Description: Raging stooooor.. wait, what? (Winner: Rock)
It was less than a week since Rock Howard fought the mysterious 'Alex', no last name required, in a Neo League battle of the ages. He almost won too. He watched victory squeeze narrowly out of his grasp in the final seconds. /Rock/ almost took down a World Warrior semifinalist. That'd of been one of his best wins to date.
Sadly, it wasn't to be. And now? Rock is going to the most ready source he has to try and earn some props back. Ribs healed, old wounded sealed, Howard storms straight up the front walk of Justice High. He kicks the front doors open with a terrible clattering bang and starts stomping straight up the main hallway. Class is in session, unfortunately, so it isn't nearly as impressive as he'd hope.
The first kid, some freshman going to the bathroom, finds Rock's hand around his collar as he pushes the poor sucker up against the locker. "Kirishima. Where is he?"
Freshmen are there to be abused, clearly. The freshman thinks for a second -- he knows who Kirishima /is/, obviously, but where he'd be? He doesn't know anyone's schedule except his own. "Uh -- um -- he's gotta be, he's, uh..." the young man stammers, finding himself very well-acquainted with the cold metal locker.
Perhaps convenient for /everyone/ involved, this is Kurow's study period, and his route from Math A to the cafeteria (where he usually spends his study period) goes through this particular area. "I wasn't aware 'thug' was one of the entries on your particularly short list of talents," he says, cracking his knuckles. Smirking, he adds, "I'm flattered... though I'm going to assume this isn't a personal visit."
Rock stares fiercely back at the freshman for a few seconds. This is a Justice High punk; nearly everyone at the damn school deserves a good punking in some capacity. And Rock really wants to do it. He wants the kid to give him some smartass answer. Unfortunately, the freshman actually seems a llittle frightened. That works too.
Kurow arrives. Rock's ears twitch. He exhales, fingers uncurling from the freshman's shirt. "Go on and get outta here," he commands to the younger teen, twisting to squint down the hallway at the approaching Kirishima. "Shut it, Kurow, I don't want any of your crap."
"No," Rock closes his hands into twin fists. "You're going to give me your Neo League points right now. And before you can laugh or say why, I'll tell you why--" Rock grins. "Because I'm going to tear them from your unconscious face after I slam one of these locker door's on your head."
COMBATSYS: Rock has started a fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kurow has joined the fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
The freshman knows who Rock Howard is. He knows who Rock Howard is related to -- even if people don't know that Geese Howard is a horrible evil bastard, he knows that Geese Howard wields significant political power, especially in Southtown. He doesn't want to cross that, so he does the smart thing and runs once Rock lets go of him. He runs pretty fast -- he's probably part of Justice's SUPER-ELITE track team.
"Oh, is that so?" Kurow asks of Rock, smirking and cracking his knuckles. "I'll believe it when I see it," he declares proudly, as he reaches into his pockets, pulling out those clawed gloves. He runs a claw along the shoulders of his uniform's sleeves, each in turn; they slide off of his arms and fall harmlessly to the ground, enabling a certain freedom of movement that the more restrictive sleeves just don't allow.
Collecting himself into his remarkably defensive fighting stance, the Kirishima-style ninja takes a few steps back from Rock, placing himself conveniently near one of Justice High's myriad SUPER-ELITE fire extinguishers. "Let's begin," he says, rolling his shoulders once and getting ready.
"You try and throw that SUPER-ELITE Fire Extinguisher at me and I'm gonna date your sister," Rock says, sassy as all hell, back at Kurow as his red eyes track the man's movements towards the side of the hallway. But he agrees with Kurow -- he's not here for any small talk, chitchat, or even rivalry. It is preciously hard, at times, to find a professional fighter worth anything. When you know where one is guaranteed to be? And they are competitive enough to have Neo League points? And you happen to hate their guts, too?
No brainer.
"Maybe I should bring a baseball bat," Rock says, as Kurow pulls on his claws. "Nahhh, I don't need that kind of a crutch. These are all I need," he gesticulates with his fists, shifting his weight and coming about in the standard Hakyokusaken stance. Holding it for less than a second, Rock's eyes thin, they look left, right, and then lock onto Kurow's chest. Launching forward, his booted foot plants on the tiled hallway floor and his fist slices up through the air. Immediately, a reppuken tears off.
