Description: Akira fights Sada... then Kurow jumps in. And Iori. And Takuma. Hilarity ensues! (Winner: Arika, technically...)
Cameras pan in on a large, circular room. The floor is comprised of marble, in a somewhat contemporary black and white mandala pattern. A reception desk fills out one curve of the room, a small television hanging down atop it showing the karaoke battle that's just ending.
Marble pillars of a copper color are set at intervals around the room, blending nicely with the copper-colored curtains that decorate the walls. Between the pillars are several game machines, standing posters and glass units that display all manner of things.
The room is not the -real- focus of the cameras though, and once they've finished giving the audience a view of Match #5's venue, they zoom in unobtrusively toward the two young women that aren't situated too far from one another. One, a young girl with black hair obviously of Japanese decent standing in the number one position. The other a blonde-haired blue-eyed punk rocker in the number two position.
Arika Fade; lead singer of Femme Fatale is currently holding a microphone cradled in both hands, her eyes not focusing on the cameras but on a small screen in front of her. The lyrics roll by and her voice comes through loud, clear and with just the faintest hint of a British accent as she finishes off the rather fast-paced and upbeat 'Too Good to be True' by The Eyeliners.
"I'm afraid that things will change, and then these feelings will slip away..." Behind her she can see the SNF crew preparing for the pending fight. "Then my rose colored world would turn to many shades of grey..." The blonde punk rocker flips her hair over her shoulders and lets her mind drift to the fight that will begin shortly. "And I'd wonder if I'd ever feel the same again one day." Pausing she looks at her opponent both in the karaoke contest and the upcoming battle, "If I do... will it be to good to be true?"
Seconds later, scores flash on the screen:
Song #1 'Linda Linda' - The Blue Hearts: 85
'My Happy Ending' - Avril Lavigne: 96
Song #2 'Want It All Back' - Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack: 93
'Love Myself Today' - Bif Naked: 94
Song #3 'Suffragette City' - David Bowie: 82
'Punk Rock 101' - Bowling For Soup: 89
Song #4 'Ring of Fire' - Johnny Cash: 96
'Too Good To Be True' - Eyeliners: 98
The scores make the punk rocking Brit happy. Seems that she's won the first battle and she's about to turn and congratulate her opponent while the average score is tallied.
While this is going on, the SNF announcer begins his opening diatribe. It's all the usual babble, naming the two female fighters, giving their specs such as height and weight. All the while the cameras remain upon the girls, just waiting for their reactions to their scores before starting the fight.
Sada Asai is not holding a microphone at the moment. They are, here at least, wireless, much to her profound irritation. She is standing with her arms at her side, gazing towards Arika as she finishes up her song. Her eyes then flick towards the screen as the scores are posted.
Her arms lift up to fold in front of her, lips pursing... before they break out into a warm, wide smile. It doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Congratulations," she says in a deliberate tone, to keep her accent out of her English. "You sing - excuse me, you sang very well." She bows slightly at the waist, even.
Inwardly, she seethes. She seethes against a bias in the judging. She seethes against the existence of English singer-songwriters. She seethes against Ziggy Stardust and every last Spider From Mars. She is not blushing visibly, but some of that is from the makeup for the cameras.
COMBATSYS: Arika has started a fight here.
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Arika 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sada has joined the fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Arika
Arika is not foolish, and she notices that the smile doesn't reach the other girl's eyes.
Whatever.
She's not here to make friends or win anyone over.
Still, she offers a smile in return and quietly says, "You sang well, mate. They totally robbed you on that Bowie song." Looks like the third round was a hard one for the both of them. The punk rocker moves forward to return the microphone, only to see the screen flash.
TIEBREAKER ROUND!
Blink.
"Wot?" Arika is pretty danged sure her scores added up to quite a bit more. Okay, maybe not -that- much more, the other girl was good. To the point that she's got the potential to be a professional if she tries at it, but still! "Best be addin' that up again!" Not that she -cares-. It's just karaoke. But... she -did- win, didn't she?
Before she can protest too much, the song is displayed on the screen. A duet. 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' by Meatloaf.
At the same time, the announcer can be heard calling, "FIGHT!"
"Alright, let's fight!" Yes, Arika just made a silly little rhyme, but she's a wee bit irritated. Having to sing a tiebreaker is one thing. Having to sing a tiebreaker -while fighting- is entirely different. As such, she turns around rolls her shoulders and literally lobs the microphone at her opponent's face. What a way to start the fight, but she does add, "You sing the male, I'll sing the female." Pause. "Looks like you're up, mate!" Then she dashes away from the karaoke machine and stands in the center of the floor.
COMBATSYS: Arika successfully hits Sada with Thrown Object.
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Sada 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Arika
Sada's head whirls around. A tiebreaker round?! A look of triumph comes over her face - especially when the rest of the events fall into place. She knows that song! She turns to look back towards Arika with triumph in her eyes. She opens her mouth -
The microphone smacks her in the temple. "Ghh!" she says as the first chords of the song kick in. She reaches up as the microphone falls, grabbing it and calling back to the Briton, "Right!" She taps one foot, remaining more or less where she is. Where's her weapon at? They did report that she fights with one.
"Well I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday," she belts out, her voice's natural depth taking on a slightly throaty quality. "Parkin' down the street and there was not another car in sight."
