Description: Unexpectedly detained in the Seoul airport, Soma and Hotaru -- both headed to other parts of Asia -- consent to having a Neo League fight to cut the boredom. (Winner: Hotaru)
One really has to hand it to the Masters Foundation people: when they see an opportunity to set up a league fight, they pounce on it with impressive vigor. The whole Thailand affair has recalled Soma away from special confidential assignment; the central office of the Special Crimes Directorate has given the agent new marching orders along with a brief addition to his cover identity. Currently serving as a "freelance correspondent" for the BBC -- complete with Whitehall-minted press pass -- Soma is currently en route to southeast Asia to, ostensibly, aid local police in the fight against Shadaloo.
He had been off the JAL flight into Seoul for approximately ten minutes before his cell phone rang, informing him that there was an opportunity for a league fight as another fighter was passing through the area, and would he mind if they set it up during his five hour layover in the city? Astonished at their information gathering service (and, admittedly, slightly envious) the undercover agent reluctantly acceded, presuming that they would set everything up.
And they did. Currently, an area of the massive departures area at Incheon Airport is roped off, busy travellers skirting around it and some bored passersby staying as everyone sets up and gets ready. Soma is currently sipping a chai latte from a Starbucks cup (they really are everywhere) and observing a nearby tall, black sign reading "THANK YOU FOR VISITING KOREA" in white letters on black, in Korean characters underneath. An adorable white bear mascot waves cheerily at departing passengers, a touch that makes the Fighting Novelist's eyebrow twitch slightly. His opponent better show up soon.
For Hotaru it's a couple days out of class, a few nights away from the Kyokugen Dojo where she has set up residence, and the chance to see another part of the world while engaging in the activity that is most important to her. Whenever the Neo League sends the girl an invite, she pretty much always jumps on the chance - each trip another adventure, a new opponent to face, a new challenge to test herself against.
When Hotaru Futaba approaches the stage being set up, she has in her company a small group of people with whom she converses. Newly made friends, locals she's never met before. It seems to happen wherever she goes. Right now they're chatting and laughing, one of the girls having just finished a funny story. "Thank you for the company," Hotaru excuses herself from the small group and approaches the stage.
She has on her normal fighting outfit, but it's currently beneath a long, blue, Chinese-styled coat that hangs down past her knees. But she has no intent in fighting in it. As she walks over, she unbuckles the straps in the front so that she can shrug the garment into her arms before handing it off to an official with a smile of appreciation.
This time she had no advanced information on who her opponent would be. But when her eyes come to rest on Soma, she recognizes him immediately as a previous SNF teammate. Stretching her arms out at her sides for a moment, she then steeples her hands in front of her and bows toward Soma, "Looking forward to the fight. Nice to see you again!" At first she tries to remember what she can of Soma's style, how the fight before transpired. But she was mostly occupied with Miu at the time anyway... Besides, seconds later her gaze wanders past the seated fighter to come to rest upon the bear mascot, eyes widening noticeably as she adopts an 'Awwwwwh' expression.
The dark-skinned youth blinks, cup of chai frozen at his lips for a moment, as Hotaru approaches. However, he takes her sudden appearance in stride, finishing his sip and then finding a trash can to put the now-empty paper cup into. Waste in the proper receptacles, please and thank you! Hmmm... he recognizes her too, though it takes him longer to remember. After all, Tenma hit him quite hard in that fight and, toward the end, everything is a little blurry. "Oh, hello... sorry, I've forgotten your name, but yes, I do remember you." He also remembers, now with increasing clarity, how Hotaru made short work of her opponent in that tag team match. Well, at least she'll be a challenge.
Linking his fingers together, the black-clad undercover agent stretches, the midriff-exposing bolero jacket pushing upward to reveal more of the gray shirt underneath, the only real splash of color in his mostly monochromatic outfit. "Well, shall we give airport security the scare of their lives and get this show on the road?" He walks over to the ring and hops over the low rope, a token sort of affair -- the people in the airport know to keep their distance, with Neo League crews running interference. "I could probably use the warmup before I get to Thailand anyway. I expect getting the real story on the front lines is going to be an exercise in athletics, for sure." And that's not even a lie.
COMBATSYS: Soma has started a fight here.
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Soma 0/-------/-------|
"It's okay, Soma," Hotaru replies with a bit of a grin. "It's Hotaru." She follows him over, getting over the rope with just a short hop, herself. At his comment about getting the security's blood pumping with some action, the Japanese kid laughs lightly, walking to a spot a little off-center from the middle of the cordoned off area.
