Description: Papua New Guinea. A fight in a rural rainforest village, part of a government effort to raise global awareness and invite tourism - which is why there's a celebrity, Drake "Domino" Vyril, in the match. But his opponent, Riko Koganei, doesn't have the same fan appeal. She's one teenage girl who doesn't get the whole 'star' thing. Which is probably why she seems intent on making poor Drake less pretty. Poor Drake. Savaged by someone from his own target demographic... (Winner: Riko)
In the minds of most folk up in the developed north, New Guinea is an island of nothing but lush forests, colourful birds, and people living in rural villages comprised mostly of, well, wood. The truth is, of course, somewhat more complex than that. It's a divided island, for one thing - half independent, under the aegis if Papua New Guinea, the other half Indonesian provinces with all the troubled politics that brings. And there /are/ developed cities.
Of course, the popular image isn't /wrong/, either. The island really does have ridiculously huge rainforests, with a mind-boggling number of species and biodiversity. And most of the people, even in this modern age, still live in rural tribes and villages. It's an image that the tourism folks up in Papua New Guinea's government are well aware of.
Hence this fight. A televised event, using the Neo League's international popularity.
A host of TV cameras, media and government representatives, have descended upon one of those villages. In the village square, in front of a local church, all thatched roof and wood. Amidst the trees, dirt paths - and a large crowd of villagers, all chattering in excitement.
This is the arena.
...and these are the fighters.
Riko Koganei stands at one end of the impromptu fighting ground, shifting idly from foot to foot. She doesn't look like a happy girl. For one thing, her in-line skates are having a devil of a time finding purchase in the packed dirt ground. For another, she's feeling all hot, sweaty, and /sticky/ in this jungle humidity. And the mosquitos. Ugh.
Sure, she asked the league to set up a high-profile match with her and Drake. But she should have probably bribed them better or something. Why did it have to be HERE?
Drake Vyril, or better known as Domino, has just made his entrance into the opposite side of the fighting area, fists lifted to the spectators and cameras. A wry, cocky smile plays on his lips as he turns a slow circle, nodding in self-assurance. It's simply his style to be this way at the start of a fight. After all, his beginning in fighting would be technically considered 'sports entertainment'. The weather certainly has its effect on the islander, but he seems to play it up. Sweat on an average joe can be gross, but a sweating model is a whole other story.
Domino turns to face Riko, the female who gave him one bugger of a time trying to just learn her name. His left hand sets to his hip, and his right hand lifts to offer her a sporting wave. "Didn't really expect -this-. Let's give'em a good show, shall we?"
A bright, charismatic smile is flashed at the female before he takes his stance. Domino's left foot shifts forward, setting him into a shallow backstance on his right leg. His right hand chambers at chest level, fingers splaying at the ready. His left arm angles downwards before his body, hand flat and tapered.
COMBATSYS: Riko has started a fight here.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Drake has joined the fight here.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Drake
"Show," Riko mutters, under her breath, "they're not paying me enough for this!"
She tosses her head, flicking strands of sweat-slicked hair from her brow and eyes. How is she supposed to look properly cute in this terrible /jungle/? She eyes her opponent balefully. How the heck is /he/ managing to look so aesthetically pleasing while perspiring? It just isn't fair. Against the natural order, that is.
Riko forces a grin, though. She forces it very well indeed - her face changes over the course of a second. Her eyes flash.
"Alright," she chirps, "let's go!"
And then she moves, her skates rolling over the unpaved ground. It's a bumpy sort of surface, but this doesn't stop her from moving with speed. Lots of speed. Enough speed that there's a massive explosion of dirt and dust as her skates' polyurethane wheels crash into the earth. To the spectators, she all but vanishes as she races towards Drake - using the sudden cover of the flying debris to come in with an acrobatic leap, hopefully while he's blinded.
COMBATSYS: Drake dodges Riko's Improvised Tactics.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Drake
Domino lifts his hand hand briefly to whisk through his own bangs, as if made suddenly aware of them by her actions. But as soon as he does this, he's back into focus. And as such, the debris and dust does little to hinder him.