She steps towards Arika. One step, then another. She doesn't rush, and her gaze could be termed 'baleful' by the uncharitable. "And I never knew a girl, looking any better than you babe," she continues, voice lowering just a bit, "and all the kids at school, they were wishing they were me that night!"
Perhaps she isn't thinking much about the lyrics.
COMBATSYS: Sada focuses on her next action.
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Sada 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Arika
Not as well versed in the song, Arika glances toward the screen trying to make out the lyrics and keep track of when it's her turn to throw on the charm, raise her voice and sing; she's the one without the microphone after all.
Thankfully, from the looks of things her opponent is going to be distracted with the first verse of the song. Deep blue eyes are kept upon Sada as she approaches and the distance between them is closed. As soon as she's close enough, the punk rock diva lays on a different kind of 'charm'. Sliding her foot and turning her body so that she's directly in front of Sada; she does her best not to smirk or offer any remark that will have her opponent lose her train of thought. Instead she makes a circular swing with her head in the same beat as the music. Unfortunately, this isn't very fast because let's face it. Headbanging to a song like -this- is rather difficult. Realizing that it's not going to work like this, she picks up momentum despite the song and after another two circles she slams her head forward, aiming for Sada's nose.
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Harmonic Headbang from Arika with Asai Harvester.
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Arika
The impromptu nature of many Saturday Night Fights has lead to the evolution of perfect audience control techniques by Geese Howard's employees. Well, almost perfect. Short of hiring Ryu to keep guard, there's little you can do when certain people want to make an appearance.
"Out of the goddamn way! OUT! OUT! Go back to your shanties!" Not that there's a gigantic audience here, but the close quarters, made all the worse by the SNF crew's cameras and the amount of cleared space required for a legal fight, compact everything to an almost unbearable degree.
The distinctively dressed Iori Yagami plows his way through the crowd, ducking under the official SNF barrier to stand next to a nervous camera man. The redheaded rockstar jams his hands into his pockets, looking over his shoulder at the older man trailing behind him.
"Alright, Sakazaki, I'm going to lay it down for you one more time. The modern catfight does not exist amongst trained fighters, no matter how inexperienced or untalented they are. Maybe back during World War II the only time you saw chicks fight it was between some Nazi in a leather catsuit versus some blonde English nurse, but apart from rounding up some Seijyun schoolgirls and asking them if they think Athena looks better with short hair or long, there are no catfights. Shit, I hate old people."
Sada grins as she sees Arika lunge towards her. She raises her left arm in a peculiar sort of flourish --
She looks distressed for a moment, and starts shaking that sleeve with a peculiar look on her face. Something in her jacket rattles, and then she gets smashed in the side of the cheek by Arika's vicious aggressive headbutting! She staggers back, eyes watering as she feels the ache spread from her cheekbone into the rest of her head.
She steps back several paces, pursing her lips, and then continuing her song. Fortunately, her lack of thought about the lyrics makes it easier.
"And now our bodies are oh so close and tight! It never felt so good; it never felt so right! And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife -"
Her free arm crooks around, hand going partially up the sleeve. "C'mon! Hold on tight! C'mon, hold on tight --"
It's hard to make an entrance after Iori Yagami plows his way through an audience, but luckily for us, Takuma Sakazaki doesn't really care much about entrances anymore - those days are long gone, so far as he's concerned. Besides that, the unique blend of karaoke music(never as good as the original) and Iori's grating, full-of-himself voice is playing hell on Sakazaki's ears... he's almost got a headache, as a matter of fact!
Nevertheless, Takuma steps up to the opposite side of the nervous cameraman, clad in a pair of sandals, a brightly-colored Hawaiian shirt, and a pair of baggy, knee-length khaki shorts. The effect is not unlike draping a colorful blanket over a barrel, really. He settles into his new spot with a heavy, 'Hmph!' of disagreement, and a lengthy, truly disapproving shake of his head.
"Clearly, boy, you haven't been around Yuri or any of those Strongest! Team girls. And just /how many/ Seijyun girls do you think are in the fighting circuits these days? I think a good HALF of them are trying to punch the lights out of the other half, the entire school's signed up for the amateur circuits! But, wait..." Takuma shakes his head here, and speaks a bit more loudly. Perhaps to prove his point. His voice, like an angry bear's roar, rises up over the babbling of the audience and the pumping bass beats of the performance for now. "YOU DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO ANY OF THOSE THINGS, DO YOU!? No, you're obsessed with impressing the girls and making the money, diddling around on that silly instrument of yours! Why, if a fighter got involved in /music/ while I was in my prime, I'd have a word or three for him! Regardless, Yagami, you need to open your damn eyes if you want to make these arguments!"
Damn. She missed the nose. Too bad. Arika was hoping that it would've thrown the girl off of the song so much that she'd be able to back away to the screen while Sada faltered, so that she could check her cue.
Memory doesn't fail her though and when she hears the small pause, she immediately jumps in to the simultaneous part of the duet. "Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light." Hopefully the dark-haired girl chimes in with her.
Eyes are narrowed upon the karaoke machine, almost as though she wants to batter it as much as she wants to win this match. To say that this song isn't exactly Arika's style isn't -that- much of a stretch. Too dangerous to keep her eyes upon the damnable machine, she turns the still narrowed eyes upon Sada and notices that she's fiddling with her sleeve. Hrm.
