Description: Kensou faces off against the team of Joe Higashi and Dr. Tran on a riverboat on the Mississippi! It's almost enough to make you feel bad for Tran. Almost. (Draw Match)
Joe had come to despise the times when his cellphone received a 911 message from his new manager. It usually meant some sort of job where he ended up dressed in some demeaning outfit, shouting obscenities at whatever old man or little girl he's been made to fight. Given that, it was no surprise that Joe Higashi didn't have his trademark smile on his face as he lands on the paddlewheel of the 'Mississippi Queen', his eyes scanning for his opponents and hoping that, for once, he could fight someone that wouldn't land him on the evening news. As he stood there, watching the water rise and rise and... what the! Joe scrambles back up to the center of the the slowly spinning wheel. The fight organizer had pointed him to the covered wheel as the location of the fight, but he had expected it to be sitting still, not still churning away, slick with water and lazily trying to throw Joe into the river. Ah well, it wasn't the strangest circumstances that he has ever fought under, but it was going to make things annoying. The wild-haired kickboxer jams his hands into the pockets of his shorts and walks slowly against the motion of the wheel while he waits for his opponent, and this so-called teammate that was supposed to be joining him.
So-called teammate?! I'll show you a so-called teammate! The awe-inspiring DR. TRAN bursts onto the scene, practically aglow with a halo born of sheer badassery! Or, well, kinda. A little. Not really at all. Honestly, Tran doesn't do anything beyond strolling out of the inside of the boat and hopping up onto the wheel.
Slowly walking backwards to keep from taking an untimely plunge, he turns to look at Joe. "Funny, I was kind of expecting someone a little easier on the eyes."
COMBATSYS: Joe has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Joe
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Joe
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|-------\-------\0 Tran
COMBATSYS: Kensou has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Kensou 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Joe
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|-------\-------\0 Tran
Okay, so lately? Kensou has not been having very good luck in fight locations. You'd think the kitchen of a bakery would be his kind of turf, but apparently it wasn't, judging by last week's DKO... And now he's got to fight on a freakin' /paddlewheel/. Plus why's he always got to fight two people at once? That hardly seems fair. But with his new attitude (?!) and resolve, there's no way Kensou is going to let a little thing like that get him down. Vaulting onto the wheel along with his two opponents, he frowns a little. That Joe guy looks a little familiar. But... Whatever man!
"All right you two," he says, carefully trundling along the wheel to keep his opponents in sight, and you know, not end up in the water. "Better give me everything ya got, 'cause I'm comin' at you seriously!!" And, true to his word it would seem, Kensou suddenly leaps over across the wheel... Suddenly changing direction in midair to dive towards the mysterious Tran, his right hand extended in a claw-hand motion and alight with blue-tinged white energy that follows his path down in an impressive display. "Uryaa-!!"
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to reflect Ryuu Sougeki from Kensou with Operation - Dr. Tran.
- Power fail! -
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Kensou 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Joe
> /////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Tran
Pro tip: walking backward is not a viable defensive position. Especially not on a paddlewheel. Though Tran turns about when Kensou appears, he's not really prepared for the coming attack. At all. It's one hundred percent acting on instinct for Tran, which means slamming his foot down and getting ready to do something awesome. Except, wait, hang on, the doctor's foot goes through the cover on the paddlewheel. He looks down and tugs it, trying to get unstuck, and then Kensou up and slashes the hell out of him with his fingers and his mind.
"Hurgk!" It's not a sound a person is supposed to make, and Tran seems stunned for a moment. Except his foot is still stuck in the wheel. And...there he goes, down and around. Well, maybe he'll be back in a second.
Sadly, Joe's preemptive lack of faith in his partner was justified, and as Tran disappears beneath the calm waters of the Mississippi, Joe Higashi just shakes his head sadly. For a moment, he actually ponders diving in after the man to pull him free off the wheel, but the wheel is moving fast enough that he won't be under there long enough for any lasting brain damage, right? With a shrug, Joe turns away from his flailing teammate and towards Kensou, his eyebrows raised in a rather sincere look of apology. "I'm not sure what that was, but I don't think it was intended... I think."