Swift as Riko's approach is, the agile wrestler twists his upperbody to the side to permit the attack to simply pass him by. Though the moment she does, Domino turns around to face her - hopefully with her back turned to him. Relying on the missed attack to help unbalance her a bit, he attempts to grab her by the shoulders and bear her against the ground on her front. And if successful, his left knee sets to her mid-back, and his hands lock beneath her chin to arch her upright in a modified camel clutch. Doesn't do much to her lower half, but the pain along her back should be something else altogether.
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Drake's Strong Throw.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Drake
But the fact Riko missed her tackle...doesn't seem to peturb her. She touches down lightly on the ground of the village square, her in-line skates once again digging into the soil. When Drake reaches for her, he gets only air. His fingers brush against the fabric of Riko's t-shirt, but that's about all the purchase he manages.
He's right. By all logic of physics, she -should- be unbalanced. She shouldn't be able to bleed her momentum so quickly. She shouldn't be able to stop on a dime, regain her balance in a fraction of a second. Much less rise from that stop with an entirely new burst of speed.
But Riko's a fighter. And the fact there's a distinct -spark- of electric blue, a flicker of chi, running down the blades of her skates...well. That might be the first clue.
Grinning widely, she flips round, dodging Drake's grasping hands. Both legs now off the ground, rising in a crescent arc. Aiming not so much to -kick- Drake, but skate up right over his torso.
COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Drake with Light Kick.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Riko 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Drake
Well, that just didn't go right at all. Domino's hands find nothing but air, and while he's mid-blink over that, she skates right over him. And hard. It bears the model to the ground, and he lands with a sharp 'oomph' on his back. But he then quickly backrolls to end in a crouch, eyeing his opponent with a quirked eyebrow.
-That- was different.
Nevertheless, Domino raises back to his full height again and dashes over the short distance separating the two. His hands chamber at his sides as he draws in, only to shoot out suddenly in a double palmheel strike aimed for her torso, palms issuing a sudden bright flare of white energy once fully extended.
COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Riko with Whiteout.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Drake
Riko -gasps- as Drake's palms slam into her gut and lower ribcage. And then the blast of spiritual energy throws her like a little teenage rag-doll, limbs akimbo. She flies into the air - not under her own power. But she recovers in mid-flight, tucking her legs in, twisting round...landing in a crouch against the roof of the large church building in the village square. Not on the roof. Against it.
The grooves in her skate blades catch the outer surface of the roof overhang. She grinds against it for a few feet, bleeding off velocity, before kicking off with explosive force. So explosive that it actually -shatters- the wood and thatch of the roof edge. Splintered wood rains down as Riko drops to ground level.
Such wanton property damage. These poor, poor villagers, having their home invaded by these violent foreign fighters, and all the TV cameras and crews ...
... well, they'd poor villagers if they were't -cheering- at this development. Especially as Riko catches the two largest chunks of broken beams from the air, one in each hand. She swings her improvised dagger-length weapons in a complex flourish, then races towards Drake, stabbing with the splintered ends.
"EN GARDE!"
COMBATSYS: Drake fails to counter Medium Strike from Riko with Solar Eclipse.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Drake
Domino raises to his full height and assumes his stance again, amethyst eyes narrowed on the female. Well, there's some property damage. Not something he's been big on in his fights so far. But when she leaps at him, it's only too tempting to attempt catching her out of her attack. So he rces to meet her... only the weapons find their mark, piercing into him with a light cry of pain. He quickly backs away from her and attempts to free himself of the oversized splinters, growling quietly under his breath.
Fury is kept in check. For now.
It's not that Riko has casual disregard of other people's property. Really, it isn't. Certainly it /seems/ that way; she's a student of Seishirou Ryouhara, the man who once blew up an entire /bridge/ in London during a fight. But that eclipses the true method behind the madness. It's not wanton property destruction - it's ends justifying means. Riko needs a weapon. Therefore she makes one.
