Description: Looking for a new partner with whom to take on the super tough Taiyo instructor, Hotaru decides to test Pacific High again. And, much like her previous encounters with Pacific students, she gets clobbered! This time by the hard hitting, boxing cheerleader, Tiffany.
It's Friday afternoon - late enough in the day that most of the classes are out for students at the various Southtown High Schools. A few particularly studious students might still be in some later courses. And of course there's the various after school extracurricular activities some can engage in, such as sports, clubs, and naturally, just hanging out.
There is a scuffle going on in the front courtyard of the elite Pacific High. Given the average student's penchant for fighting, this is probably not terribly unusual. A small crowd has gathered, forming a circle of interested observers, as is the normal custom when a fight breaks out.
In the middle of the circle is one Hotaru Futaba. Not a Pacific student, so odds are she isn't recognized by a lot. But some might recognize her from her publicized fights. Some poor kid is in the middle with her - but it doesn't last long as Hotaru snags a hold of his arm, bends it behind him, and shoves him back out through the circle of students with a bit of a grin, "No, sorry. Next please!" she invites, returning to the center of the circle and adopting a ready stance.
Tiffany pops her neck in a most uncheerleader-ish fashion. But then, as she shoulders her way through the crowd, the boxing-practice hand-padding she pulls from her shoulder-purse is hardly cheerleader-ish either. A guy in the crowd murmurs as an aside to his friend, "So that's what girls keep in those things?"
Tiffany bustles past them, and the gathered crowd whispers softly... they recognize her for sure, and they aren't sure whether they should be rooting for the homefield girl or giving her room to make a real entrance. She starts strapping the kick-boxing hand-guards onto her wrists, "Didn't your momma ever teach you big girls shouldn't pick on boys?" she says, flashing a mock-scolding frown.
As Tiffany prepares, another boy steps in, taking up the short Japanese student on whatever challenge she seems to have issued out here. "So you just want to see if we're good enough to be your partner for some teacher issued challenge?" the tall, lanky kid from America asks the pig-tailed fighter dressed in a traditional Chinese styled outfit.
He doesn't leave her much time to answer though as he rushes forward, reaching out with those long arms to try and grab hold of her. "Yup!" beams young Futaba as she ducks under his arms, slides right under his legs, then plants her foot at his backside and sends him stumbling right back out of the circle. Brushing her hands off, she leans her head to the side, eying other kids standing around her, trying to pick out someone else to test. But she picks up on a murmur in the crowd - someone noteworthy has stepped up, that's for sure. Turning around completely, Hotaru's eyes come to rest on Tiffany with a bit of surprise.
"What? Them?" Hotaru replies, looking a little sheepish at the accusation, resting one hand behind her head. "I prefer to keep it to volunteers only. Besides. I was gentle with them." she half-shrugs before studying the second American to take her up on her challenge. The boxing gloves are noted with a bit of surprise. "You want to try?" she offers with a growing smile, arms raising as she slips into a ready position, side facing toward Tiffany as if to offer a thinner target.
Tiffany gives a bemused smile as she finishes strapping her glove-guards on. She puts a hand on her hips, and waggles a hand in the air at Hotaru like a scolding older sister, "Now now, you can't say they really knew what they were getting in for, can you?" She straightens up, and laces her hands behind her head, stretching slowly, pushing her chest out in a fine display of contours for the boys in question. For Hotaru's sake, it might actually be a pretty good look at the way her arms go tight like iron rails when she stretches. She's no softie, "I guess it's up to me, to defend their honor!" flashing you a grin as if to say it's all part of the show, and not to take what she's saying too seriously (if Hoaru's good at reading people.) She passes the girl a wink, just for emphasis.
Marise leaves the campus for downtown.
Marise leaves Pacific High.
Compared to Tiffany, Hotaru looks like a lightweight; thin body, skinny arms sticking out of her puffy white sleeves. Her legs are somewhat hidden by her baggy styled pants, so it's hard to say how well she can kick. But she's handled those who have tried their luck with her this afternoon so far, so she isn't a pushover, at least.
The pig-tailed girl studies her opponent and for a moment she can't help but feel unusually self-conscious. They sure do grow them, ah, full-bodied in America! Wait, wait. No. Focus! Hotaru shakes her head, squinting her eyes, her pig-tails flailing for a moment as she gets her mind back on viewing the cheerleader as an /opponent/. "Do you know what you're in for?" she asks, her tone confident. She bounces on her toes a couple of times, laughing lightly at the comemnt about defending the honor of the other Pacific High students.
"That sounds fair enough. Show me what you've got!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
Tiffany smiles, showing off her bright teeth, bringing up her gloved fist like a paw, "Sure thing, hun!" she leaps forward and does a cartwheel to break free from the crowd and into the center with Hotaru. Ironically, this makes several of the boys she's 'protecting' need to dive out of the way or soak a foot to the face. When she lands on her feet before Hotaru, she drops jarringly into a fisticuffs stance, dancing on the balls of her feet, "You'll soon find..." she swings her left fist forward in a sudden hook, "I ain't shy!"