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Rock's Reppuken.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Rock's started to get predictable -- or perhaps it's just that Kurow leads off, when he pretends to be Rock, with exactly the same thing. As the Reppuken comes at him, he leaps forward and over it, casually evading the Hakyokusaken fighter's paradigm technique. No brainer, indeed -- Kurow finds himself very ready to defend his Neo League standing, primarily because it's his study period and he has absolutely nothing better to do.
"... all said, I wouldn't mind you dating my sister," Kurow says; it would, admittedly, probably get her off his back. Small talk complete for now, the ninja takes two quick steps forward, leaps up, and tries to wrap his claws around Rock's shoulders. If he can dig them in nice and deep, he'll kick off from the floor and send himself whirling around the youth in a move similar to Heidern's famous neck-rolling slashes, and then -- when he reaches Rock's back for the second time -- finish with a kick that could send Howard straight to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Circle Slash from Kurow with Gedan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
If Kurow is starting to get intimately familiar with Rock Howard's favorite techniques, the son of Geese is equally as versed in Kirishima's usual techniques. They're both going to have to improvise if they want to get the best of one another. Bracing himself as Kurow blurs with his much greater speed, Rock knows that he's going to come in high and try that wrapping slice that forces you to double over with total body pain. He's done it to him like four times before.
Squinting, Rock clears his head and manages to track Kurow's ascent towards him. The minute Kirishima reaches him and sends those clawed hands for his shoulders, Rock's fist explodes and he flat slams Kurow right in the forehead with a wonderfully simple fierce punch. "Even if I don't call her back in the morning?" he asks, pulling his hand back and shaking it as the knuckles ring.
"... maybe not then," Kurow says, still wearing that little smirk, once he's recovered from getting struck in the face; Rock's strikes don't hurt that much, but they're fast -- and, likewise, Kurow needs to be a little quicker if he intends to fight Rock in any seriousness. The Howard boy is very, very good at catching things as they come -- how can someone like Kurow defend against that?
The answer comes easily enough when Kurow thinks about it. Stay on the defensive. Hanging back, Kurow takes a few seconds to catch his breath, closing his eyes and focusing on getting over the throbbing pain in his forehead. "You've been practicing," he says, off-handedly.
COMBATSYS: Kurow gains composure.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kurow
"Practicing?" Rock repeats, looking askew at Kurow. He doesn't practice, he /trains/. With so many people he sometimes can't keep track. "I've got a new teacher, you might know him," Rock explains, readopting his Hakyokusaken form again. But Howard doesn't offer up who, specifically, he's talking about. As far as Kurow knows, it could be anyone.
Breaking forward into a dash again, Rock is determined to press the offensive if Kurow is going to try and turtle. He lost a fight to Dudley because he let the boxer dictate the pace of combat. He's not going to make that same mistake again. With one booted heel planting to Kurow's side, Rock suddenly accelerates his fist forward, bringing it out and across at an angle to try and smash into the side of Kurow's head.
"Don't be a pussy," he chides, with his arm's extension.
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Rock's Medium Punch.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Sliding underneath Rock's punch, Kurow gets in close to Rock -- he, too, is trying to avoid letting Rock dictate the pace of combat. After all, it's what has lost him more than one fight in the past; Kurow only wins when he either guesses right enough times or takes control of the pace. "Oh? And just who are you leeching off of this time?" As though Kurow 'Steals Other People's Moves, Gestures, And Speech Patterns When It Suits Him' Kirishima is one to talk.
Not wasting any more time on talk, the ninja once again takes the offensive, this time trying to slip under Rock's guard; he comes in with a wide sweeping slash with one claw, aimed toward Rock's chest. As his first swipe ends, he's already aiming a second with his other hand at Rock's legs to try to unbalance him, and as soon as -that's- over he jabs at the dropout's gut with the hand he tried the first attack with. The goal, of course, is to keep Rock from focusing his guard on one spot, and to always keep advancing.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Rock with Yami Kagura.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Kurow
This time, Rock isn't as prepared for Kurow's assault. He wasn't ready for the fighter to evade his fist by going /under/ it -- that's an unusual dodging technique. Eyes snapping down, Rock finds a clawed hand jamming into his chest. A splash of blood sails out of the sudden wound. Buckling over from the second swipe, the third swipe sends Rock staggering back in the other direction. It's like one of those topsy-turvy dolls you punch that always rock back the other direction.