"Ain't no doubt about it, we're doubly blessed." Still without a microphone, Arika tries to keep her voice at the perfect pitch that will allow her not only to match the music but be heard over the din of other people milling about. "'cause we're barely seventeen... and we're barely dressed." Oh, yes. The absolute -perfect- lyrics for two female fighters.
Irritated, she doesn't wait for Sada to make another move, she simply sends a quick jab with her right hand directly to the location her hard forehead just hit. This is followed through with a palmstrike toward the center of Sada's chest. The palm taking on a bright and eerie violet glow just before Arika attempts the impact.
COMBATSYS: Arika successfully hits Sada with Diva Allegro.
- Power hit! -
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Sada 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Arika
Iori whirls around, jabbing a finger at Takuma. "I can't help it if you purposely trained your daughter wrong as some sort of perverse joke! Besides..."
The redhead turns to look back at the fight, his lips curling into a smile that is not reflected in his eyes at all. "What do you know about music? I'm the best there is, old man, and the best there ever will be. Playing keeps your reflexes sharp. Singing for hours takes endurance. Meanwhile, you're teaching your daughter to attack people with her ass. Yeah, real responsible parenting there, Sakazaki."
Sada's eyes bug out slightly as she feels that strike. And not just that strike, but whatever peculiar energy has been sent flowing through that palm to make her stagger back. It seems to resonate through her, and for a moment she thinks her heart stopped. Maybe it did, for half a beat, but it resumes normal operations shortly after...
She rolls her shoulders. Her lips purse, and something tears. She doesn't speak -- after all, it's not her segment! -- but she spreads her arms out again, to the accompaniment of more cloth ripping. She takes a step back, draws her hands up into her sleeves, shrugs her shoulders once more...
The jacket falls back, landing on the tile floor; Sada kicks it forwards, perhaps in the futile or cranky hope that Arika will trip and fall on it! More notable is what was IN the jacket, which is to say a sickle and chain. Sada lets the weighted end of the chain fall out, almost to the floor, before she starts spinning it, letting it draw up speed before she crouches and hurls it forwards and upwards, to strike Arika's legs or wrap around them!
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Arika with Odani Foundation Art.
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Sada 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Arika
Takuma doesn't even bother looking at Iori while the redhead is whirling about and pointing at him - the comment about Yuri gets a nod and an impassive shrug of his shoulders. He belts a curt, forceful laugh at Iori's accusations, and remarks: "Trained her wrong as a joke? She's doing pretty well for 'jokes', don't you think?" He quiets down to listen to the rest of Iori's accusation, and slowly, /slooowly/ turns to face the other fighter.
He leans forward to rest his elbow on the camera between them, which has the unfortunate consequence of tilting it downwards and thusly pissing off the cameraman manning it. "Singing? Playing guitar? I've seen that commercial, son, and what you're up to on that stage is /nothing/ like what real music is! You think screaming into a microphone's singing? Scratching the lacquer off of your guitar is playing? Ho ho hooooooo... I don't even PLAY music and I could do better than that! Give me a break!"
Perhaps a little late (after all, he wouldn't want to miss his /own/ fight, if it did indeed turn out to be some near-immediate time), Kurow Kirishima arrives on the scene in Taiwan, taking his place in the viewing area. Like Iori and Takuma before him, he pushes his way through the crowd, taking a position near the front, just in time to see Sada swing the chain at Arika's legs.
When he notices that Iori and Takuma are /right there/, he starts edging laterally away from them as quickly as possible. Kurow just doesn't want to deal with them right now, for reasons that may involve 'not spending the weekend in the hospital'.
Tsk, tsk! Sada shouldn't be letting her anger get away with her during the fight!
Thankfully Arika is keeping her eyes upon her opponent, and the jacket doesn't trip her up. But she's not about to let her karaoke score drop either. She -is- a diva after all. Disregarding the jacket, she continues clearly, "Ain't no doubt about it, baby got to go out and shout it! Ain't no doubt about it we were doubly bless--"
Just before she finishes the last word in her part of the duet, the chain falls to the floor. It catches her attention, but she's very determined. "--ed." It's her downfall in this case, as the weighted chain strikes her in the center of the left shin. A glare of annoyance is shot to Sada, eyes watering just a little. Teeth clench as the chain wraps around her leg, and she decides to use it to her advantage.
Yanking her leg back quickly, she tries to use the momentum of this to draw Sada close enough to her that she can grab the girl's wrist. Managing this, she'll continue to draw Sada nearer and nearer until she can hit the girl in the throat with the outer edge of her forearm.
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Strong Punch from Arika with Cut Trapped Grain.
- Power fail! -
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Sada 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Arika
"Oh yeah? I dare you, Sakazaki. Go get your old man goof troop together and practice a few songs. What, you gonna get Saishu on drums or something? Don't make me laugh!" Iori runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I can't believe you're criticizing me when teenyboppers like these chicks are out there. Asamiya generation two, man. I can barely take the first one."
Sada's problem isn't that she's angry. It's that she isn't angry enough!!
She seems OK with having the chain grabbed. She even smiles as she shifts the sickle around in her hand, resting her fingertip on the far end of the innocent-seeming weapon. "'Cause we were barely seventeen, and we were barely dressed!" she continues to sing.