"No matter." Joe's fists come together in front of his chest, which sounds rather painful, and even though it actually is, Joe does not flinch. He is a tough guy after all. Looking cool is hard work. With Tran out of the way for the moment, Joe uses this chance to lunge towards Kensou, reaching out to grab him by the scruff of his neck, and should he succeed in doing so, he will hold the poor man still while his knee is jammed into Kensou's chest a few times.
COMBATSYS: Kensou full-parries Joe's Hiza Jigoku!
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Joe
> /////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Tran
Ho ho holy crap! Kensou is almost appalled by what happens to Tran there - he wasn't trying to /kill/ nobody - but he alights on the wheel to watch one half of his opponents plunge under the water with a horrified look on his face. "Uh, I hope he's okay," the Psycho Soldier says, sprinting to keep his position on the wheel. Hopefully the wheel will be kind enough to return Tran to the fight soon enough... But in the meantime, Kensou has /way too much/ kickboxer to deal with. As Joe lunges towards him, Kensou moves subtly, almost imperceptibly, guiding the kickboxer's hand past him...
And then, unless Joe is quick enough to deal with it, Kensou raises his hands in front of his face, charging energy with frightening speed, before sweeping them outwards with a loud cry of: "CHOUKYUUDAN!!" Which, if everything goes the way he's planning, should see Joe blasted with a crackling sphere of blue-tinged white Psycho Power!
Predictably enough, a few moments pass with no Tran. As the wheel comes around, however, he continues to be absent. Hell, there's the hole in the canvas where his foot went through. Could this really be the end of Tran, such an ignoble fate as to be drowned in a paddlewheel accident?
Well, no, probably not. If one were to look closely, they'd the see that the hole is...abnormally large. Way more than a foot had to have passed through there.
Then the wheel shudders, like the boat just hit something. There's a loud snap, the sound of breaking wood, and the cover goes a little slack, losing tension. A throughly soaked Tran bursts out of the hole, a makeshift two-by-four being swung about wildly as he does so. Take that, Kensou!
COMBATSYS: Joe endures Kensou's Choukyuu Dan EX.
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Joe
> /////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Tran
Joe's attack is brushed off so easily that Joe just glides past Kensou rather gracefully, his feet sliding on the slick surface of the cover. He stops just short of the edge, his arms flailing about as he tries to keep his balance, his eyes wide as he stares at the water below. With a heavy sigh, Joe turns around just in time to see a large ball of blue crackling stuff heading straight for him. Like any true tough guy, Joe takes a deep breath, puffs out his chest, and takes it like a man. He only gets knocked back a few inches, and he doesn't lose his balance this time, but given the the rather pained grimace on his face, it looks as though a little bit of pain got through that tough exterior.
It was at times like these that Joe was usually at his greatest. Unfortunately, Joe has lost sight of the matter at hand, and rather than regroup and try to plan a better assault with his partner, the wild-eyed man just leaps forward, his right arm pulling back to deliver a powerful punch to Kensou's pretty-boy face. Amazingly enough, this happens right about the time that Tran appears, waving a 2x4 around like a madman. What a team.
COMBATSYS: Kensou dodges Tran's Random Weapon.
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Joe
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|======-\-------\0 Tran
COMBATSYS: Kensou dodges Joe's Strong Punch.
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Joe
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|======-\-------\0 Tran
But suddenly!! Tran and Joe are out for BLOODY REVENGE, leaving Kensou in what might be something of a tight spot, depending on how he plays it. Of course, he knows exactly what to do, as the fist comes his way and so too the impromptu bludgeon of the good doctor, as he rolls underneath them... Having unfortunately forgotten that he's on a paddlewheel, and thus susceptible to being hit in the head by the paddle part. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" the rather clumsy teenager repeats, before finally getting his footing about halfway down the wheel. That sucked... But not as bad as what Joe and Tran were trying to do would've.