Regaining his balance, Rock places a gloved hand against his bleeding chest -- feeling the red moisture through the fabric of torn coat and t-shirt. He can't focus on that now, though. He reminds himself that it's not a new feeling. He's tasted those claws a lot. "I told you," Rock says, jumping forward at Kurow again, both of his hands reaching for the man's collar area to grab hold of something -- shirt, neck, shoulders, arms -- and drive him straight back for the wall of lockers behind them.
"Your /sister/."
COMBATSYS: Kurow fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Rock with Yasha Guruma.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Kurow
Kurow starts toward Rock, beginning to roll forward -- but it's all for nothing, as he overextends and is punished for it. Rock gets ahold of his collar well before he gets in close enough to handle the attack, and before too long he gets slammed into the lockers, skull slamming into one of the combination locks. "Nnghh..." he groans, sinking back a little. He doesn't even have a comeback for the comment about his sister, and all he can do is try to pull away and get ready for the next assault.
It is one of the most satisfying things in the universe when you slam a guy you hate into a wall of lockers. It makes you feel so supremely jock-like and fratacular. Rock Howard is riding high on his sudden schoolyard awesome, his fingers uncurling from Kurow's shirt after the two of them ricochete off the lockers with satisfactory clangs. "Where you going?" Rock challenges, as Kirishima starts trying to back up.
"You think I'm going to let you get away?" Keeping the pressure up and the distance down, Howard chases after Kurow again, grinding his boots against the tiled floor for momentum. He's fighting like it's a real schoolyard battle royal -- there's very little form or flare to his style tonight. He just barrels at Kurow, his shoulders and head ducking, to try and spear him straight into the ground with all his weight and acceleration behind it.
COMBATSYS: Kurow blocks Rock's Shinkuu Nage.
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Rock 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
As Rock aims to slam Kurow into the ground, he finally does something /smart/; specifically, he closes his eyes and pushes back toward Rock, leading to what might be a bruise eventually but no subsequent flinging to the ground and severe injury. "Ugh," he says, taking a step back from the Howard boy and narrowing his eyes. "You know, Rock, you're more of a violent, dangerous thug than I give you credit for."
Turning his lips up in that stolen grin, the Kirishima youth takes the offensive in spite of the sense he gets that Rock is gearing up for something dangerous. Not one to be outdone at being a high schooler, however, he decides to go for a somewhat unorthodox approach to dealing with his opponent; grabbing at his jacket, he tries to heft him up and fling him into a nearby garbage can. /Now/ who's the jocktacular bully?
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Kurow's Medium Throw.
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Rock 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Rock lets Kurow apply his strength into him. Toes lifting off the ground, the other teenager hurls him towards the wall and the impending humiliation of the trash can. Only, Rock was ready for the aerial momentum. Rather than end up hurled face first for the can, he just is thrown back a few feet. Landing with a pair of back-pedaling steps to slow his inertia, he squints at Kurow.
Why is this freak always smiling like him? What is it with him? Does he have a man-crush?
Using that confusion as fuel for his motivation to smash Kirishima into two distinct pieces, Rock starts pacing a half-circle across the hallway, eyeballing Kurow. "What can I say?" he says back about being a thug. "It's in my DNA."
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
No! There is most assuredly no mancrush here. As Rock takes the time to circle around Kurow, studying him, Kurow decides he isn't going to afford Rock such a luxury; after all, time is one thing that's very rarely on Kurow's side. The longer a fight draws on, the more likely it is that it's going to turn sour -- better to end it as quickly as possible and prevent a turnaround.
Still, waiting does give Rock the advantage if he decides he wants to knock Kurow out of something, so he figures his best option is to take a step back. Conveniently, this puts him very close to a Classical Japanese text that some poor sap, probably the freshman from earlier, left behind. Needless to say, the next move is obvious -- Kurow hefts the text, gauging its weight briefly, and then flings it full-speed for the Howard boy's head, just ahead of him in the direction he's circling.
COMBATSYS: Rock overcomes Thrown Object from Kurow with Reppuken.
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Rock 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Silly Kurow! Rock Howard is immune to textbooks and learnings. He's too rich for school; he got it all from Geese's regimental home schooling through his first fifteen years of life. Now, things like university and diplomas warp off him like a Halo forcefield. Stopping his circling immediately when Kirishima grabs the large textbook, Rock's eyes thin in to trace it's path.