COMBATSYS: Tiffany has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tiffany
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Hotaru with Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Tiffany
The shorter statured girl pays close attention to the entrance of her opponent, nodding her head slightly with her appraisal. It seems the other girl is fast with the way she moves. Maybe as fast as Hotaru herself. That's okay. Usually the faster girls can't really hit all that hard anyway, Hotaru muses. The stranger from Seijyun waits for the cheerful fighter to make the first move, nodding slightly as Tiffany come in at her.
She attempts to step around the swing, thinking to test her own speed against the boxing gloves girl, only to get socked in the cheek for her trouble. It may have been a light attack for Tiffany but it sends the shorter girl stumbling back a step, taking half a moment to catch her balance. One hand comes up to rest against her cheek, dark blue eyes widened with surprise. Okay, those taut, muscular arms weren't just for show!
"Sounds fine to me," the girl replies, hands clenching a little as she readies herself, "I'm looking for a strong fighter anyway. Maybe you're it!" She hops forward a step to put herself in range, making up for the distance lost by the earlier stumble backward. Turning to the side, she snaps her foot out with a swift kick, attempting to strike Tiffany in the stomach. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Tiffany blocks Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Tiffany
Tiffany mmphs just lightly as her fists drop low and brace themselves before her bared mid-riff, showing she's not as vulnerable there as she might look. She smiles, "Maybe."
She crouches and lunges forward with her left side, intending to shove you back so she can bring in a twist of her body to give her other side more momentum... aiming for a right-hand uppercut. She laughs as she does so, "I get by. After all, good looks'll get you fans, but better fists will keep 'em!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Strong Punch from Tiffany with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tiffany
Hotaru thought she had an opening, but Tiffany proves to not be as open to attack as she had thought. Which she finds out as the American rebuffs her kick and shoves her back a little, countering her momentum with a fair amount of force.
Even as she catches her footing, Hotaru has already rolled her right arm behind her, her forearm charging with a deep, vibrant blue aura. In the palm of her hand a small sphere begins to congeal, a focal point of the girl's concentration.
Unfortunately, Tiffany comes back at her faster than she had anticipated and as much as she'd like to get out of the way of that incoming uppercut, she's kind of commited to her attack now as well. She can't exactly just discharge that energy she's built up without some kind of control, after all.
Just as the other girl's glove-covered fist comes in at her, Hotaru brings her right arm forward, unleashing that pulsating sphere of energy into the other girl's chest at point blank range, "HA- Ow!" The uppercut jars the Kenpo artist all the same, sending her sliding back, head forced to the side as she just barely manages to catch herself from falling over. The chiball on the other hand strikes with pure force - like getting punched hard by a energy. But then it splashes into vaper, fading away as if it had never existed, leaving behind no lingering effects.
Steadying herself, Hotaru brings her hand up to rub the back of it against her mouth, checking to see if she got her lip split open by that punch. But for right now, she seems to be okay. "Do you have lead weights in those gloves?" she asks, sounding a little incredulous at the other girl's brute strength.
Tiffany looks pretty confident about this, in that 'Hah, an opening~!' kind of expression. Then, her chest gets backlit by an oncoming point-blank fireball and her eyes go wide, blinking with what might be a *piku-piku* sound effect. The energy burst hits home, and she reals back with a stunned squeal. Shaking her head, and her upperbody as if to try and get some sensation back into them, the beautiful boxer exclaims, "I should be asking you if you've got firecrackers under your fingernails!" in counterpoint. She goes on to say, "I put these on to avoid chipping a nail, rilly..." then winks, "Or a jaw. " The friendly banter may be just that... or it might be engineered to distract from the fact that she's winding up her fist like a power-house MLB pitcher... with the glow under her glove being the ball. She lunges forward with a cry of, "Grooovy Punch!" ... and a colorful, energy-soaked punch it is!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Groovy Punch from Tiffany with Tenshin Shou.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Tiffany
Given how hard that girl can punch, Hotaru half wonders what it'd be like getting socked by her /without/ those gloves on then. With luck, she won't have to find out! The kids in the circle are breathless and attentive. A chick fight to start the weekend with? What can go wrong with that?
It seems Hotaru manages to keep from being distracted by the banter - it's something she's been working on, really. Crouching down as Tiffany comes in swinging again, it looks like she might just have it in her mind to avoid the attack all together. But when it looks like she's managed to evade the incoming punch (which really is colorfully groovy!), Hotaru springs upward, "Tenshin-," shoulder first, driving it into the American's stomach and chest at an angle, willing to get punched hard if only it means being able to land a blow herself. She really seems to have it in for the poor girl's chest so far! The Kenpo Artist lends her entire body's strength to the attack - legs, torso, upper body...