"Baby don't you hear my heart," she continues in a near croon as she gets within range, drawing her arm back to deliver a vicious counterstrike. She breathes in almost imperceptibly, continuing, "You got it drowning out ghhk"
She topples backwards as Arika strikes her right square in the throat; she hits the ground, bouncing once. She immediately begins staggering back to her feet, and /now/ her face is turning visibly red.
And she lost the song cue, too!
Sakazaki merely crosses his arms over his chest - and winces at Sada's most recent attempt to swing things back into her favor. "You're on, Yagami. I've got a thing or two to say about what kids like you are doing to modern music -- and I'll prove that the classics are better than any of that bloody-wrist, teary-eyed bullshit you keep pumping out! Or was it... wait..." Takuma, lost in his own jumbled memories, trails off for now.
Losing the song cue is bad! Arika was depending on Sada to keep the song going despite the attack so she could keep herself on track! If memory serves though, there's a long bit of the male voice before she's got to worry about finding her cue again. So she does what any decent fighter would in this situation.
Take advantage of it.
Watching Sada stagger to her feet, Arika springs toward her, half-pirouettes and then sends a turning back kick toward the other girl's mid-section. Mostly just hoping to knock her back so she can once more make a dash for the screen with the lyrics so that she can get them back on track.
A Chinese boy, perhaps ten or so -- curiously the only ten year old Chinese boy in the entire room, in spite of the fact that this is Taiwan -- steps forward.
"Finish her, Arika! You can do it! I believe in you!"
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Arika's Heavy Kick.
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Arika
The Chinese boy is, as always, disappointed. He goes, "... I guess not," and makes this exact face:
:(
"Do you even listen to my songs or do you just ask your son for hip insults to make it look like you know what's going on?" Iori spits. "I--" the redhead is rudely interrupted by a Chinese boy yelling.
"I hate that kid," Iori says bitterly.
Takuma doesn't even talk. If looks could kill, the Chinese Boy would be so dead that bad luck charms everywhere developed excruciating pains in their various organs or appendages. He is /seething/.
Finally, in a gravelly, intense voice: "Yagami, we're going to find and kill that boy sometime. You and me. Maybe I'll forgive you for Rickenbricker."
"Rickenbacher," Iori responds dully, perhaps growing tired of dealing with Takuma. "The band is called Rickenbacher."
"Oh," says Takuma. He sounds enlightened.
Sada wobbles for a moment. She draws her teeth back as she lets her lips draw back. She breathes in, breathes out, and stares at that springing, pirouetting kick. She does the only right and sensible thing that she can; she ducks under it. Her legs seem to collapse under her, as she lets the foot pass over her hair, disturbing a ringlet in passing.
The song's gotten to the intermission now, where a recording voice in English is speaking. It drones, like an AM radio baseball announcer, Ok, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here, two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth, there's the wind-up --"
Sada twists the weighted end of the chain around twice swiftly and swings it up abruptly, aiming right straight at the inside of Arika's thigh as she turns around.
"--and there it is, a line shot up the middle, look at him go!" the announcer voice continues!
COMBATSYS: Arika dodges Sada's Medium Strike.
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Arika
The recording continues, "This boy can really fly! He's rounding first and really turning it on now, he's not letting up at all! He's gonna try for second--"
And out of the corner of her eye, Arika catches the chain swinging up toward her thigh. Jumping back and to the side, she glowers at Sada. It takes a good deal of willpower not to call out a taunt, but she doesn't want to lose points! Come on! They were doing so well with the duet before the other girl lost cue!
"--the ball is bobbled out in center, and here comes the throw... and what a throw! He's gonna slide in head first... here he comes... he's out!"
Here Arika comes as well, approaching Sada from the front. Within inches of the other girl, she shoot her arms out and attempts to grab her by the head and pull her ever closer as her knee juts up toward the girl's stomach as she tries to double her over.
COMBATSYS: Sada counters Femme Fatale from Arika with Mount Hiei Reversal.
- Power hit! -
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Sada 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Arika
Sada takes a half step back just as Arika gets within range. The announcer says, "No wait, safe--"
She slices forwards with the tip of the kama as she ducks lower, aiming the downward-inclined strike along the front of Arika, aiming for one of those purple triangles covering the larger woman's "talent." This is not for the titillation of the crowd; Sada knows very well it hurts to get hit there. "Safe at second base!" the announcer recording continues, "this kid really makes things happen out there."
Sada steps back and twirls the weighted end of the chain around as she grins, a little unsteadily. The announcer continues: "Batter steps up to the plate, here's the pitch--"
Oh! What a titillating (pardon the pun) experience for the viewer's at home!
The tip of the kama catches the strap of the bikini top as it slices into Arika's skin. A thin line of blood begins to well up and the punk rock princess immediately brings her hand up to the wound and more importantly? To catch the bikini top before it falls forward.
There will be -no- wardrobe malfunction while Arika's on television. She's just not an exhibitionist type girl!
"--he's going and what a jump he's got! He's trying for third, here's the throw it's--"
Wiping her bloody hand upon her pants and leaving a streak on the light-colored material, she seethes. Running toward Sada, Arika jumps up into the air and comes in at an angle, trying to aim a double-footed kick for Sada's chest before dropping back to the floor in a backsault.
COMBATSYS: Arika successfully hits Sada with Heavy Kick.