It comes whistling at him and he's immediately ready to answer it. "REPPUKEN!" he yells, his other arm slicing up through the air. A flash of chi explodes off it, bluish white energy slicing forward and incinerating the book in it's forward travel. It breaks through, churning and crackling, across the tiled floor after Kurow.
"Please," Rock laughs as the papers and bindings of the book flutter down all around him. "Next you'll hit me with your flute."
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Kurow with Reppuken.
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Rock 1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
Kurow doesn't have time to get out of the way of the Reppuken; all he can do is take it dead-on in the legs, and get sent sprawling. This puts him on the defensive /again/, as -- really -- he can't afford to keep taking hits like this; he isn't built for it, not like Roy or any number of other high schoolers. No, his game is a very different one.
"We'll see," Kurow says, holding a hand to his chest in the classic 'embattled fighter' pose, posture sagging down a little. "We'll just see."
COMBATSYS: Kurow gains composure.
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Rock 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
"Yeah," Rock says, voice buoyed with confidence and promise. He doesn't pace a half-circle this time, though. He simply stops where he is, breathing in and out. Sweat bristles on his forehead, matting his ear-length blond hair as it sticks. "We /will/ see." Rock Howard has inherited bad dialogue from his father, as well, it seems. "That locker is calling your name out. It's loud roar tells me to smash your head into it and lock it."
COMBATSYS: Rock gains composure.
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Rock 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
"My, you really /are/ a thug, Rock Howard! Bravo, bravo -- you've learned the trick of every schoolyard bully and mindless enforcer out there! I'd say you have quite the career ahead of you at Gedo High," he chides, not letting Rock stay there posturing for very long -- it's one of the myriad things he finds distasteful about wrestling, after all. He certainly can't let it happen here.
Letting his stance weaken in favor of more freedom of movement, Kurow actually leaps toward Rock this time. As he descends from the air, he swings a foot out at his opponent's head; it's primarily to unbalance him and punish him for bad dialogue, rather than to really injure him.
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Kurow's Light Kick.
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Rock 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
Rock makes a cross-sash with his forearms, moving them into the angle of Kurow's jumpkick to intercept it. The teenager's foot slams into his arms, driving Rock skidding back on the tile floor a foot or so. But it doesn't crack his jaw or anything terrible vital. Throwing his arms down to the side, Howard's grin is gone. He's focusing now on taking the fight to the next level.
As if on queue, the bell rings to herald the end of that class period. Justice High students all start pouring out of the various classrooms down the hallway. The minute they spill out, they freeze. Fights always bring crowds. Fights between two world-famous teenage warriors is just extra special.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
Rock hears their cries and decides to oblige them. Twisting to the side, he suddenly grabs hold of the earlier mentioned metallic trashcan by the sides. Pivoting back around, he hurls it with two hands across the hallway at Kurow. "Catch!"
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Rock's Thrown Object.
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Rock 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
Sliding oh-so-neatly out of the way of Rock's thrown trash can, Kurow starts to feel as though he's just a little more on-his-feet now that the bell's rung. It's started a little melody in his head, and music is such a good way of leading a mind -- even one's own. His movements take on a slightly more rhythmic nature, as he says, "Sorry -- I don't accept trash," he says, before stepping to the side and smashing the nearby receptacle with his elbow. Reppukens are like fire! It's perfectly acceptable to break the glass!
Advancing in with his newfound friend Mr. Fire Extinguisher, Kurow considers his options -- he can throw it, certainly, but that'd put him in an awkward position. No, he decides, the best plan here is to rush up and just swing the weapon full-speed at Rock's head, as the music in his head crescendoes. Admittedly, this is not very fast, given it's a fire extinguisher.
COMBATSYS: Rock interrupts Random Weapon from Kurow with Raging Storm'.
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Rock 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Kurow
If Kurow is hearing the steady beats of a snare drum, Rock Howard is about to deliver the crescendoing boom of the bass drum. As Kurow advances, he finally cracks that familiar Geese Howard smile again. It's one of those smiles where you sort of realize you're either fucked or about to really fuck someone. Either way, someone is getting fucked when it's put on.