She grins with manic intensity as she twirls the remaining stubs of wood in her hands. Reduced in length by quite a bit, given how some of the splinters just broke off after being stabbed /into/ Drake. They're still solid enough, though. And as Drake backs away, Riko's arm snaps forward, Bo-Shuriken-style - one of the wood remnants cupped in her hand until the moment of release, flashing on a straight line at Drake.
COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Drake with Thrown Object.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Drake
And now Domino has yet another sharp object stuck in him for a couple seconds. Lodged in his shoulder, the model shoots a sharp glare at the young girl. The wood chips are yanked out, and he brings them down to his sides. She's -trying- to anger him at this point. He's sure of it. His hands grip the pieces of wood tighter until they outright snap apart, whereupon he simply drops them to the ground.
From there, Domino assumes his stance again. Intense amethyst eyes focus on the girl. What started out seemingly friendly has turned quite a bit more serious, in his mind. She didn't seem like someone who'd fight quite like -this- when he first met her.
COMBATSYS: Drake focuses on his next action.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Drake
Ironically, Riko's thinking just the same thing. She expected Drake to fight differently. But then, that's exactly why she's doing this. To get a read on him. To see if her expectations are right, or wrong, and correct things accordingly.
And yes, she's quite aware he's annoyed. It's written all over his face. It'd be quite hard to miss.
That maddening smile is still plastered on Riko's face. It's quite a thoroughly fake smile, point in fact, since she's still feeling miserable, hot and -sticky-, pespiration soaking into the fabric of her t-shirt. But she ignores that in favour of a facade of pure chipper enthusiasm.
"Y'know," Riko chirps, "you're kinda quiet."
The remaining chunk of wood in her hand spins left, right, twirling in her fingers.
"I figured you'd be a talker..."
The wood slams to a halt, smacking firmly in her palm, her fingers closing round it.
"...guess not, huh?"
Riko moves, blasting forward like a little teenage bullet, legs pumping, skates rolling on the dirt ground. She heads in a straight line towards Drake. But her attack isn't nearly as straightforward. She thrusts her arm out. A distinct glow of blue building round her hand. There's the faint smell of ozone, a faint crackle of electricity...
...and then the wood -EXPLODES- in Riko's grasp, bursting into flame and ash in a fraction of a second, superheated and incinerated by chi-charged lightning, a forest fire in miniature.
The crowd of villagers goes wild.
COMBATSYS: Drake parries Riko's Light Fantastic EX!
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Drake
Domino remains silent. He -is- a quiet fighter in most cases. Some situations call for a verbal thrashing as well as a physical one, but this isn't one of them. Irked him though she may have, she's not pushed him that far.
After all, strict stoicism and concentration is a good part of Domino's dark side.
When the female rushes him, he does something a little unorthodox. Domino shifts aside from the attack and hops into the air. His right foot sets to her shoulder to kick himself higher into the air, wherein he twists over into a backflip. On the descent, he aims to smash his upper-body against hers in a full-on moonsault. As launched off of a person.
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Drake's Darkside Slam EX.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 Drake
Riko recoils as Drake kicks off her, her light frame shaken by the impact. Her head snaps up, eyes tracking his movement as he rises above her. Her eyes widen as she perceives his intent...
...and then her skate wheels dig into the ground, little tendrils of blue electricity dancing back and forth as she gives a desperate pulse of chi.
Her skates are rigged. There's a conductive core to each of her wheels, coils of metal. And given Riko's mastery over electricity, it's a small step from that to electromagnetic induction...and an even smaller step, from there, to a /motor/.
She rolls back, in full reverse - away from Drake. She keeps reversing, speeding rearward on rapidly spinning wheels.
"Wow," Riko remarks, "guess you -are- pretty serious..."
COMBATSYS: Riko gathers her will.
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Riko 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Drake
Domino looks as though he's going to fall completely prone. Fortunately for him, however, he spies the incoming ground with no soft victim to land on. So moments before impact, the agile wrestler twists over to land in a low crouch.
And again, he says nothing.
