Jinchuu - [Pre] Along Came A Spider

Description: [Riko vs. Aranha] A note, unsigned. A date, a time. A place, a rooftop...a trap.



Twilight.

Yet...in a city like Southtown, that's not the end of the day. That's just when things start to get interesting. When the sky gets dark... that's when the lights come on. A city ablaze. Neon signs, lit streets. The wonders of the urban age.

Traffic flows by. Streaming down the roads. People walk upon the sidewalks. Every block, every corner, every road and every street.

But up on the roofs, things are quieter. A world apart from the life below. Empty expanses of concrete and metal - ventilation shafts, ducts, air conditioning units. Rooftop after rooftop, far above street level.

Not a place where many venture.

But a place that shouldn't be alien to someone like Keith Mason - "Aranha". A fighter, a cat burglar in a past life. An expert in Parkour, in freestyle climbing. No, these heights should be familiar to him.

Of course, the circumstances under which he's here today... that might be unusual.

A message, slipped beneath the door of his current place of residence. Words printed in a neat hand. A date, a time, a place. Here, at the very top of an innoculous townhouse block in Southtown Village.

No name. No identity.

Nothing besides the time and location.

So...

...along came a spider?

Aranha does show up. He had to find out if this meeting would just be yet another reminder of the life he wanted to leave behind. Of course he still had to find out what this fight was all about.

The message was folded up in his pocket and he reached into the other pocket for his Oakley Thumps only to be reminded of the destruction of his sunglasses at the hands of the leader of Blackjack. The frown brought on his face by said reminder.

Keith walks back and forth pacing as he waits for the person he's supposed to meet. For some reason he finds keeping still so hard right now.

"Ooh, good!"

It's a light voice, a cheerful voice. A high, young-sounding soprano, piercing the shadows on the rooftop.

"You're here! That's awesome. You never know with these mysterious messages..."

Upon the building's fire escape is a silhouetted figure, framed against the city skyline. A figure that wasn't there a moment ago.

"I mean, they're dramatic and all that, but they're not really /reliable/ ways to arrange meetings, you know?"

It's a small shape. A lithe shape. Female. Crouched upon the railing at the very edge of the fire escape, balancing on the narrow strip of metal. A pose all the more precarious...since it seems the girl is wearing /in-line skates/.

Her eyes flash in the darkness. Teeth gleam in a bright smile. She's dressed simply, in a t-shirt, shorts, and said skates. Her hair's trimmed in a neat pageboy cut, framing her eyes. And her headband - a ninja hitae-ate.

Riko Koganei.

Aranha raises an eyebrow at the inline ninja as she makes her presence known. Other than that subtle display of emotion, he face remains neutral. "Of course I had to come. I wanted to know who had been trying to get my attention. So why am I here?"

He moves a bit closer to the fire escape but since he doesn't have his music with him, he begins to hum a lightly as if trying to determine how much of a threat she is. He doesn't take anything for granted after all, his fellow capoeirista, Momoko managed to have him on the ropes for most of the fight.

The girl smirks, the grin on her face widening.

Her eyes glint in the darkness, glowing with light reflected from the street below.

"Oh," Riko says, "it's very simple..."

Her weight shifts, fractionally. Her feet move, skates grinding against the railing - the narrow length of metal she's crouched on. One wheel rolls against the tubular steel of the fire escape, polyurethane scraping against rust.

".../we/ just want to see..."

She puts a special emphasis on the plural.

"...what you can do."

A shriek cuts the air. The jarring sound of tearing metal. The sound of a skate boot slamming -hard- into the railing, driven down with explosive force. Enough power that the metal, rusted and corroded in spots, just gives way. A section of the fire escape rail rips free...

...spins in space...

...and rockets towards the man called Aranha.

COMBATSYS: Riko has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Riko             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Riko             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Aranha


COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Riko's Thrown Object.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Riko             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Aranha


"Why is everybody trying to test me?" When Aranha says that, there's no sign of anger to his voice. If anything, the man sounds somewhat amused. Of course when he sees the railing flying towards him he suddenly leans backwards as the railing passes harmlessly over his body.

The humming begins to get louder as he begins to move in ginga pumping himself up before throwing his body up into the air twisting his body around and dropping down on top of the ninja two feet first.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Riko with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Riko             0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0           Aranha


And his doubled heels slam into the girl's narrow torso, smashing hard into her abdomen. Riko gives an involuntary hiss of breath, air driven from her lungs. She topples off her perch, falling from the railing. She plummets through space, down, down, down.