Riding the wheel back up, Kensou suddenly brings himself face to face with Tran and Joe again, and it seems it's the former's turn again, as he lunges through the air once more, twisting around to aim a sharp kick at the other fighter(?!)'s jaw, hoping to use the momentum to land properly thereafter. But you know, this is kind of a bad environment for acrobatic kung-fu fighting'. "Yaa-!!"
COMBATSYS: Tran interrupts Medium Kick from Kensou with Heavy Kick.
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Kensou 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Joe
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|=======\==-----\1 Tran
"DENIED." Even as Kensou's foot swings around, Tran's foot is swinging around in a similar fashion. The big difference here, whether it's just due to the terrain, dumb luck, or what-have-you, is that Dr. Tran's foot wins. Even though he takes a shot on the jaw, his kick keeps going, smashing Kensou downward after the initial impact.
Afterward, Tran takes a hop or two back, looking to find good footing, and spits a little bit of blood out of his mouth. "Yeah! What now, Captain Dweebus? What now!"
'Dweebus? Oh jeez. Did he really just say that?' Joe ponders to himself as any cool points Tran had earned for his impressive kick dwindle back down to nothingness. Sadly, Joe wasn't really doing a whole lot better in the cool points department, especially since his gigantic whiff of a punch ends up sending him spinning slightly to the left, his balance leaving him just long enough for him to do a crazy little jig to regain his footing. While impressive in a dance contest, in a fight it just makes him look foolish, not that he isn't used to that.
In an effort to reclaim his lost cool, Joe leaps to the center of the rotating wheel and spins about to face Kensou, his expression one of concentration. The kickboxer steps forward suddenly, his right shoulder dropping downward as he lowers his fist, bringing it upward in an uppercut that has absolutely no chance of hitting Kensou. Thankfully, that was not his plan. The vortex that is formed by the passing of the powerful fist quickly takes off in the direction of Joe's opponent. Joe leans forward again to bring forth yet another tornado to send towards Kensou, but his foot slips, causing him to slide precariously down the side of the wheel, where he catches himself on the rather large hole formed by Tran. Thankfully, both tornados seem to be on their way... he thinks.
COMBATSYS: Joe successfully hits Kensou with Double Hurricane Upper.
- Power hit! -
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Kensou 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Joe
> //////////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Tran
Denied indeed; Kensou gets helluva kicked, and he's in the process of falling when Joe... Launches off some crazy tornados, the Psycho Soldier's eyes widening as he tries to throw his arms in the way to reduce the damage, but... It's no good man! No good at all! Instead, he gets blown back /up/, before he falls once again, barely catching himself on the edge of the wheel. "Dh... Geez!!" he declares, and it takes him two tries to pull himself up by his hands, hopping back onto the wheel. "Whew... Okay, guess I gotta try harder then," the youth says, a bit woozily... Before he lunges at Tran again. Uh oh?!
Kensou throws both of his hands forward as he closes with the 'doctor', energy forming and building between them, and if he gets close enough? He unleashes a hellish blast of blue-tinged white Psycho Power, ideally right on top of Tran, hoping to take out one of his opponents poste haste. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--!!"
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to reflect Senki Hakkei from Kensou with -Q- is for Dr. Tran.
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Kensou 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Joe
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Joe
Oh, damn. That there is one big blast of psychic...blasting. Crap. It's coming in too fast. Tran can't shake it! It would be a tough deal in normal circumstances, but on the paddlewheel, Tran doesn't have a prayer. He only has an explosion of steam, which he doesn't even manage to properly form and shape. The end result is an explosion, and Tran vanishing from view yet again. When the steam clears, he's...bobbing gently on the river, doing a gentle backstroke. Bye, Joe, good luck!
Joe leaps from the hole before it moves under the water and lands atop the wheel once more... just in time to see Tran blown right off the wheel and into the water, where it looks like he'll stay until the medics fish him back out. He sighs again before turning back towards Kensou to make sure that the crazy fighter wasn't barrelling towards him or anything, and seeing that he's in no immediate danger, Joe decides to prepare for his next assault. Kensou was tough, but Joe thinks he can beat him, with tactics. No one tell Joe that tactics were never his strong point.