Domino simply raises back to his feet, expression almost blank. In a sudden flash, he's dashing towards the female again. He leaps into the air, turning a quick spin to hopefully land behind her to grab her by the throat. If caught, he hoists the small girl up and turns a quick spin to gain momentum and power before chucking her clean through the wall of a nearby hut. Villages don't tend to make very sturdy homes, after all.
COMBATSYS: Riko blocks Drake's Strong Throw.
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Riko 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Drake
Riko's grabbed, and Riko's thrown. She gives an abbreviated squeak as Domino's hand grasps her neck. And then she's airborne, smashing -through- the side of the hut. A loud and painful impact. Urban renewal via ninja projectile.
A few seconds later, she emerges from the inside of the hut, crawling through the hole made by her body. She groans vaguely as she unfolds her limbs. And there is, rather comically, a large ceremic pot upturned over her head, covering her hair and eyes. The presence of the earthenware doesn't seem to bother her, however, nor does the blindness...
...as she whips one hand from behind her back, with a glinting blur of metal.
Knocking someone like Riko /into/ a building is only giving her more weapons to work with. As evidenced by the machete now heading at the wrestler.
COMBATSYS: Drake dodges Riko's Thrown Object.
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Riko 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Drake
For as amusing as the situation is, it warrants no shift in Domino's expression. The machete makes its appearance fast, but the model shrugs his body aside to let it whiz by. Fortunately enough, it manages to miss any bystanders as well, *thock*ing into an adjacent hut.
The dark-haired wrestler shakes his head slowly in what could be a pitying gesture. He then rushes in towards her again, attempting to swiftly weave low by her side. His left arm attempts to hook between her legs, and his right arm goes to hook around her neck - or pot, if it's in fact that large.
If caught, he hoists her across his shoulders, hops into the air, and turns over to drive her head against the ground in a death valley driver. If the pot isn't off her head by then, it should be after that.
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Drake's Quick Throw.
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Riko 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Drake
Indeed, she's grasped by the...pot, rather than the neck - the earthenware container makes getting a hold of her actual head rather difficult, point in fact, due to its size and girth. Riko gets hauled into the air and thrown earthward. But Riko never gets there. In a sudden whirl of motion, she breaks away, leaving Drake holding /just/ the pot.
And as she moves, she flicks a hand back at Drake. Thumb and forefinger extended, miming the traditional gesture of a shooting gun.
That's when the pot explodes. In a whirl of ceremic shards.
Courtesy of a plastic explosive charge gummed to the base.
COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Drake with Chaos Tactics.
- Power hit! -
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Riko 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Drake
Domino finds himself on the ground holding... a pot. A pot? And then the pot explodes. More shredded skin and a cry of pain from the model, and he's blown over. When the debris settles, he's in a crouched position again, glaring at the female. Does she -have- to keep marring him? Ugh. This is going to staunch his career.
Fingers dig into the ground, and Domino launches himself at her swiftly, hands extended to attempt grabbing ahold of the girl by the shoulders...
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Drake's Total Eclipse.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Drake
He's a wrestler. Riko knows that. She's done her homework. She's reviewed all the tapes she could find, every video record of "Domino" Drake's matches she could get her hands on. All his SNF fights, from the massive archive her sensei keeps on file at the dojo. Even some of his appearances from the wrestling circuits back in America.
And he's already tried to grab her a few times in this match - if it wasn't for her highly-trained ninja agility, she'd be in serious trouble by now. As it stands, avoidance is the only prudent solution. And that's what she tries again. When Drake grabs her, Riko -pulls violently- away, breaking free of his grasp. She propels a kick at him as she disengages, pistoning a skate-clad heel at his sternum as part of her leap, aiming to bounce clean across the village square.
COMBATSYS: Drake fails to counter Light Kick from Riko with Solar Eclipse.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Drake
Domino is a wrestler, indeed. So when one grab fails, he immediately makes for another one. A chain of hold attempts, one might say. Only the skate nails him before he can grab ahold of her, sending him back to a knee. He's hurting now. Badly. Lacerations, impalations, and blunt trauma all mount up. So it's taking him a while to compose himself enough to get back to his feet.