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Sada 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Arika
Sada shudders at the impact of the kick. She doesn't cry out; it takes effort. She wants to; it's written on her face as that red flush blanches, abruptly. She staggers to the side, and it is quite possibly only centrifugal force that is keeping her upright.
The announcer drones, "it's in the dirt--safe at third! Holy cow, stolen base! He's taking a pretty big lead out there, almost daring him to try and pick him off."
Sada's legs spread out into a de-facto horse stance, giving her a few more moments before she topples over. She twists the weighted chain around, spinning it with drunken wobbling motions as the announcer drones: "The pitcher glances over, winds up -"
She swings it abruptly then, underhand, perhaps to try and snap the weight up into Arika's stomach! 'And it's bunted, bunted down the third base line -- the suicide squeeze is on!'
COMBATSYS: Sada can no longer fight.
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Arika 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Arika dodges Sada's Spite Musashi Art.
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Arika 0/-------/--=====|
"--Here he comes, squeeze play, it's gonna be close, here's the throw, here's the play at the plate--"
As Arika brings her head up, the weighted end of the chain is coming directly at her again. Ugh. In a very unladylike manner, she drops to her side and rolls until she's flat on her stomach.
Using both hands to push herself up to her feet, the punk rock princess falls right back into cue, though her voice is quite a bit softer now as she's trying to catch her breath at the same time. "Stop right there!" A finger is pointed at Sada, and though the lyrics don't say it, she's got a look on her face that's asking if the other girl can continue. "I gotta know right now! Before we go any further --!"
Sada's answer is to drop to her knees, looking dazed. She doesn't sing the next line; she does slump down to a sitting position in fairly good order, the chain of her weapon rattling on the ground. She is not, it seems, in the right shape to continue.
Her eyes squeeze shut as she does her best, savagely, to suppress the reflex towards tears.
Kurow steps forward from his place in the crowd as he sees Sada fall. The youth doesn't -really- care too much, of course... but then, with the kind of methodology he has, at a certain point everything becomes more about keeping up appearances than any actual investment in a given situation.
This does not mean, of course, that he cannot /look/ as though he's invested in the situation; indeed, there's a certain fire in his eyes, perhaps reminiscent of Batsu Ichimonji's, as he jumps over the dividers. This is one of the reasons he cultivates a 'heel' status within Saturday Night Fight, even though there's a degree to which he values looking innocent; when it really cries out to him, he can bust in and do something.
He walks over toward Arika -- it's a slow, deliberate step. The youth only pauses a moment to glance toward Sada, who presently looks more than a little emotionally vulnerable. Good, he thinks -- that makes this /just/ the right gesture. "Couldn't you have been a little more gentle her first time out?" he asks, as amiable as possible, circling around her such that, if she doesn't move very much, the line between the two of them, if extended, would lead toward a hallway rather than a part of the crowd, or a wall.
There's a blur of motion as his hand stretches outward a little, and he aims a vicious strike toward her midsection. There's some lift to it, too -- if it connects perfectly, it'll actually lift her up and send her flying in addition to the expected physical pain.
COMBATSYS: Kurow has joined the fight here.
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Kurow 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Arika
COMBATSYS: Arika fails to counter Circle Slash from Kurow with Diva Allegro.
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Kurow 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Arika
Arika draws her hand across her throat in order to let the Karaoke DJ to cut the song so that she can approach Sada and make sure the younger girl is alright. A nod from the man running the machine, and the song cuts off an eerie quiet falling over the room.
This quiet is broken by the sound of footsteps as she is about to lean over the other girl, and the punk rock princess looks up at the young man that's lashing out at her verbally.
Until the officials mark the fight as being ended, she's still got to sing. Keeping her voice even, she says with a soft, lyrical lilt, "Didn't mean to 'urt your date, mate." Rhyme on the spur of the moment isn't something the diva is great at, apparently.
The blur of motion coming toward her midriff is swift, but still she tries to lash out at the interrupter. A jab is sent toward his face, her left hand looking to follow through with an energy palmstrike to his chest to knock him back, but his strike hits the mark and sends her flying back against the wall.
No sound comes from her. The karaoke may be finished but the match isn't. Not until they call it. Arika is in a great deal of pain though. Eyes fall shut and she tries to push herself back up to her feet. She's about to rush toward the young man, but an official holds her back at the same time one approaches Kurow to grab him and toss him out of the venue.
Iori grasps inside his jacket for a pair of sunglasses, slipping them on to enhance his impassive appearance. "Shoulda played some Nekromantix or somethin'. This light stuff doesn't cut it."
He watches from behind those shades as Kurow steps out and makes his intentions known way before he actually goes for the kill. The crowd goes wild, eager to see what happens -- they are, after all, getting two fights for the price of one. The SNF crew dutifully continue filming.
"What's wrong?!" Iori suddenly shouts, stepping out into the ring and raising his hand. He grits his teeth as purple flames gather in his outstretched hand, filling the room with an eerie glow. The very air seems to heat up, something that normal chi definitely could not accomplish.
The redhead leans forward, leaping forward with stunning speed as he whirls around in midair, bringing down his flaming fist in a vicious overhead smash that brings an explosion of fire.
"DO YOU FEEL LIKE DYING?! I HATE THE LOOK OF YOU!"