But then one of her legs snakes out, her foot catching a lower rung of the fire escape, about one storey down. The hard plastic of her skate boot rings against the metal.

The ninja girl comes to an abrupt halt, her fall arrested. She hangs upside down by one foot, lifting her head to look up at Aranha.

"Maybe you're popular," she replies, conversationally.

With a quick twist, she flips round, sending herself flying upward. Speeding towards the former thief, fast, fast, fast. As she moves, Riko's hands slip together, her fingers flashing into a distinct form. Joining, fingertips touching.

When she reaches the apex of her flight, Riko /lights up/, blue energy engulfing her body, cracking in forks of lightning. She blasts back onto roof level like a glowing jack-in-the-box. Bright, bright, bright.

"Maybe you just got one of those faces?"

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Riko's Light Fantastic.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Riko             0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Aranha


Aranha manages to spin away after delivering the impact of the powerful kick. It barely allows him to react to the attack but he's given just enough time. He catches the initial impact on his forearm and and twists around to deliver a kick only to realize she's flying beyond him and up to the rooftop.

He hops over the remnants of the rail and onto a narrow ledge allowing him to walk along wall before getting to a gutter which he quickly climbs up and then he pulls himself up to the roof top. "You know, that's a distinct possibility."

Aranha then quickly closes the distance with a series of cartwheels and a back handspring to set up a glowing round house kick into a spinning jump kick engulfed in chi and then finishing with a glowing back flip kick.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Riko with Aggressive Dance.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Riko             0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0           Aranha


The energy-shrouded kicks slam into the small girl. They snap her head around, crash into her jaw. She reels, her skated feet slip-sliding across the rooftop. She skids to a halt, head bowed, eyes closed.

Then she looks up, staring straight at Aranha.

"Right," Riko chirps. Cheerfully. Unnaturally so, for someone just kicked so soundly in the face. But if she's injured, she certainly isn't -acting- like it.

"So clearly, this fight isn't -my- fault!"

She goes rolling backwards, gliding across the rooftop like a ghost on wheels.

"It's yours, for attracting me!"

COMBATSYS: Riko gains composure.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Riko             0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Aranha


"Hey. I'm not complainin'," the spider says with a toothy grin. "Just make it fun and I have no complaints." Even if doesn't act like she was kicked soundly he can tell he had some effect on her. As she skates backward he weaves side to side as he attempts to close the distance.

A few moments of weaving he drops on all fours and begins to crawl on the ground much like a spider closing the remaining gap as quickly as he can before moving his torso slightly past Riko and then whipping a heel at her head from the position in an attack that sort of resembles an attack from a scorpion's tail.

COMBATSYS: Riko fails to interrupt Short Kick from Aranha with Metamysticparallectrolysis EX.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Riko             0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Aranha


"Really?"

A heavy impact, echoing across the rooftop. Aranha's heel slamming into the palm of Riko's hand, a heavy impact that jars the slightly-built girl. She caught the kick, but the wince that crosses her face bears silent witness to the fact that the attack hit harder than she expected. Riko disengages. She slips back, fingers flexing slightly, hand rotating at the wrist. She winces again.

She doesn't give voice to the pain, though. Instead, when she speaks, it's in the same light tone. Betraying no sign of agony.

"That's an enlightened attitude."

A smile appears, on his face as he looks at the ninja and says, "Well you haven't really given me a reason to not have fun with this. Based on what I've seen out of you so far I think you might have fun with what I'm about to do next!"

Aranha suddenly breaks into a run, abandoning the Capoeira ginga or any movements that would point to it being his attack method he goes into a run and leaps up and vaults over the small ninja kicking out behind him after he passes her and kicking her back in the process.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Riko with Light Kick.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Riko             0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0           Aranha


Once the kick lands and he lands from the vault he continues into the run he had previously broke into as he leaps from the first rooftop onto the next and dropping into a roll after landing on that new roof. "Catch me if you can," using a singsong voice as he comes out of the roll and into a run. He spies a ladder which he runs to and rapidly slides down leading to the next fire escape. Sure he's doing this to have fun but he's also doing this from the tactical stand point of controlling the field of battle.

Riko lies on the rooftop. The first roof, the one this fight started on. She's on her knees, hands flat against the concrete surface. Her head's down. Her ribs heave, as she breathes heavily. Her spine aches, her backbone sending messages of protest from where Aranha kicked her.

But when she actually looks up, her eyes are dancing. The expression on her face is one of amusement. She smiles.