As he begins to speak about the real purpose of his trip out this way, she looks suddenly curious. "You're headed into /Thailand/?" The tone suggests he might as well have said he was on his way to jumping into the pit of a volcano for how safe the idea was going to be. "That seems like a really dangerous thing to do to get a story." she comments, her tone changing to one that suggests maybe a little concern combined with doubt about him making the most prudent of decisions. "Still, I wish I could help some of the people there..." Her voice drifts to silence as she seems to touch upon a thought that has been on her mind for a couple of days now.
Shaking her head, she claps her cheeks once as if to snap herself out of whatever reverie she seems to have fallen into. That done, she breaths in deeply while crossing her arms in front of her before exhaling slowly, unfolding her arms to slip into a ready stance. Her posture has her side facing toward Soma as if presenting him with as small a target as possible to aim for. "All right! I'm ready to see what you can do!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Soma
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Soma
Oh, right... Hotaru. Soma grins a little, good-naturedly; the sudden swath of perfectly white teeth against his dark skin and darker clothing has an almost unnerving, Cheshire Cat-like effect. "My memory of that night is a little fuzzy, honestly... I just remember nightmares about clowns for a few days." Mention of Thailand, of course, makes him serious again, but he is doing some warm-up stretching in the lull and is feeling conversational, his tone even and light as he discusses it. "It's a BBC contract job... they felt that since I have a fighting background, I'd be less likely to be KIA trying to cover front line news. Terribly pleasant way to look at it, what?"
Interestingly, his opponent has decided to let him take the first move. Chivalry isn't dead, but Soma does know Hotaru to be a highly skilled fighter, and thus doesn't disrespect her by declining. With a flick of both wrists, the unique silver-black shapes of his personal daggers fall into his hands, held blade-backwards. How'd he get those through security? "Right, then... good luck to you." And then he doesn't waste any time; ducking forward, he twists and then lashes out at Hotaru's side, looking to drive the hilt of one dagger in a kind of impromptu punch. No sense cutting up a lady if it can be avoided, after all.
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Soma
A slight shake of her head at the morbid idea of sending a man in to get a story is all Hotaru has time to react with for the moment. She would have to give it more thought to realize that without people brave enough to do what Soma is willing to do, the world might not really know what is going on behind the curtain of Thailand's borders. But the naivete of youth and the lack of time to give it deep thought prevents her from thinking about it that way.
"Likewise," she offers with a friendly voice as he wishes her luck, and then she's serious, her smile melting into a neutral expression, her eyes narrowing slightly as she focuses. When Soma comes in, she tries to avoid him like one might expect from such a small statured fighter, but the hilt strikes her in the side like he intended. Thank goodness she need not worry about a stab wound just yet.
Wincing a little, she isn't knocked aside however like she might have if Soma had put his all into the strike. And the new proximity does let her attempt to deliver her own starting attack. Both of her hands reach out, trying to grip a tight hold of Soma's extended arm. If she can latch on, she'll use the leverage to pull herself up into a series of rapid kicks right up the front of him, leading to a backflip in the end as she spins away from him through the air.
COMBATSYS: Soma blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Soma
Hopping backwards, Soma is quick to put himself on the defensive, knowing that this particular opponent is quite nimble. It's a good thing he does, too; while he can't stop Hotaru from yanking him forward, he can blunt the sudden salvo of footsteps as she attempts to effectively run up his body. Going slightly limp for flexibility, he thrusts his other arm forward and pushes up against Hotaru's kicks, blunting the sudden salvo. Still... that stung, the fighter forced back a few steps.
"Agh... ow," he murmurs, bringing his hands into his sleeves and letting the daggers disappear. Instead, he pulls his hands back out and concentrates, letting a pair of insubstantial energy 'knives' form in each hand, semi-real forms of silver energy lined in crackling black. "Soul Fencer, set..." Soma murmurs, before dashing forward and looking to simply slice an 'X' across Hotaru's tummy with the new weapons. Of course, they don't draw blood like real knives, but they sting all the same if they connect.
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Hotaru with Gemini.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Soma
Having Soma manage to fend off the worst of her first attack leaves Hotaru's backflip through the air a little unsteady. No worries, she tells herself, she'll recover her footing quickly when she hits the ground. But Soma is right there on her the second her toes are grounded.
Thinking he's swinging real knives at first, starting to remember more about his style, the girl strikes out in an attempt to parry them like they're some kind of physical object that can be knocked aside. But her hands pass right through and his energy-slashes strike her in the stomach as intended, bending the girl over a bit as she stumbles back a couple of steps with a gasp, one hand pressing against the point of impact warily.
On one hand, she's glad she didn't just get cut open. On the other hand, that still REALLY hurt and she's going to need to be more cautious with this fighter. "Faster than I remembered," she murmurs, and then she's charging again, leaping into the air, spinning her body around once to build up momentum. Before she lands, she swings out with two rapid windmilling strikes, an attempt to get him to defend high.