COMBATSYS: Iori has joined the fight here.
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Iori 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Arika 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Kurow with Tsumagushi.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Arika 1/---====/=======|
Sada lifts her head, taking a deep and gulping breath. She then parses the presence of Kurow. "N, no," she manages to get out; her throat is sore from being smacked in it, and so her voice is more of a croak for the moment. (She thinks it'll get better. It had BETTER get better.)
She pushes herself upwards to her feet, the kusarigama clattering near her. "I should have -" She then looks back up in time to see Kurow slam a hand towards Arika.
Her mouth gapes open slightly.
Her head turns then when purple flames burst out of the Yagami scion as he charges forwards towards Kurow. Her mouth hangs open further.
As Kurow starts to be dragged back by officials, he finds himself under assault by Iori Yagami once again; he remembers the last time he fought Iori, and more accurately he remembers crawling away, battered and bloody. Bringing his hands up and rolling to one side in an attempt to get away from said officials and maybe make Iori's attack hurt a little less, Kurow succeeds at neither; the explosion slams him into the ground, already taking the wind cleanly out of his sails.
Yes, this is how this went last time, too; he /really/ doesn't want to be in this position right now. Last time he fought Iori, he underestimated the other man's toughness just a little; this time he knows what he's in for, and he doesn't like it.
"Nngh... damn you, Yagami!" he yells, staying in that rolling ball. He whips his battered body around, going all-out even though it's still early; he doesn't want to give Iori even the slightest opening. "Yasha Guruma!" he yells, as wave after wave of claw-like chi circles around his compact form, now levitating toward Iori.
COMBATSYS: Takuma has joined the fight here.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Takuma
Okay, one hit she can understand. One. One spectator getting upset that she just trounced the other girl. Arika can deal with that. Can deal with the pain that's throbbing through her midsection and keeping her fairly doubled over against the wall. The punk rocker can even deal with someone jumping in in her defense! (Even if it's really not that reason at all!)
A look is given to Sada. A look is given to the group that seems to be gathering around the man that lashed out at her. There's a debate going on in her mind as to whether or not she should pick up something from the nearby desk and toss it toward the guy who started all this after-fight mess, but for now she's content to just sit back and watch from the wall on which she leans for support.
COMBATSYS: Arika takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Iori 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Takuma
COMBATSYS: Takuma fails to counter Yasha Guruma from Kurow with Mouko Burai Gan.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Arika 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Takuma
Takuma, still in the audience, and still very much a MEMBER of the audience, watches the match play out. Sada's subsequent beating earns her a few winces from the older fighter, but Kurow's entry has Takuma up on his feet, pushing past the barriers that seperate crowd from combatants. Nobody 'stops' him - fighting is, after all, something he excels at - but guards complain and make futile attempts to get him to stop what he's doing. This is at about the same time that Iori sprints past the guards in a far more FORCEFUL manner, and... well. Distracts them.
"Oh, for the love of...!" Iori's impulsive beatdown of Kurow has Takuma criticising the rocker's actions, and in a show that has quickly become typical for the elder Sakazaki, he steps between Iori and Kurow, heedless of the danger that stepping BETWEEN attacks might impose on him. One of Takuma's arms lashes out towards Kurow's chi-blade ball thing, in what was SUPPOSED to be an awesome grab, but unfortunately Takuma misses(because he is slamming his hand into a ball of black lol), and the Sakazaki elder is thrown BACKWARDS, grunting rather intensely as he hits the floor hard enough to bounce, once.
"Well! Looks like you're not going to play fair at all, now, are you?" He's slow about getting up, mainly because Iori's there and doing a far better job of things than he seems to be.
Sada feels too sore and bludgeoned to intervene, meaningfully, in this. She wraps an arm against the sorest part of her body - in this case the breasts - and staggers backwards, towards the wall. She breathes heavily , looking as Takuma goes flying. Her eyes widen again. Kurow IS powerful, she realizes, even compared to these giants.
She glances briefly to Arika. She does not seem particularly furious, but she may just be distracted.
"You think something like that can hurt me?!" Iori shouts, spreading his arms wide to receive the attack head on. That is, until Takuma steps right in front of him and summarily eats the strike head on. The redhead stares at the elder Kyokugen master for a beat, mouths the word 'why', and then looks back to Kurow.
Narrowing his eyes, the Yagami scion dashes forwards, throwing a hard left cross across Kurow's chin, followed by a vicious uppercut from the right. With the momentum he's built up, Iori leaps into the air and brings his hands down to utterly destroy any attempt Kurow might field to avoid the attack.
"GRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAUGH!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Kurow with Aoi Hana.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Arika 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Takuma
Kurow throws his hands up and slides back a little from Iori once he finds his footing again -- he's surprised that Sakazaki tried to step in, and is already thinking this is far more than he can handle. He doesn't want to have to fight two of the toughest battles he's ever fought at once, a feeling which is only affirmed by the series of attacks that get swung at him; the cross goes just over one of his arms and hits him in the mouth, which lets Iori's uppercut and slam both the uppercut and the dunk into him, sending him -- in the end -- down into the ground.
"Two on one? Afraid you'd lose one at a time?" Kurow asks, even though he knows that's not the reason -- he's just trying to throw them off. Rushing in toward Iori again with little concern for anything else, he leaps, trying to sink his claws into the other fighter's chest and set himself up for something far, far more vicious...