Rock stays stationary as Kurow starts his attack pattern. He isn't even concerned with the Fire Extinguisher so much as getting Kurow in a close proximity. The minute the man is within his arm-span reach, his chi performs one of those infamous Heinlein / Howard explosions. It comes from almost out of thin air.
A wall of bluish white chi forces shoots out from every direction around Rock. "RAGING!" he yells, arms slamming down towards his side. "ANTI-FIRE EXTINGUISHER," it turns into a blinding shockwave of outward energy, "STORM!"
The onlooking crowd is forced to shield their eyes. The foundations of Justice High shake from the craterous force of the ring of pain. Rock never did like Justice High.
Needless to say, Kurow -- while he doesn't know what he was expecting from Rock there -- certainly knows he wasn't expecting /that/. The Raging Storm catches him off-guard, and slams his back neatly into one of the lockers; the little grate rips into his back, adding insult to injury. "D-damn it," he groans, taking a step back; he doesn't know what to do here -- he's not used to being the 'underdog' in a fight. "Ngnhh..." he groans, trying to focus on the 'music'; once he finds his pace again, he launches himself forward.
"Haaaaaaaaah!" he yells, as he puts his hands together, rearing them back even as he speeds forward; it's a feint, however -- the real attack is not the vicious two-handed midsection strike Rock would be likely to expect, but rather a single, hard jab at the youth's throat. As telegraphed as it is, it's a long shot... but it's a shot, and right now Kurow needs all the shots he can get.
COMBATSYS: Rock interrupts Deep Strike from Kurow with Rising Tackle.
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Rock 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Kurow
"Too slow," Rock says after the curling chi smoke of the Raging Storm starts to rise from his bejacketed frame. The blood in his chest has started to clot, making it hurt less, and he is gaining confidence and fight momentum by the second. But even through the chi field as it slowly rises, he's not surprised when he makes out Kurow recovering and preparing for another assault. He would never expect the kid to go down that easily.
He is, however, a little surprised when he finds his mind easily anticipating the simple feint and then throat slash. Backing up until his back is against the fleet of lockers on the opposite side of the hall, Kurow's assault comes slicing for his throat and he finally moves. Pushing a heel against the flat of a locker, he shoots forward, suddenly streaking into a blur of even more chi energy. He comes into Kurow low, his body twisting as he sends a foot straight into the chin of Kirishima. Body accelerating through the blow, he corkscrews up into the air until they reach the hallway's ceiling, and then drops back down to land in a crouch.
"I hope your sister is watching," he says, rising back to his feet.
With a loud crack, Rock's foot hits Kurow's chin, and sendsh im up into the air -- not far, though, because the momentum stops when it chips a tooth. Yeah, he's going to need to have some dental work done after this. "You seem awfully infatuated with my sister," Kurow says, rolling his neck and looking at the man he's been impersonating. Evidently, even as brutally beaten as he is right now, he can still manage to talk. "That's fine with me. However..."
Kurow leaps at Rock again, seeking to sink his long claws deep into his shoulders again -- Rock's seen this enough times to know what's coming. It's a textbook desperate maneuver -- it's unwieldy and slow, but it hurts, and that's what Kurow needs right now.
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Kirishima Kyoujuu Reppa from Kurow with Joudan Crack Counter.
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Rock 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
However... Kurow never finished his sentence. Eyes widening when the man gets desperate, Howard braces himself for what's coming at him. Two claws, moving for his shoulders. There is only one way to solve this. There is only one answer to this situation. There is only the terrible techniques of Geese Howard. There is only the Crack Counter.
Rock tenses, every muscle in his body coiled and poised to react. The claws glisten in the flourescent light of the hallway. The onlookers have stopped chanting the usual FIGHT melody and all simultaneously inhale a gasp of tensed air.
Suddenly leaping just as Kurow's claws come streaking down, Howard cartwheels square over Kurow's head. He does a perfectly acrobatic flip, and as he arcs over Kirishima, he sends one of his steel-toed boot heels slamming right for the back of the Asian kid's head; hopefully driving him face first into the wall of lockers again.
Landing the flip a little /too/ casually, Howard brushes his red jacket's shoulders off. "Too slow again," he says. Somewhere, karma is preparing to destroy him.
Kurow didn't get the chance to. He was going to when he had Rock down on the ground -- but he never got that opportunity, as Rock's foot hit him in the back of the head harder than he was prepared to react to. His vision swims and fluctuates, as he skirts the bare edge of unconsciousness; he can't keep up with Rock anymore. Rock's leading the fight by too much for him to manage, and he knows it -- and as such, he only has one option.