Riko, on the other hand...she's still almost fresh. Truth be told, she's sort of /surprised/ at the outcome of this fight. On the tapes, it seemed the wrestler had an almost supernatural agility and speed.
Then again, so does she. Maybe it balances.
Having kicked off Domino a moment ago, Riko was in the air - now she lands, lightly, atop the largest building in the square. The chapel building. She touches down at the edge of the low-rise building's roof, her body in a tight crouch. She watches her opponent, warily.
Maybe she's been lucky. Of course, luck is a factor to calculate and quantify, just like any other aspect of a fight. It's also something you can't -count- on. She's got Domino on the ropes, metaphorically speaking. But for a pro wrestler, that might be the time for a dramatic show-stopping reversal.
It's in-genre, after all.
COMBATSYS: Riko focuses on her next action.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Drake
Domino draws in a deep breath and he then raises up to his full height. Eyes narrow on Riko, and he lifts his hands into the air. A shimmering white energy begins gathering around his right hand, and a sparkling black energy forms over the left. The hands are brought back, increasing the auras of energy, only to suddenly thrust his palms out towards her.
The gathered energy errupts into two powerful, separate beams spiraling and entwining in a double helix. The beam expands from his hands as it races and coils ferociously towards the small girl.
COMBATSYS: Riko fails to interrupt Domino Helix from Drake with Light Kick EX.
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Riko 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Drake
Riko leaps from the roof as the blast races towards her. But not to -dodge- it, no. Instead, she whips a leg out, leading with her heavy skate-clad boot. She crashes into the chi attack, aiming to simply cleave it apart and carry on to...
...well, hit Domino, actually.
It sounded good in theory.
In practice, well, that's different.
Riko tumbles to an awkward halt on the ground. She rolls back to her feet, wincing.
"O-kaaay," she says, "note to self, you do -not- have Seishirou-sama's fire veil technique."
Though, she adds, in the privacy of her head, clinically, that's more like not -yet-.
Domino's expression shifts to a smirk. She did something wrestlers used to do every so often - try to overcome a blast of energy. And one of -that- size and density. He really has to wonder sometimes how it is someone can really expect that to work out for them.
Obviously, no one's ever strong-armed through the Domino Helix before.
But with that moment of downtime for Riko, Domino sets his hands to his knees and attempts to catch his breath and focus out the pain and fatigue he's feeling. It's quite the endeavor, but he figures if he's to have any chance at all at this point, he'll have to refresh himself a little.
COMBATSYS: Drake gains composure.
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Riko 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Drake
By now, the roar of the crowd is reaching fever pitch. Cheering, shouting, stamping of feet. All that sound rings in Riko's ears as she regards the wrestler, across the expanse of packed dirt that forms the village centre. She shifts her stance, spreading her feet, drawing lines in the sand. Her eyes narrow. Her leg muscles tense, trembling.
She pushes off, rocketing towards Domino. Skating with pure physical strength, without the chi-fueled motive force her skates sometimes possess. Slower, but not without its own kind of speed. She races at Domino - but she swerves to the side, flying past him rather than /at/ him.
And then the reason there's no chi component to her acceleration becomes clear.
It goes two ways, really. Chi into electromagnetism. Electromagnetism to turn her skate wheels.
Spinning skate wheels, however, can also generate electricity. A dynamo, rather than a motor. And chi, at least /Riko's/ chi, is up to the task of guiding physical forces.
Blink and you'll miss it - as Riko erupts in crackling blue light as she skids by Domino, reaching out for him.
COMBATSYS: Drake dodges Riko's Light Fantastic.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Drake
Exhausted, worn, but not out. Domino's amethyst eyes narrow on the female, and he observes her movements intently. The moment she closes in, he's back at his full height. And when she errupts into the blue light and reaches for him, he's cleanly weaving back from her.
Grabbing ahold of her for another throw while she seems alive with electricity would just not be smart. So Domino opts to take a page out of her book, and he quickly makes for the hut with a Riko-like hole in its side. Plenty of debris to pick from, but the piece he hefts is a thick beam of wood with an almost perfectly penciled end. If she's going to cut and stab on him and screw with his career, she's fair game, right?