With a grunt of efford, Joe brings his left leg upwards and then slams it down into the cover, breaking through it with ease to press his foot against the paddle beneath it. His right leg does much the same thing, only he slides in a bit further than he had intended before his foot finds some sort of purchase in the turning wheel. In order for this to work, Joe needed to stand perfectly still for a few moments to concentrate, unfortunately, this means going around the wheel once while holding his breath. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Joe begins to focus inwards, drawing in his chi in an attempt to help him out of this crazy fight in one piece. Hopefully, by the time he rolls back around, he'll be ready.
COMBATSYS: Joe gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Joe
Meanwhile, Kensou gets pushed back after that enormous psionic blast dissipates, sending poor Tran into the drink. Which means... It's just him and Joe, eh?! "Heh... Maybe I overdid it a little," the youth muses, turning around to see that... Joe is pulling some sort of crazy voodoo. All right then, Kensou can deal with that, he's not sure WHY the kickboxer is going all the way around the whirligig, but he can figure out something to do about it.
He just needs a few moments to figure out exactly what.
So Kensou lays in wait for whatever Joe is planning next, trying to actually plan out what he's going to do, jogging along the wheel as he keeps his attention on the wheel-riding Mr. Higashi. "C'mon!!" he calls out. "You're not givin' up already, are ya?"
COMBATSYS: Kensou focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Joe
When he finally emerges from the water, Joe lets out the breath he was holding in with an overly-dramatic gasp. He felt a little more centered now, but the main problem was that his feet seemed to be stuck in the holes he had just stomped in the cover. He wasn't about to go under again, but his struggling and manly grunting weren't doing much to free him of his current shackles. How was he going to implement his plan of immense destruction if he couldn't move!?
As he crests the top of the wheel once more, Joe is now directly in front of Kensou, looking rather distraught at the fact that his feet are not coming free. He looks up at Kensou, down at his feet, and then up at his opponent once more. His eyes narrow and with a loud grunt, Joe's leg muscles flex mightily as he pulls his right leg upward so he can step out and use his newly focused energies to smash some face in. Unfortunately, Joe has once again miscalculated his own strength, and with a comical popping noise, Joe's right leg comes free, his knee flinging straight upwards towards Kensou's chin.
COMBATSYS: Kensou interrupts Heavy Kick from Joe with Sunda.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1 Joe
So, here comes Joe. And Joe probably has some pain in mind for Kensou right about now... Especially with how he's all flexing those dangerous kicking legs. The Chinese fighter has no idea that what follows is something of an accident; all he knows is that he sees that foot exploding free and heading his way... And the Psycho Soldier's body responds reflexively, bracing himself on the paddlewheel and thrusting one hand forward, open palm, at Joe's midsection; tapping against the kickboxer, that hand unleashes a sudden blast of Psycho Power, to hurl Joe away... And hopefully not off the wheel, as that might be a bit dangerous. "Ha-!!"
With his left leg still trapped beneath the cover over the paddlewheel, Kensou's blast doesn't really knock Joe away as it knocks him right the hell over. Joe sprawls out on his back, slamming his head down hard on the edge of the paddlewheel. However, Joe has hit the point in the fight where the pain isn't going to slow him down. Which is a good thing, because it is usually at these times that he ends up hurting himself more than his opponent. Strange how that works. With another loud grunt, Joe frees his left foot in a more controlled fashion and stands up, glaring angrily at Kensou as if it was his fault that Joe's feet had become stuck. No one usually sees things Joe's way.
An angry grunt is the only warning of the impending attack. Joe leaps forward, his body curling inward as he rolls forward to land directly in front of Kensou. His powerful legs propel him into a standing position, his fists shooting straight upwards above his head. Nothing strikes Kensou, and for a few moments, nothing happens at all, which makes Joe look very foolish indeed. Then, without any warning at all, two giant tornados spring up from the surface of the paddlewheel, threatening to surround and engulf Kensou as they spin around Joe Higashi.