"Catch you?"

Riko lifts one hand. She flicks her wrist. A black box smacks into her palm, plastic against skin.

She called Aranha out. She's the one who wanted this fight, after all. And she called him to this rooftop specifically /because/ she wanted to see the former thief in his element. In motion, across an urban landscape. Now he's moving. That's what she expected.

But just because she wanted to see Aranha in action...

...doesn't mean she's going to make things easy for him.

Riko picked the time. Riko picked the place.

Her fingers close round the remote in her hand. She thumbs a button. A red LED flares.

And then a line of /explosions/ lights the skyline. Charges detonating in perfect sequence, crisscrossing a rooftop - just in front of Aranha.

Under his feet.

And cutting off his route.

COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Aranha with Improvised Tactics.
- Power hit! -

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riko             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Aranha


[OOC] Aranha says, "HAHAHA"
[OOC] Riko snrk.
[OOC] Aranha says, "If I was gonna fail spectacularly, I'm glad it was on that one."
[OOC] Riko says, "Well, it was dramatic. =P"

Aranha happens to look down at just the right moment to see the criss crossing explosions. "Oh shi..." He mutters as he realizes that she planned for that all along.

He tries to launch himself past the explosions and it looks like he might make it but he doesn't quite clear it and enough of the explosion catches him and throws him up into the air it flings him where he wants to go but not quite in the way he wanted to and he's launched head over heels and off the rooftop.

He begins to fall for awhile before swinging a hand out to catch a fire escape. He's currently in too vulnerable a position to even attempt a counter attack and too far away. Instead he's going to try to figure out what else this ninja has in store for him as he tries to muscle himself back up.

COMBATSYS: Aranha takes no action.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riko             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Aranha


A dull glow suffuses the air. Lingering for a moment before it fades. Red hot debris. Shards of broken concrete, twisted metal. Then there's the smoke, an acrid stench, wisps swirling over the blast zone.

Riko touches down lightly, landing after a long acrobatic leap...on the same rooftop as Aranha. Across from where the former cat burglar is, even now, clawing his way back to solid ground. As solid as the roof surface is, anyway. As Riko's just proved, it might not be as solid as one thinks.

The little ninja girl grins lopsidedly. She rolls forward, then - and, sweeping an arm, scoops up a twisted ventilation duct cover, ripped from its moorings by the force of the explosion. She twirls it for a moment...before sending it spinning at Aranha, tossing it like a warped frisbee.

She's still smiling.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Riko's Thrown Object.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riko             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1           Aranha


Aranha manages to finally manages to pull himself up and then spin out of the way of the ventilation duct cover and then he leaps over to a fire escape on another building but this one has a narrow alley that allows him to kick off the walls back and forth until he's able to get to the rooftop of this new building.

From this rooftop which is a bit higher than the rooftop that Riko is currently on, he leaps out with one foot out as he tries to land the kick on her shoulder and clip her with it then move by before breaking off into another run past her.

COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Aranha's Sky's the Limit.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Riko             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Aranha


Or at least he -would- have clipped Riko. Except that the little ninja isn't there. The kick goes wide, Aranha's heel cleaving through empty space. It should have hit. By all rights, it should have. But it missed. Not by much. Barely an inch - his foot comes close, very close, to Riko's torso. So close it nearly brushes the fabric of her t-shirt. So close... and yet so far.

The girl didn't -seem- to move. She didn't bend, didn't leap aside, didn't so much as twitch a muscle. But she changed position all the same. Her skate wheels rolling upon the roof surface, apparently spinning of their own accord.

Or...not quite. Not exactly. They're heavy wheels, with solid metal axels and cores. Worn by a girl who commands /electricity/ in her chi. Electricity through metal is magnetism. Magnetism, under the right conditions, leads to motion. The basic principle of a motor.

And with another surge of chi, those wheels /spin/, screeching, sparking, crashing into the concrete of the rooftop.

Riko /accelerates/, going from zero to mind-bending speed in the literal blink of an eye. Riko races after Aranha, aiming to smash into him like a human rocket - and tackle him right off the building.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Riko's One Hit Wonder.

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Riko             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Aranha


It's fortunate that Aranha is likewise moving at mind bending speed. He hears the skates for just a moment before he reacts. He leans to the side as if he's about to perform a cartwheel but he stops in a handstand and swings his arm around to generate momentum for a handspin which not only has the effect of looking damn flashy, it also has the effect of allowing him to see where Riko is after he dodges her charge. "You know, that was pretty close."

