Description: Adelheid and Megumi do battle in a lush, German mountain forest. What starts out as an impressive display from Adelheid ends in a nail-biting fighting frenzy! (Winner: Adelheid)
European mountain ranges tend to be very 'iconic' places; depicted in art, prized as natural retreats, and even shown in some commercials to be good sources of medical plants and soothing throat-drops. ...Which makes the upper Harz range in Germany an ironic choice for two people to beat the hell out of one another, with one of its fir forests setting the stage for today's late-afternoon match. There is a modest crowd here, as the area already has a decent tourist trade and a World Warrior bout is even more of a draw.
Megumi is already here, spending her time playing up the crowd; waves, quick exchanges of greetings, and other general attempts to keep them interested. This probably won't go on for too long, as there is a match to get done...but she's in a pretty warm mood all the same.
World Warrior is certainly a draw for spectators - fight fans and tourists alike. The pair facing off today may not be the biggest names on the ticket, but each are certainly remarkable fighters in their own right, and so the mountainous forest glade that's been cordoned off for the event is not quite so iconic and secluded it as it might normally have been. Megumi's opponent arrives in a rather different manner, a low-flying, high-tech black chopper whirring over the treetops to the gasps of the gathered onlookers.
A black nylon rope ladder drops, and the Bernstein heir rapples down it in short order, more sliding than climbing to drop free and land on the forested clearing on lithely bended knees, in a perfect three-point crouch. Adelheid gracefully rights himself, the extra loops of his belt shifting with the motion, and he tightens the thin black leather gloves over his fists. His uniform is familiar, by now... formal blacks and silvers pressed in military fashion and tailored to fit the lithe Bernstein impeccably. Crimson eyes survey his surroundings, before settling on Megumi, "You." He muses, sounding neither pleased nor displeased by the prospect, simply finding it ironic, "Guess now I find out about your strength first hand."
Megumi isn't quite gasping at the helicopter, but it does get her attention very well, gathering energy as she actually gets ready to try to shoot it down... ....and then Adelheid drops out of it. Her prepared attack vanishes, and Megumi's much more relaxed. "Sorry...thought it was one of Rolento's copters for a sec." What Adelheid has to say seems to have a positive effect on her, pacing around to the center of the area the crowd has encircled, arms propped behind her head. "Yeah, looks that way. Have t' say I've been curious about how good ya are, so..."
Megumi's posture shifts into a typical Aikido stance; very similar to Kasumi's. "Ready when you are."
COMBATSYS: Megumi has started a fight here.
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Megumi 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Adelheid has joined the fight here.
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Adelheid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
Well, it's a good thing his ride didn't get shot down! Rolento's choppers aren't nearly as sleek and high-tech as R's! ... maybe. There's risks involved with all these evil organizations running around in black helicopters, isn't there? No one's quite sure who they're shooting at!
Adelheid's own stance is decidedly more relaxed, hard to pin on any one style... but then as Megumi's no doubt aware by now, the Bernstein heir doesn't exactly /adhere/ to just one style. His form is ever-changing, an artform bought from the pieces and observations of the world's other martial arts and military styles. But he opens the fight in a way that's all Bernstein, "Then let's find out!" He exclaims, apparently eager to join battle, because his opener is an all-out rush, leaving his position and crossing to Megumi's in the blink of an eye.
... at which point he levels his shoulder for what /looks/ like a good old-fashioned shoulder takendown.
... At least until the rampant barrier of swirling, silver-grey wind energy coalesces between his shoulder and Andou, the repelling barrier seeking to quite literally blast her back a few steps.
COMBATSYS: Megumi blocks Adelheid's Dark Barrier.
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Adelheid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Megumi
Fast. Megumi backs up a half-step as Adel moves in that quickly, then brings her arms up in front of her and starts to spin aside; it's enough to mostly get out of his way, and block the worst of the energy field. The spinning continues as she tries to get behind Adelheid while reaching for one of his arms. If she manages it, she'll wrench that limb behind his back, spin back in front of him, and swing her own arm at his neck in a takedown attempt.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid blocks Megumi's Flood Reversal.
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Adelheid 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Megumi
Fast, for her reaction as well. Adelheid's assault is stymied, and suddenly, his opponent is behind him, wrenching one of his protected arms around. The Bernstein heir twists with it, however, eliminating a vast majority of the pressure on his arm by simply, and suddenly, spinning around to remove the leverage of the hold. Megumi's takedown arm is little more than a stinging zing to his neck, by that measure, and it's answered immediately...
With a flying elbow, Adelheid's forearm protesting the grip of his other wrist by throwing a strike full-on, square in at Andou's face.
COMBATSYS: Megumi dodges Adelheid's Medium Punch.
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Adelheid 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi doesn't try to press the takedown; he's not going, and she knows better than to try again. So she cartwheels backward instead, the elbow swinging just over her head. "What was that just now? With your shoulder. Some kinda tackle?" Even while asking the question, she makes a lunge-step at him and again goes for an arm...the one that tried to elbow-strike her, which she plans to apply a sideways wrist-lock/twist to, hopefully flipping Adelheid off to the side.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid interrupts Medium Throw from Megumi with Reppukyaku.