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Joe's Double Cyclone.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Joe
That... Doesn't look good at all. Definitely not something in Kensou's best interests to get hit by, as he throws up both his arms, bracing himself as best he can on the paddlewheel against the battering tornados created by the kickboxer. Man, what kind of kickboxer punches tornados anyway? That's neither kicking nor boxing.
In the aftermath of all that, though, Kensou is /still there/, though he's looking pretty beat up after that last attack, his teeth gritted. "Damn... Heh, okay, I guess I shoulda taken you more seriously from the start," the youth says to Joe, a bit sheepishly... Before he lunges forward, throwing one fist out in a thrusting palm strike at Joe's jaw. "Yaa-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Joe with Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kensou 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Joe
At the end of his fury, Joe stands there, arms held high with his eyes closed. Sadly, if he had opened them for even a moment he might have seen the punch that was incoming straight for his jaw. The impact knocks him out of his stupor and sends him staggering backwards a few steps, leaving him once more at the edge of the paddlewheel.
Once again, tactics go out the window when it comes to Joe being angry and in 'The Zone' as he calls it. Rather than looking for a proper opening with which to exploit and overcome Kensou, Joe just goes for the eye for an eye approach. He lunges forward, his powerful arm pulling backwards before slamming his fist forward, aiming straight for Kensou's chin.
COMBATSYS: Joe successfully hits Kensou with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kensou 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Joe
So, going toe to toe with Joe is probably not the best idea in the world, you know? Kensou tries to dodge out of the way of the heavy fist strike from the kickboxer, but doesn't manage it fast enough, instead getting clocked in the face. Yeah... That was pretty good. "Geh..." the youth mutters, staggering back, before he whirls around on one foot, aiming a thrusting kick at Joe's midsection, trying to bury his heel in the other fighter's kidney and get him good and hurt. "Hyaa-!!"
COMBATSYS: Joe interrupts Strong Kick from Kensou with Hurricane Upper.
[ \\\ < > ///////// ]
Kensou 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Joe
For once in his life, Joe actually saw a move coming from a mile away as if it was in slow motion. He rolls beneath the kick and around to Kensou's side. Coming out of the roll, Joe brings his fist upwards in a powerful uppercut that misses Kensou's face by less than an inch. The tornado that erupts from the blow is right on top of the boy now, and it does exactly as Joe intends, stops the kick in its tracks. Unfortunately, the attack has left Joe on the side of the wheel that is slowly dipping back down into the water, leaving him flailing for balance and trying to climb back to the top.
Okay... That was probably not the best idea Kensou ever had. He gets surely blasted with another freakin' tornado, and it's... Pretty much all he can take now, you know? He can feel it, as the last of his strength drains away... But oh, he's not going to just like down. Instead, Kensou dashes along the wheel towards Joe, perhaps intending to tackle him into the drink, and take them both out? No, it's not so easy.
Because as Kensou gets closer, he throws both hands out again in the same motion he did against Tran not too long ago, with the similar intent of catching Joe in a hellacious psionic blast of energy! Succeed or fail, the Chinese psychic is going to end up floating in the water, but what will be the exciting result for Joe Higashi?!
COMBATSYS: Kensou can no longer fight.
> ///////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Joe
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Joe with Senki Hakkei.
> ]
|=======\====---\1 Joe
A rather nasty attack was coming, and Joe knew exactly what it was and how he could get out of the way of it. Unfortunately, rather than dropping off the wheel and into the water to avoid the incoming assault like he had intended, Joe's feet decided at that moment to finally gain some traction. So rather than sliding backwards into the water, Joe propels himself forward, directly into the attack that now hits him dead on. The blast sends Joe into the backside of the boat, slamming him into the hard wood before he peels off of it and falls into the water, where he had intended to land in the first place. Medics jump to attention as the divers leap into the water after the two fighters. The fight is over, and the only clear loser at this point is the paddlewheel, which is going to require a ton of repairs. Oh, and Tran.
COMBATSYS: Joe takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Joe can no longer fight.
Log created on 21:30:36 05/14/2007 by Kensou, and last modified on 20:08:02 05/16/2007.