He continues walking on his hands as he moves towards Riko. Sure the moment is slow but then it suddenly picks up speed whipping his legs in a spin as he strikes from the handstand position.

COMBATSYS: Riko blocks Aranha's Inverted Tornado.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Riko             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Aranha


Sparks flash across the rooftop as Riko skids to an abrupt halt, braking hard, bleeding off her momentum. Her eyes dart towards Aranha as he comes toward her. Her arms move, even as his legs spin. Her forearms rise, protecting her head and body - she blocks the whirling maelstrom that is Aranha, weathering the storm. And then, as he slows, Riko launches a kick of her own, snapping a skate-clad heel forward, pounding her boot towards his head.

"Close yourself!"

COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Light Kick from Riko with Vingativa EX.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Riko             0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1           Aranha


Aranha quickly drops out of the spin as he drops down with one leg extended as he tries to press his leg to the back of the ninja's leg as he attempts to slip past Riko's kick. Unfortunately he's unable to maneuver around the kick and manages to catch the wheels on his face before he can complete the rest of the technique.

He hops backwards trying to get some distance between himself and Riko and asks Riko, "I probably won't get answer but I figured I might as well ask anyway. Who besides you consist of this 'we' you were talking about earlier?" He sways left and right as he goes into ginga.

"Why?"

Riko blinks her eyes - intentionally open wide and gleaming. She pouts her lip, bats her lashes, the very picture of affronted innocence. She rests a hand over her heart, fingers splayed.

"Would I lie to you?"

She peers at Aranha across the rooftop, watching the other fighter as he opens up space between them. A breeze curls across the roof, whipping Riko's hair around. Across her face, hiding her expression.

"Me and Seishirou-sama," she says.

A factual answer. Also one that doesn't explain much at all, if Aranha doesn't recognise the name of Seishirou Ryouhara.

He might. Seishirou, after all, has a certain reputation in the fighting circuit.

Or he might not. It's a reputation, but not -that- much of one.

It doesn't matter, though.

Because Riko's coming at Aranha, now - no time to think, just react. Blasting across the roof, skate wheels rolling. Her hand whipping forward, a razor-sharp chunk of twisted metal suddenly clutched in her palm. Debris from the explosions, earlier. But when did she pick that up?

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Riko's Weapon Jab.

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Riko             0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1           Aranha


"Just call it curiosity." he says as he brings up a forearm to intercept the chunk of metal gaining little more than shallow scratch. He moves with a relaxed spin as he goes with the attack before whipping his heel around across her face. And while that attack will sting a bit if it lands, the next attack is the one intent behind it. Using the momentum from that first attack, he hops forward to whip the other foot into Riko's torso and attempting to drive it in deeply.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Riko with Change-Up Kick.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Riko             0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1           Aranha


Riko winces, gasping for breath. She draws air in a ragged hiss, pulling it through her throat and lungs. She staggers. One of her feet slides sideways, wheels going askew, her leg pivoting painfully at the ankle. But she stays vertical, if barely. She recovers quick, pulling herself together. Regaining her balance and mental equilibrum, arms thrust to her sides.

She retorts with a quip:

"Didn't that kill the cat?"

One of her hands still clutches the shard of metal. But it's not that she attacks with. When she retaliates, it's with a knee, as Riko pistons her body upward. If it's close combat Aranha wants, that's what he'll get.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Riko's Light Kick.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Riko             0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1           Aranha


Aranha can only respond with, "Only because the cat got caught." He doesn't have much time for anything else since she quickly follows the quip with a knee towards the bread basket. Aranha's arms cross downwards in front of him catching the impact there and spreading it out.

He has her legs caught and he drops his center of gravity just below her own and then attempts to push his head into her abdomen as he lifts her up and drops her on back and ideally he wants to disengage before she tries to retaliate.

COMBATSYS: Riko endures Aranha's Strong Throw.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Riko             1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Aranha


Riko smashes into the roof, an impact hard enough that it cracks the concrete. It's a nasty fall - Aranha driving her body hard into the unyielding surface. One hopes that the building owner has a robust insurance plan, because that's some serious property damage right there.

Of course, the explosives Riko set off earlier were pretty serious property damage too.

Yeap. Hopefully he really -does- have good insurance.

He'll definitely need it. Because while Aranha smashed Riko down, and while that fall was definitely -hard-...