- Power hit! -
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Adelheid 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Megumi
Fast, take two. Megumi's quick cartwheel draws Adelheid's crimson gaze with it, intent eyes locked to his quick adversary. Despite the question, she's coming in fast, and with no lack of power... Just from the attempted takedown, Adelheid is sure that Andou has some strength behind her frame, and it behooves him /not/ to be flipped around and about. So his answer, too, comes with action, "Call it improvisation!"
And with that, even as his other arm is grabbed, twisted, hurts.... he doesn't tap out, he pushes past the pain, and once more whirls. This time, it's into a vaguely spin-kicking motion, though the real danger.... is the vibrant silver lance of rampant, nasty chi-edges that bursts forth from his foot, the waist-high wave torpedoing up and into Megumi, and before she can reassert her leverage... it's her that's blasted back off to the side, in a shearing edge of cleaving chi.
Megumi gets to see some other 'improvisation' too; a nearly point-blank chi wave that breaks her hold on Adel, and launches her several feet away though she does land on her feet. "...Whoa!" The pain was immediate; the realization of what just happened takes a second to sink in. "S'kinda like what Rock does, just you kicked instead...what was that?" Not eager to rush in after that, her arms go wide apart to create a thin energy 'wall', one that flies a few feet forward before gliding back toward her.
"Improvisation." Adelheid answers with a vague, bemused half-smile, his gaze remaining alert, despite his apparent enjoyment of the fight. He doesn't immediately press the assault, however... that energy wall gives him pause. He's seen records of it, and he knows what's coming... but he was prepared for it, or at least, that's his belief. His approach is to flank Megumi slowly, pacing about the clearing with an almost predatory grace as he studies his adversary... and dissects her approach for openings, "Sometimes even impressive moves can be improved upon."
COMBATSYS: Adelheid focuses on his next action.
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Adelheid 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Megumi
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Megumi with Aura Mend.
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Adelheid 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi waits a few more seconds for the wall to go through her, watching Adel's circling. "Yeah, but that was kinda just...different. Dunno 'bout better. Neat, though." And then she leaps against a tree, then springs off of it. Her plan is to sail by Adel's head, with an arm extended to wrap around it and take him down.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid interrupts Medium Throw from Megumi with Genocide Cutter.
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Adelheid 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Megumi
"One thing at a time." Adelheid muses, his rich tenor still impeccably calm. His all is in this fight, and it is a premiere chance to 'strut his stuff' so to speak. The glory doesn't matter... but the test, the challenge? Oh yes, that matters a lot.
There's a pronounced 'HRK!' as Megumi's arm impacts his throat, and he does indeed drop to the ground.... but there's something altogether not-right in the takedown. Principally: Adelheid lands crouched, not taken down, almost voluntarily dropping back with the pressure to slide on one knee, and twist around, following Andou's course...
And entirely before she can clear the proverbial 'danger zone', the Bernstein heir /lurches/ right back upwards, both legs flexing as he swings his right boot up and around in a cleaving, rising roundhouse that crashes across Megumi's chest, once more altering her momentum.
... of course, in this case? One also has to be concerned about the vibrantly gleaming arc of pure white-silver energy that cleaves the path of his boot, tearing into Megumi as surely as the kick as Adelheid rises into one singular, graceful rotation... and drops back on light feet. A deep breath is drawn, a crack of his neck is given... but he's got plenty more left to give, that much is obvious.
Megumi ends up flying in an entirely different direction. No longer on a straight path, she's sent flipping end-over-end through the air, crashing against a tree branch and falling to the ground in a daze. "The hell...ow..." Not the most coherent assessment of what just happened, but she only takes a second to get up from it as she sprints back at him, sliding along the ground. "S'like your hands don't do much when ya fight, so..." It's another attempt to go beside him, arms reaching to grab at a leg...she's hoping to yank it off balance to trip him. If this succeeds, she'll follow up by raising the caught leg and twisting Adelheid's ankle sideways and in toward itself.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid parries Megumi's Storm Hold!
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Adelheid 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Megumi
Identifying Adelheid's deadly feet as an item worthy of crippling is not a bad deduction... he does, after all, kick a hell of a lot. But theory and execution are often two very different factors, and the Bernstein heir did have those precious moments while Andou shook the cobwebs from her skull to reassess the situation... and prepare. The warning may have helped as well, but whatever the case, as Megumi slides in, her hand has just enough time to /touch/ Adelheid's boot... before it's simply missing.
WHERE DID IT GO?!?! Well, that's simple. Adelheid's evasion is a direct, upwards leap. It carries him well above the sliding Megumi, and he twists about at the apex of the short, quick leap to drop down on her from above, his right bootheel axeing downwards for her skull rather brutally. It would only be the first of a flurry, as should his kick find contact, Adelheid touches down in a twist, snapping his other foot around in a fierce, throat-level snap kick, and culminating the combination with a full, three-hundred sixty degree roundhouse, complete with fierce, gutteral shout of focusing fervor.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Megumi with B's Destruction EX.