The real brunt of the attack is what comes second. The moment her feet are planted, she leans forward into a powerful palm press toward his stomach. You go for her tummy and she goes for yours, it seems like! She leans hard into the attack lending the strength of her legs and torso to her less impressive arm strength, "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Soma endures Hotaru's Soushou Shin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Soma
"I have to be," Soma responds coolly, the energy knives in his hands dissipating without the concentration to keep them there. His dark purple eyes track Hotaru as she leaps skyward, and as she begins the highly complex acrobatic maneuver Soma realizes that mounting an appropriate defense probably isn't going to work. So he does the only thing he can think of to do, which is let Hotaru hit him. Of course, she can probably tell as the initial spin connects that the blows are connecting, but not in the right places... and as the palm strike drives into his stomach, Hotaru will find that while the blow lands, the undercover agent has maneuvered himself just so that his extended back foot keeps him from moving.
"Especially with fighters like you who hit rather hard!" Deciding to do something a little fancy, Soma takes a page from Hotaru's book and uses the proximity to try and push a foot into her stomach, then jump back from her with the effort. His left hand swings around, his curious dagger already in his grip, and with a swiping motion the blade -- detached from the hilt and connected by wire, like a whip -- makes a scythe through the air toward her stomach. It would appear the kid gloves are off, but he at least appears apologetic. "Sorry about this."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Soma's Fierce Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Soma
She's surprised to find that he can even stay standing after the blow to his stomach. Bigger men than Soma have been driven to their knees by the direct hit, delivered with all the skill and precision a master of Kung Fu would be proud of.
Having leaned so hard into the attack, it's not hard for him to catch Hotaru before she can recover. She takes the knee to the stomach, staggering back a step as a result. But she isn't put out of it so much that she can't see the next attack coming. Or, at least, sort of get the gist of it. She doesn't see the wire, but the blade flying through the air is best avoided! She pulls her stomach back, her upper body leaning forward to compensate for balance. There is a sound of cloth slicing, but other than a thin cut in her blue vest, the swift fighter seems to have avoided the worst part of the attack.
There's no smile now, the girl can see his style is quite dangerous to toy around with and she isn't interested in getting to know more about those blades up close and personal. Gritting her teeth, Hotaru runs forward, this time staying out of the air. A yard out she drops to the ground and slides along, attempting to deliver a sliding kick to Soma's shin. Hardly a powerful attack, but it might be the start of shacking his stance loose.
COMBATSYS: Soma fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Weapon Jab.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Soma
Hotaru might be interested to know, if she were telepathic, that Soma's resort to using his weapon-based style in earnest is a response to precise, crushing physical blows... not what one would expect from a friendly-looking young girl. As Hotaru comes in toward him the undercover agent is retracting the wire-dagger's blade back to the hilt. He has this great idea of using the momentum of the retraction to swing around and drive the hilt of the knife into Hotaru's incoming leg, but the timing is not as easy as the mental image suggests. The dark-clad Fighting Novelist drops to the ground unceremoniously, and it is a moment or two before he gets back up, shaking out his limbs. That stung.
Her slide kick comes to a stop some feet away and the girl rises back up into a standing position, turning around to gauge the results of her last attack. She doesn't press the attack before he gets up. She strikes hard, but she isn't a vicious fighter. By nature, anyway - some opponents have successfully provoked another side of the friendly appearing girl.
But once he is on his feet again, the fight continues with the same frantic speed Hotaru has been trying to maintain from the beginning. She takes two swift steps forward then leaps directly at Soma as if intending to tackle him head on. But before that could happen, she'll attempt to plant her two hands on his shoulders. If she manages to connect, she'll take a split second to swap her hands to the opposite shoulder, before she drops down out of the handstand to drive both of her feet into his back in an attempt to send him either stumbling or flying off his feet.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Soma with Ten Ranku-Tou.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Soma
Soma had planned to simply blow through that strike, but sadly it isn't meant to be. It comes down to making your body loose enough to bend but keeping your stance firm enough not to be moved. It's tricky, and it's complex, and in this case it doesn't work. Soma retains his supple stance but fails to keep his balance, and so Hotaru's blow lands with crushing force instead of minimized and managable force, the undercover agent slamming into the ground with a loud *THUD*.