So Domino rushes back towards her, hefting the large stake and aiming to jab it at her torso.
COMBATSYS: Riko interrupts Random Weapon from Drake with Dragon Seal Blue.
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Riko 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Drake
And it /does/ hit her, the sharp end of the wood stabbing through the fabric of her t-shirt, ripping into her stomach. Piercing skin and flesh, drawing blood.
But Riko isn't completely impaled. She doesn't become a tasty ninja-on-a-stick. No, she twists, she bends, flowing away from the impact. It hurts, but not as much as it should. She hits the ground, rolls. She ends up on her back, looking up at Domino, one hand clutched to her gut wound, the other arm propping herself up by the elbow.
Riko stares up at the stake in Domino's hands...and the pointy end slick with her blood.
She grins.
"Gotcha."
The blood /glows/, blazing a brilliant blue. The fresh blood appears to /move/, in all defiance of fluid dynamics. On the stake, on the wood, it curves into a near-circle, interrupted only by a broken line. A tiny power symbol.
And that's when the entire wooden stake becomes a lightning rod.
Ionizing the air, forming a distinct differential charge pathway between Drake and the surrounding atmosphere.
Gotcha indeed.
To simplify things: zap.
Domino is struck heavily by the electricity, and he crumples. There he remains, body actually -smouldering- from the hit. But rather than stay down, he pushes himself up to his feet. Losing to a kid. -God-. As if his record taking a downslide wasn't bad enough.
With a brief swagger, the fried model turns to face the cameras. And in a last ditch effort to salvage -some- dignity from this fight, he rushes towards the nearest camera-support and kicks a few feet up its length. From there, he pushes off of it to spiral in a slow backflip through the air, aiming to moonsault squarely across the hopefully prone Riko.
COMBATSYS: Drake can no longer fight.
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Riko 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Drake's Darkside Slam.
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Riko 0/-------/----===|
Riko is a kid, sure. It's all -relative- though, isn't it? Riko's 14. Drake's 19. They're both still -teenagers-, technically. Five years is nothing in the greater scheme of things!
And besides, she's spent most of her life being trained in the martial arts by ninja. And now she's apprenticed to a guy who spent a short but nonetheless considerable amount of time being investigated by Interpol as a possible terrorist. That's gotta count for something in terms of practical experience, right?
It's definitely enough experience for her to not /be/ there when Drake crashes into her. Oh, he actually /does/ land on her prone body, lying on the ground. Kind of. She's certainly there...right until Drake hits her. Then there's a flash of light, a pocket thunderclap. But when that fades, when the audience finish blinking through the spots in their eyes, it's just Drake there, sprawled in the dirt.
Riko leans against the wall of a nearby hut, on the /other side/ of the crowd. The villagers are ringed round the impromptu arena. Riko's -past- them. Breathing heavily, rummaging in one pocket. She pulls out a roll of adhesive bandage, and, nonchalantly, begins dressing her stomach wound. Even as the crowd begin to whirl round and point. How did she get /there/?
Trade secret.
COMBATSYS: Riko has ended the fight here.
And that's about that. Domino can no longer fight, or even maintain consciousness. He's down, and that's about it. Yet another loss for the Shooting Star leader. How very disappointing.
But there isn't too much he can do about it, really. He's kind've incapacitated.
Unconsciousness isn't an excuse, though. A real fighter should always be capable!
Or something. That's what Riko would say.
She says a lot of things.
She even means some of them.
Most of it's just fluff, though. Misdirection. Like a stage magician's patter. That's what this whole fight's been, really, on a grand scale. She doesn't care about the win - though she makes the right kind of sunny smiles, cheerful waves, and primping for the crowd. Especially when the reporters come over.
Really, though, Riko was here today, fighting today...to get the full measure of one Drake "Domino" Vyril. Precisely /because/ he is Shooting Star's leader. A group she has a certain...interest in.
And even as she beams to the cameras, her mind's working, reviewing what she's seen.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Log created on 13:24:45 05/20/2007 by Riko, and last modified on 09:21:53 05/27/2007.