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Adelheid 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Megumi
Megumi finds Adel basically on top of her...not a good thing, and she braces for the worst. She pretty much gets that, too; a kick to the head which is sufficient to stun her, leaving her doing little more than frantic flailing with her arms to defend against the other kicks, amounting to little good. She manages a slow, staggering rise afterward, looking rather harried.
"...Kinda convenient how this is workin' out," she remarks while leaping backward to get some room. "If I lose here, I'll have plenty of time to take care of other stuff. But..." A wrist-flick creates a thin red energy line on her arm, one that races to her shoulder, down her body and leg, and ending on her foot. Kicking at the air in front of her sends the red ray toward Adel, stopping mid-way in to expand into a wide cone with the tip pointing at him. And even as it stops, Megumi's leaping into it feet first. Once she's in, the whole assembly rockets toward Adelheid...
COMBATSYS: Megumi successfully hits Adelheid with Exceed Charge.
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Adelheid 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Megumi
The kicks: These are all according to plan. Megumi is battered away without a great deal of muss or fuss, but her recovery is rather more impressive than Adelheid had been prepared for. He's steeled for the onslaught he knows is to come, but as that ray of red energy and Andou herself comes blasting in for him, it's literally all he can do to keep his bearings well enough so that as the rampant explosion of psi blasts him from his feet, he lands with /some/ control over the haphazard roll. Tumbling away from the point of contact, the BErnstein heir comes up in a crouch, teeth gritted, his eyes snapping intently back to Megumi as she finishes the assault. He may have been hammered, but he's still far from out of this fight...
Which he demonstrates, by fiercely thrusting both palms forward. And then?
FWOOM! The very /ground/ seems to explode in a tumult of raging silver-white, touched with arcs of grey. The cruel-edged, punishing storm tears asunder the beautiful clearing in short order along its racing path, a tremendous channel dug in the dirt and grass, remnants of the forest floor discarded haphazardly to the side as the massive tidal wave of power simply seeks to /envelope/ Megumi. Adelheid's answer to the dangerous attack comes in kind. Turnabout, with a vengeance!
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Megumi with Crown Prince.
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Adelheid 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Megumi
Megumi emerges from her cone in a very tired crouch...too tired to get away from the bursting of the forest surface, the oncoming silver just too big to get away from at this time. It completely covers her, actually concealing her from view for a moment. And when it fades...Megumi has a very blank look; that was enough to take most of the real fight out of her. Dazed, exhausted...but still trying; flinging herself at Adelheid with a raised fist, sparkling red wrapped around it. If she manages to get close, that fist will swing forward and 'detonate' the energy into him, but it's a very telegraphed attack -- slow, last-ditch, and pretty easy to see coming.
COMBATSYS: Megumi can no longer fight.
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Adelheid 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Adelheid blocks Megumi's Crimson Blast.
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Adelheid 0/-------/------=|
Slow, last-ditch, easy to see coming... yet still dangerous as all get out. Adelheid's arms form an immediate, forceful 'X', a defiant guard against the rampant explosion of Psycho Power. It's a defense that holds, despite Adelheid's booted feet sliding back and down into the earth a bit from the sheer force of it. He backs off another step, then two, then shakes out his arms, taking the moment to be certain that that really /was/ Megumi's last, desperate gasp.
His own breath comes more heavily, deeply gasped to recover his bearings as the stinging starts to dull throughout his form. That was closer than it might have seemed, at first... but not less than what he expected from Andou, by any means, "Impressive." The Bernstein heir mouths quietly, as the announced excitedly calls the bout, "I knew you were strong."
COMBATSYS: Adelheid has ended the fight here.
Megumi almost seems to have a little more, falling to her knees and bringing up one more burst of energy...then relaxing. "...Not worth goin' that far over a friendly match." It vanishes as she stops fighting, coinciding with the announcer's call. After a few seconds to gather her wind, Megumi rises and offers a hand to him. "You too. Didn't know about some of that, but...glad I was right on the rest of it." She's tired, and looks a little disappointed at losing, but in decent enough spirits.
Another round?!?! Adelheid isn't sure if he has it in him, but thankfully, it seems Megumi decides she doesn't, either. He regains his own bearings in the passing moments, shaking off some of the rigors of the battle. The hand is accepted, and given a firm, steady shake, Adelheid considering the pink-haired fighter for a moment, "If you already knew all of it, there would be no education from it." From the tone of Adel's voice, it sounds like he finds this possibility quite tragic, "You put up a good fight, Megumi. I'm sure we'll meet again." The roar of the chopper picks up again overhead, most likely Adelheid's mode of egress. He has little patience for interviews or honours - this was about the fight, and the fight has been fought, and admirably in his book.
Log created by Adelheid, and last modified on 22:19:22 03/19/2007.