Go all-out. Once he's back facing the Howard youth, blood trickling from his head, he screams, "LET'S END THIS!" The other students are immaterial at this point -- all that exists as far as he's concerned is himself, Rock, and all the pain he can dish out. Running forward, he tries to palm Rock's face and slam the back of his head into one of the lockers as hard as possible; style gets thrown out the window in favor of bloody brutality. If he does indeed get the assault off, he yells, "SUFFER!"
COMBATSYS: Rock just-defends Kurow's Fierce Strike!
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Rock 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
Rock is very concerned with a Kurow Kirishima berseker barrage. He's felt them a few times before and they never work out for him. But maybe, just maybe, he's starting to learn after having spilled half his yearly supply of blood to the young ninja-teenager-warrior-dude. The roar of finality echoes in his ears and he prepares for it, ready for what will come. He just hopes his training and his reflexes serve him well for whatever method Kurow brings the thunder in.
Turns out its straight and hard. There's no masking this time, no working around it. He just wants to overpower Rock and make him feel the pain. That isn't going to happen. At least not right here. As Kurow's palm screams for his forehead, Rock shoots a hand out to intercept it. His own palm slams roughly into Kirishima's wrist area, sending the clawed hand just off course enough that it crashes into the lockers behind Rock without his head in it's clutches.
Pushing Kurow away, Rock spins out from between his opponent and the wall of lockers. But not too far. He spins just ... one arm's length away. "Goodnight, Kurow!" he yells, and somehow he does it again. He must really want Justice High to fall down around them. "RRRRRRAAAAAGGGGIIINNNG!" The power pools and explodes outward and upward. "STTOOOOOOOORRRRMMMM!"
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Kurow with Raging Storm'.
Glancing Blow
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Rock 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
Kurow slides with the momentum of his slam, using it to draw himself first toward and then along the edge of the lockers, thinking it'll get him out of the way of the enormous upspring of power.
He's wrong by inches. It feels like a punch in the leg. But a punch in the leg, right now, is all it takes to send Kurow down to the ground. The boy thinks something snapped right there -- he doesn't know what, but he doesn't want to risk much more on this fight.
What he /does/ want to do is make Rock hurt. A lot. This is the kind of thinking that unmakes men; it's also the kind of thinking that leads Kurow to leap toward his opponent with his good leg, rolling into a ball. Black chi surrounds him as white claw-marks of chi orbit every inch of his body, indistinguishable from the -actual- claws that lash out toward Rock in the front. It's a gutsy move... which becomes a whole lot less gutsy when he wrenches his injured leg mid-attack and finds himself on the ground, motionless.
COMBATSYS: Kurow can no longer fight.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Kurow's Yasha Guruma.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|
Here it comes. Rock was anticipating some sort of final assault by Kirishima. He could sense that the guy was on his last legs. This is always the diciest portion of the fight. If he doesn't endure this salvo, he could be on his last legs. Backpedaling a pair of steps, Kurow's dark mass of death comes lurching at him.
Rock ducks to avoid the first wash of claws and cutting black chi. The second volley comes on his like a sickness and he endures through it, crossing his arms across his face. The blades dig into his forearms as they brim with a thin hum of chi power -- a contrasting bluish white energy to the dark power of Kirishima.
Finally, it ends, and there is only one man standing. For once, it's Rock Howard. He gives Kurow a condescending smirk as the man collapses to the ground. The people in the school break into astonished murmurs. "Thanks for the points, punk," Howard says, walking right into the crowd without a second more hesitation.
The crowd parts. Dude just took the biggest badass at their school. They part so far.
Kurow is only somewhat cognisant of what Rock is saying -- his leg is really starting to act up, and he is much, much more concerned with that. "Congratulations on winning when it doesn't matter," Kurow hisses after Rock, perhaps too quiet to hear. 'When it doesn't matter?' Curious choice of words -- wouldn't a sanctioned match be 'when it matters'?
Another pair of students collect the boy and start carrying him toward the nurse's office. If there's one upside to Justice High, it's that when you get beaten down, you get a really nice massage.
Log created on 21:16:33 05/15/2007 by Kurow, and last modified on 19:14:11 05/16/2007.