...it was also controlled. Her back didn't fully meet the rooftop. No. The impact was partially blunted by her arms, thrown back to absorb the shock. It's still painful, very painful, but it doesn't rock her spine like it might have. It doesn't stun her.

And so, Riko's still able to move after she hits the ground. And the move she makes...

...she slaps her palm against the concrete. Fingers spread.

As Aranha knows, Riko chose this battlefield. He ran afoul of her planted demolition charges a few moments earlier. Now, Riko triggers another trap. A more unusual one.

The roof surface /lights up/. Lines of blue flashing upon the concrete. Tracing a seal, a circuit. Lighting the night. Aranha's trying to get away from Riko. And that's wise. But the pattern of illumination spreads over the roof, beneath feet.

Energy surges. Then it geysers upwards, chi-forged electricity...

[OOC] Aranha looks at his chances.

1. Level 360 EX - Energy - Projectile (Riko) [D:You] [B:Are] [E:Fucked]

[OOC] Riko snrk. =P
[OOC] Riko says, "Sorry. ._."
[OOC] Aranha says, "I just felt like quoting Soma on that."


COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Aranha with Level 360 EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Riko             0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Aranha


Aranha just can't seem to figure out how to deal with attacks that come from below. He has shown this against Luc where he got blasted sky high by that move which single handedly turned the tide of fight. And Riko's showing it to him in this fight.

He breaks into a full run and tries to dive off the rooftop and land on the ledge but the electricity covers too much of a wide area to allow him to get away. He is blasted high into the air and then lands with a dull thud.

He's quick to get up afterwards but he moves in carefully as he tries to jockey for position and then thrusting his foot into her stomach and hopping backwards before hopping back in to spin and deliver another side kick.

COMBATSYS: Riko fails to interrupt Change-Up Kick from Aranha with Light Fantastic.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Riko             0/-------/------=|=======\=======\1           Aranha


Riko -whuffs-, her mouth open. Not a dignified sound, no. But that's the kind of sound you get when someone thrusts a kick into your midsection, then follows it up with a second punishing blow. She hits the ground again, almost bouncing on the concrete. No fair. She just got up, and now she's slamming into the rooftop once more?

Tsk.

A blue glow crackles around her hands, echoing the residual light dancing round the flat surface of the roof - the last wisps of chi, dissipating from that massive seal-trap she sprung. Riko rises - not completely, just on one knee. She tilts her head at Aranha.

"Still moving," she notes, clinically.

Then she adds, in a more cheerful tone, "You're pretty good."

"And I'm surprised you've caught me in those traps of yours. Normally traps don't catch me like that. You're damn good." He's realizing that he needs to figure out how to take away this home field advantage from her. The only option he realizes he has to rush her and hope there are no more traps when he does so.

Aranha performs an outside crescent kick from his front leg which then drops to his rear leg. He shifts back and swings his leg around in a rear leg outside crescent kick which is quickly followed up by a trio of kicks where he touches the ground as he swings the heel of his rear leg towards his opponent's head. On the third of those particular kicks he cuts short and turns his foot as he drops it down on the ground before swinging his other foot at the head in a roundhouse kick-like motion though it's also done with both hands on the ground. He then shifts his weight over to the side swinging the unplanted foot up and over which though it doesn't hit, it generates momentum for the other foot to come back across. He performs a handstand and performs a series of rapid spinning handstand kicks. Each and every kick from beginning to end covered in blue chi.

COMBATSYS: Riko blocks Aranha's Royal Flush.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Riko             0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Aranha


One hit.

Two. Three. And four.

Aranha's kicks smash into Riko, rocking the little ninja girl. Especially since she still isn't fully on her feet - just crouched on the rooftop. She doesn't move. Perhaps she's getting tired, perhaps she's slowing down. Maybe Aranha is just too fast. But whatever the reason, she simply stays where she is, arms raised, blocking, weathering the storm. She winces, eyes closing. Her balance shifts, the pounding impacts destroying her stability. She topples, she falls, crashing against the concrete...

...and breaking apart in a million drifting motes of blue light.

A bright flash that illuminates the rooftop. A moment later, there's a dark silhouette -behind- Aranha. One that's breathing too heavily to be precisely stealthy, with the scrape of skates against the roof surface also making noise. But enough, at least. Quick enough. Driving an arm towards Aranha's back, something long and thin clutched in her fist.

Looks like the building's TV aerial.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Riko's Medium Strike.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Riko             0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Aranha


Aranha can barely hear the sound behind him of the breathing. He probably wouldn't have the chance to hear that if it wasn't for his concentrated effort in driving the wind out of her in previous attacks however he wouldn't need to hear that. There's still the skates.