COMBATSYS: Iori endures Kurow's Kirishima Kyoujuu Reppa.
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Iori 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Arika 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Takuma
Fortunately for him, his claws find their mark (if not, necessarily, because of Kurow's own skill). Pushing toward Iori and trying to send him to the ground, Kurow again rolls into that tight ball and starts to spin chi-claws around himself in a rapid, vicious orbit; this is not the meat of the attack, however, even though it likely does an excellent job of shredding Iori's midsection.
The meat of the attack comes when Kurow takes those sharp fingernails of his (he hadn't bothered to put on his actual claws, not expecting Iori to jump in) and starts to stab them into his newfound opponent's throat repeatedly, trying to maul him as much as possible before the red-haired rocker breaks free.
"And me," Arika says as she pushes herself off of the wall and moves toward the fray once more. Siding with the two that have apparently come to her aid (or just to attack her attacker) she frowns. Cameras are still rolling. The need to rhyme is still there for her. "Makes three," she says with a slight roll of her eyes. Yes, her pitiful rhyming is even making her frustrated.
Knowing that her audience-attacker is likely going to focus on the others, and having the need to defend her win despite how pained she is from slamming back against the wall, the punk rock diva raises her left shoulder up on an angle and gives Kurow a somewhat flirty look and a wink.
The left arm is held out at her side, elbow bent slightly as though she's holding the neck of an electric guitar. Holding her right hand at her stomach, she strums on the air guitar. As her fingers mimic a power chord, a bright explosion of multi-colored energy goes off behind her before it arcs off forward in a beam toward Kurow.
Takuma's back on his feet in a moment - while Kurow's attack wasn't exactly a weak one, Takuma's a tough enough guy to be able to take a knock or three and keep on rollin'. Rollin' enough, as it'd seem, to be able to shout towards Iori in a manner loud enough to be heard OVER the flares of Orochi-tainted flame and Kurow's own palpable fear.
Even as Arika does her pretend guitar stuff and shoots that wave of chi towards Kurow, and Iori takes the boy's hit like a professional, Takuma feels that he has a /part/ to play here... perhaps one that Kurow needs filled to get the concept of "messing with an SNF" out of his head. At least, that is, while the likes of Takuma Sakazaki are around!
And right now, that dashing man, that Takuma Sakazaki is sprinting towards Kurow, seeking to slap two hands onto his shoulders, and drive his knees into the young warrior's stomach perhaps a dozen or so times before kicking him in the face and hopping away from the boy. "THIS IS WHY," he says during the attack, "YOU DON'T TRY TO FUDGE OTHER PEOPLE'S HONEST VICTORIES, DO YOU UNDERSTAND, SON?" Takuma makes sure to hop -very- far away, because... well.
Who knows what Iori has planned?
The music swells and rises, almost like it's thrusting into encouraging the fighters into greater and greater heights of ridiculousness.
Sada feels guilty now. This is getting brutal and Kurow was just - trying to stop her from picking on her, and now they're all leaping on him. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, before forcing out a response that consists of three sung words:
"STOP RIGHT THERE,"
However, she doesn't continue, because she doubles over and starts coughing as her vocal chords inform her /they are not interested in this nonsense/. This may get her run over, as if by the truck!
"HIT ME!" Iori screeches, pounding on his chest. "HIT ME AND MEAN IT!"
And, oh, does he get it. Kurow plows into his chest and starts the flurry of blows, drawing blood from even the redhead's tough skin. The only problem is that Iori is not moving backwards -- he's not giving a single inch to the ninja, soaking every attack with frightening joy. In fact, he's laughing right in the face of the storm!
"Is that it?! LOOKS LIKE IT'S MY TURN!"
Iori whips his hand upwards, his eyes rolling back into his head so only the whites can be seen. In the same gesture, the room is treated to a blast of superheated air as a pillar of supernatural flame explodes from the very ground, plowing upwards where Kurow stands and slamming into the ceiling.
"HRRROOOAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
It is the deadly reversed style #108, the Eight Goblets! Oh shit, Kurow!
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Arika's Siren Song.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Iori 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Takuma
COMBATSYS: Takuma successfully hits Kurow with Shouran Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Iori 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Takuma
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Kurow with Ya Sakazuki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Iori 0/-------/------=|=======\=======\1 Kurow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Takuma
The guitar riff sends a wave of multicolored energy at Kurow, and he leaps up off of Iori, into the air over it; while a perfectly valid technique, this sets him up for two other things. The first -- getting grabbed by Takuma, kneed in the gut, and hit in the face with an enormous kick. He's still ready, though, he thinks he can take at least another hit --
And then that enormous pillar of fire sends Kurow right into the air, burning with the Yagami's dark fire. Every part of him feels like it's getting ripped to shreds -- at this rate he might not even make his own fight with Andy this weekend, depending on just how good Justice High's massage-based healing is. ... when coupled with a boatload of painkillers.
Kurow descends, unusually slowly, from the ceiling. The reason for this becomes apparent as Kurow rolls into a ball, starting into the Demon Wheel... only to pop out of it once he's used it for its true purpose, which is to give him enough momentum in another direction to catch Arika's throat with those sharp, pointy fingernails as he descends. He started this to give her some trouble; if he can't muster much more, he may as well /end/ it giving her some trouble, too, if she's so insistent about not running.
