't even care about this'; she's a little touchy. Does it show?
She doesn't immediately start a fight mostly because she absolutely does not feel up to one right now. She just lost! Instead, she grumbles something under her breath, using words her father would probably not be happy if he knew she had used, and then says more audibly, "Well, I'll defeat you anyway! For the honour of Rindoukan!"
Good thing Roberto didn't hear that grumbling. While he may not be inclined to react violently to that he still wouldn't have been too pleased. However the 'For the honor of Rindouken...' That just makes him roll his eyes and it's probably a good thing his back is turned while he is rolling said eyes. Not because of skill level but the fact that he has encountered yet, another fighter who takes fighting way too seriously. He does respond diplomatically though, "I look forward to it." As he walks away to his home in Gorin Heights, he wonders why the fighters he had been encountering lately couldn't be more like Frei, Ingrid, Sean, or Adelheid.
Log created by Roberto, and last modified on 19:42:30 03/13/2007.