However, he doesn't stay on the ground long. Pushing forward with both hands, he kippups into a crouch and then moonsaults backwards, hopefully over Hotaru's head. "I guess I have to use the big guns!" he says sharply, snapping out one knife glowing with a halo of silver-black energy. If he can make contact with Hotaru, he strikes forward with the knife... a shallow stab, barely enough to push through the surface and certainly not enough to pierce anything vital. However, the *aim* is at a particular point, a nerve cluster in the lower back that carries the sudden burst of energy charging into the dagger through the body. The damage is almost entirely internal.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Soma's Sagittarius.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Soma
The thing about dealing with fighters with weapons is that the 'big guns' are really pretty scary, unless you're keen on being slashed, bashed, diced, or stabbed. So the warning shout, perhaps intended to intimdate or just warn, serves to panic the girl, making her a bit more jumpy than she would normally be.
As Soma makes it over the top of her, the girl sprints forward at an almost frantic speed of motion. That isn't to say that she is going to run around the area completely, as she does slide to a stop several feet away and turn around to come back and catch the young man off guard if possible. But the speed at which she manages to come back at him is slower, trying to adjust for the hurried escape from his last attack.
Rushing close, the girl will attempt grab hold of his arm as she runs by. If she can get a hold, she'll flip backward, as if to land in front of him again, while twisting his arm behind him and up and back as well. The end result would either be a dislocated shoulder or a faceplant into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Soma fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Hotaru with Light Kick.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Soma
Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men. Hotaru's speed is entirely overwhelming Soma, who is in fact not all that quick himself; he is capable of some bursts of speed which are quite impressive, in fact, but they are directed, focused things. If he's going to keep up, he's got to intercept Hotaru's attacks before she can make them. Case in point: as she grabs his arm, Soma attempts a rather complex maneuver, swinging his leg up to hopefully drive it into Hotaru's side with a swift snap kick. However, all the fancy work does is make him lose his balance, sending him crashing to the floor in a heap. "This probably isn't doing a lot for my career, is it..." he murmurs, getting to his feet and grimacing at the intense pain in his spine.
Landing on her feet after yet another acrobatic attack, Hotaru takes a few steps back. She can tell she's cutting it pretty close. Three or four times, she came precariously close to not making it out of an attack attempt without a serious injury. What may seem like failure to the novelist is a series of close calls to his opponent. Hotaru's style depends on not letting attacks sink home if she wants to have any prayer at all.
She smiles faintly at his frustration though. She knows full well how that can feel, having put herself into matches recently where she was severely outmaneuvered. Still, the match must go on and to hold back wouldn't be properly respectful.
Breathing in, then exhaling, collecting herself after the frantic pacing of the last few exchanged blows, Hotaru rolls her arm back, bathing her arm in a blue aura as she focuses a small sphere of chi into the palm of her hand. It takes a second of build up, but when she finally swings her arm forward to unleash it, the shimmering sphere of power moves through the air with a respectable amount of speed. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Soma with Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 Soma
Soma just doesn't have it in him. It's not necessarily lack of will -- in fact, he'd quite like to muster some sort of counteroffensive, make some sort of showing -- but his body is betraying him, battered as it is by Hotaru's relentless assault. Hoping to buy himself some time and minimize the damage, give him a moment to use the fighting spirit he's been building up. Sadly, he's just not prepared for the ferocity of Hotaru's chi strike, which powers through his crossed arms and sends him sprawling to the ground at the opposite end of the roped-off area, the cordon supporting his upper body as the undercover agent skids to a stop.
He doesn't bother to get up; his strength is gone and Hotaru, through fairly effective application of skill, has won fair and square. From his sitting position, Soma gives his opponent a weak salute and a wry smile. "Well, I did say... I wanted to be toughened up for Thailand, right?" he murmurs. "Nicely done, Hotaru." Looks like this match goes to the girl in blue.
COMBATSYS: Soma takes no action.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Soma can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|
As the fireball leaves her fingers, Hotaru lowers her arm, the blue aura fading away as if melting back into her skin. Her opposite hand reaches over and clenches her forearm, as if feeling a burn from the effort the ending chi blast required of her. But the sacifice in effort paid off, managing to finish wearing down her opponent, sparing her any brutal wounds this time.
Still clenching her wrist, the girl walks over to the author as he concedes the fight. Still standing, she nods her head slightly as he brings up his trip to Thailand again, a somber look in her blue eyes. Slowly she lowers her arms, clasping her hands behind her back. "I've thought about what you're doing. Going over there... To Thailand. It's really important. I'm honored to have faced a man brave enough to risk his life to get the truth out for the rest of us." She bows her head once out of respect before backing off. "You take care of yourself over there, okay? BBC you said it was? I'll be watching for the report." she finishes before turning around to speak with the officials about the completed match and to make travel arrangements.
Her journey is back home, to school, to training, to practice. His trip is to a country in turmoil, where innocents are being crushed beneath military oppression. Shaking her head slowly, a sinking feeling in her stomach, Hotaru reminds herself to be grateful for what she has.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 00:36:39 06/06/2007 by Soma, and last modified on 20:36:17 06/12/2007.