COMBATSYS: Kurow can no longer fight.
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Takuma 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Arika
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Iori 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Arika fails to counter Kinki Chikarasui from Kurow with Diva Allegro.
COMBATSYS: Arika can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Iori 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Takuma
As Kurow's nails dig forcefully into Arika's flesh, he drags her down to the ground with his immense downward momentum; at this point all it is is petty revenge for a million things, only some of which were in her control, but there's nothing wrong with petty revenge, really. Rather than rip her throat out or anything so simple, Kurow begins to rip the chi from her body, using it to keep himself conscious -just- long enough to get back to his feet.
He doesn't say anything, just pulling his claws away while also shoving her forcefully to the ground with his other hand once he's siphoned enough chi out of her; it all vents back out his other arm within seconds, however, and down he goes.
What the He--
OH GOD NO!
Arika shoots a hand up toward Kurow, hoping to catch him on the descent, but her last attempted attack has drained pretty much all of the energy she had left. As the nails dig into her flesh, she holds back a cry of pain. Worst thing she can do at that moment is cry out and cause the blood to pump faster to that area.
There -is- a lot of pain though, and that coupled with the energy leeching on her already fatigued body causes the punk rock diva to ragdoll before she hits the ground. It's only by sheer luck that she doesn't break an arm as she falls. That same luck gives her just enough energy to reach a hand up to her throat and apply pressure to it while she forces herself to stay conscious.
Arika is quickly losing the battle though, her body having been bruised and battered by the jerk from the crowd.
In the scheme of things, maybe it would have been best for her to run off... but a good fighter never backs down when defending their honor, which is what she was doing. The honor of her fight against Sada.
And then the thought hits her... just -why- was this jackass from the crowd defending that other girl so much? In a sanctioned fight no less!
Iori doubles over as the pillar fades, coughing once. He immediately straightens up, rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles as if nothing had happened moments ago despite his ripped and bloody shirt.
"I know that freak. He's from Justice High, and he's in this week's SNF. They've got a nice health package over at Justice, I hear," Iori comments ominously. "Enough that a guy could get taken apart and be put back together by that Kyoko chick in time for your next fight."
The redhead gives a meaningful look to Takuma, as if to say 'if you are ever going to be cool in your life, be cool right now'. That done, he grabs Arika by her arm and throws her over his shoulder. Moving over to Sada, even though she is conscious, he repeats the not-very-gentle action, leaving him laden with various schoolgirls.
Iori stalks back to Kurow, looking down on him. "Hey, jackass. I'm taking these two to Justice and putting them in line for magical voodoo acupuncture or whatever the hell you guys do up there. You, on the other hand, are going home with Takuma where he's probably going to have a bear give you a sensual rubdown. Have fun, prettyboy!"
Iori then stalks out of the room. With people on his shoulders.
COMBATSYS: Iori has left the fight here.
It's a good thing that Iori thinks along the same lines as Takuma does, or else Takuma might feel snubbed or something. Regardless, the older man watches Iori stalk around the room, grab the girls, and storm outside in his typical, emotional and all-too-cool manner. Even before Iori leaves, Takuma's hearty, deep laughter is echoing around the room -- fans are staring at him, worriedly, wondering what he finds so damn funny about this situation.
"That Yagami boy," chortles Takuma on his way across the clearing in the center of the room. "He's a good kid, if you can take away all of that attitude! Likes to think he's the most important person in the room. I'd normally give him a what-for, but -damn- if he can't conjure up the biggest firestorm I've ever seen." Takuma clucks his tongue before dropping to a knee and rather carelessly hefting Kurow onto a shoulder. "And don't worry, son. We won't let the bear touch you. Yuri's been practicing her rubdowns for a few weeks now and the last /I'd/ heard, she's good enough to make the pain actually go away on a good day! Har!" More laughter leaves the elder's mouth on his way -out- of the arena, and it leaves one to wonder.
Is Yuri really a better outcome than the bear? Poor Kurow.
If Kurow were conscious, this might be cause for even him to cry.
Fortunately, he is not.
Sada is suddenly put over the shoulder of the Yagami scion and possible last of his race, unless he can get a girl to hold still. (Arika?)
She lifts her head to look after the fallen Kurow. She feels her eyes water for another moment, although it isn't something she can explain. Even if it was stupid and unneccessary, he still leapt up - and got beaten down - on her behalf. It was just kindness.
But.
She coughs, once, and says in a raspy voice, "We're... in Taiwan, sir... uh... do you h... have a plane?" Maybe he does. Maybe he can GET one.
Hopefully, without murder.
COMBATSYS: Takuma has ended the fight here.
There would be quite a bit the punk rock princess would say if she could hear Sada's thoughts. Thankfully, she's not in any way, shape or form, psychic.
With her hand still at her throat, she tries to speak and then thinks better of it. The name Arika was trying to speak is just frozen on her lips as she finally slips into the sweet unconsciousness her body desires.
And hopefully there -is- a plane that will get them home... and hopefully neither her -nor- her original opponent are treated inappropriately in their various stages of consciousness. Not that she'd be able to protest, but she'd be pretty darn angry come morning.
Log created on 14:32:48 05/20/2007 by Kobun, and last modified on 17:03:01 05/20/2007.