He quickly cartwheels out of the way of the thin metal object and spins around keeping his foot low to sweep her foot from under her. If that initial kick is successful he'll whip it around into the air to catch her before she hits the ground from the tripping motion.

COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Aranha's Short Kick.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Riko             0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Aranha


She leaps.

Her skated feet leave the ground, legs bending at the knees. Just enough such that Aranha's sweep misses her. Not by much. Barely an inch. Not much at all. In fact, the trailing edge of her skate wheels actually -touches- Aranha's leg, coming dangerously close.

And then Riko smiles.

She -slams- her feet downward. -Into- Aranha's leg, as he kicks.

In her hands, she still clutches the whip-like antennae.

COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Aranha with Light Kick.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Riko             0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0           Aranha


The positioning of his leg doesn't allow for him to get away from the kick. If anything, it had set him up for the stomp. He still by some miracle twists his leg downward while it's still hitting him full force and still hurts somewhat, he's able to fight another day.

He knows he doesn't have another chance to do something like this so he has to 'go balls to the wall.' He pulls out his leg as quickly as possible, hoping to unbalance her in the process but given her agility he doesn't think that's likely. He quickly twists up into the air with his leg tucked towards his chest while his legs are straight before descending upon the ninja with two feet.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Riko with Strong Kick EX.
- Power hit! -

[                         \\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Riko             0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0           Aranha


That hurt.

It really did. It's a powerful impact, the doubled kick crashing into Riko. Pounding her into the rooftop, Aranha falling like a human piledriver. Amazingly, though, Riko doesn't make a sound. She doesn't scream, doesn't cry out, doesn't so much as hiss.

And in her hand, she's still got that long length of thin metal, with tines sticking off to the sides - some bent, from where she wrenched it violently from the roof.



Looks like the residents of the building won't be watching Desperate Housewives tonight.

Unless they have cable or something. Certainly they're not getting any regular channels, not with Riko using the apartment block's TV aerial as a weapon. Damn ninja, interrupting your regularly scheduled programming.

Granted, the folks living here might have... more problems than TV. After all, there were -explosions- on this rooftop not long ago. And then a massive surge of chi-forged electricity, rising towards the sky. Then more flashes of chi - from Aranha's kick combo. The sounds of fighting, by now, are enough to reach the street.

There's a small crowd gathering below, a commotion beginning to spread. From ground level, nobody can really see what's going on at the top of the building. But obviously there's /something/.

Case in point:

Before Aranha can disengage, Riko -swings- her arm. Sending that whole mass of metal flashing towards his side.

COMBATSYS: Riko successfully hits Aranha with Weapon Jab.

[                         \\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Riko             0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0           Aranha


Let us not forget Riko's heavy impact on the ground from when the capoeirista slammed her on the rooftop. Well the tail end of this fight will show up on the morning news there are now helicopters capturing footage of the fight.

Unfortunately for Aranha they happen to catch him attempting to twist out of the way and is caught.

He realize that he need to make his escape now. He vaults over her and attemtps to Donkey Kick her before leaping off the rooftops and bouncing off walls to a place to lick his wounds.

COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.

[                         \\\\\  <
Riko             0/-------/--=====|


COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Aranha's Strong Kick.

[                         \\\\\  <
Riko             0/-------/--=====|


Riko skids to a halt on the roof surface, skates scraping against the scarred concrete. She twirls the broken-off TV aerial in her hand. She watches, one eyebrow raised, as Aranha makes his escape. Then she looks up, at the circling helicopters. A spotlight beam passes over her, briefly, illuminating her slender figure.

Mmn. Publicity. Which is both good and bad.

Riko grins.

Speak ill of me...

...but speak of me.

She tosses the aerial away. Then she lifts her hand, snapping her fingers.

Overhead, the news copters /swear/, as their electrical systems promptly go completely haywire. The spotlights strobe, the cameras flicker. And far more dangerously, the helicopters pitch and yaw, rotors whirling - keeping a helicopter stable is a hard feat of piloting at the best of times. Much less when your machine is rebelling against you...

...under the influence of a certain ninja's electrical chi.

Then the storm passes. The helicopters level out, once again under control.

But the roof is empty, save for the drifting smoke.

COMBATSYS: Riko has ended the fight here.

Log created on 11:15:54 07/13/2007 by Riko, and last modified on 17:29:34 08/01/2007.