"SHOU!" She exclaims, her own effort taking her into the air. At the apex of her jump, she holds her arms out at her sides and drops back down to the ground, landing with a grunt as she rubs her shoulder where she got punched, turning back around to face the girl quickly.
"You're really strong," young Futaba comments, buying herself a half moment to catch her breath. "Do you do a lot of fighting in the circuits?" She asks, not having seen Tiffany around before now.
Tiffany surely isn't doing much to keep the crowd sedate, what with all the chest hits she's taken... and physics... and boys... yeah. In fact, as she rubs her tender chest with a hand, she looks like she's going to snap something about your focus. Your compliment puts a smile on her face, though, and instead, she replies, "A little. Mostly locals. Special fight nights... I've had a lot going on in my life lately. Long story." Its funny, how sometimes, martial artists can have whole conversations in between blows. She turns on the wattage of her grin as she circles you cautiously, beaming up a storm, "I've always thought it'd be a good time, fer sure! I'm good at playing to a crowd!"
And as if she wasn't just chatting with you all nice and friendly, she lunges forward and springs onto her hands, doing a forward hand-spring. Turning her body into a cork-screw, she launches herself feet first toward you for a rising kick! "I am a cheerleader, ya know!
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Hotaru with Beautiful Spin.
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Hotaru 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Tiffany
Hotaru winces a little, perhaps perceptive enough to pick up on what might be annoying the other girl. But at least the pretty blond seems to be taking it in stride. She's a fighter, she knows how it goes, no doubt!
"I think you could really do well in the leagues," the smaller girl remarks with a half smile before she slips back into being completely focused on what her opponent's actions rather than words. Unfortuantely for her, the focus isn't enough to help her get out of the way of the spinning kick and the pig-tailed girl is caught off guard with a reeling blow to the chin that strikes hard enough to knock her up off her feet and flat onto her back on the ground right in front of the circle of students watching.
Perhaps wondering if the outsider girl was knocked out completely, some of the students begin to lean over Hotaru, attempting to judge if that's the end of this fight after all. But Hotaru's eyes blink open after a moment and she rolls over onto her side with an umph before pushing herself back up to her feet.
Rubbing her chin, she opens and closes her mouth a couple of times then shakes her head, focusing back on Tiffany again. "A cheerleader, huh?" she asks. Well, the American has the body and the bright personalty for it, the smaller girl muses. "Are all cheerleaders this tough??" She laughs lightly, then adds, "I'm looking for someone to help me challenge a teacher over at Taiyo High. Maybe you'd be interested?" she asks before slipping back into a ready stance, bracing herself for whatever might come next.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Tiffany
Tiffany lands from the launch, remaining in a crouched stance, and waits for Hotaru to regain her footing. In reply to the other girl, she giggles, "Ya haveta be tough, otherwise the boys think they can get fresh," she launches forward in another sort of a cork-screw spinning sort of maneuver, intent on pressing the attack, to strike hard and sudden before you regroup, "Besides, you haveta put a lot of faith in a cheerleader, so she can put your faith into the team!" A triple spin launches forward toward the defending girl, and hopefully, Hotaru can listen to her at the same time as Tiffany puts a twisting haymaker at her, because Tiff asks, "A teacher?" set off guard by that thought for a moment.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Tiffany's Groovy Knuckle.
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Hotaru 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Tiffany
It seems that Hotaru has managed to get the fog cleared from her head by the time Tiffany comes at her again. This time her speed has the better of the cheerleader's assault as the pig-tailed martial artist manages to sidestep the swing. Which is good, since it makes it a lot easier to listen to her!
"Yeah," the girl says, backing off a little. "A teacher named Hayato-sensei. He's issued an open challenge for students to come fight him." And Hotaru has a hard time backing down from a challenge! "He doesn't mind taking on two students at once. And... trust me, it'll take that. That guy is insane! I've already tried to beat him before but couldn't. And now I'm looking for a partner that will help me pull it off."
She laughs a little, "The prize is a free dinner some place. But really, it isn't about the free meal." Any student that can afford Pacific High or Seijyun tuitions certainly isn't lacking money to buy dinner with, to say the least. "Get ready!" she warns, done explaining for a moment as she leaps forward into a spin through the air to build up a little momentum and to disguise the angle of her next attack.
What comes next is a series of rapid strikes aimed for the other girl... the instant the dark haired girl's feet touch the ground. And yes, once again, some of those might be at her chest... Though some are at her stomach, the base of her neck, her shoulders. Hotaru is looking for an opening in her defense with which to land a few harder strikes than the rapid blows she's swinging with right now. "Sou-shou..."
COMBATSYS: Tiffany endures Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge!
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Tiffany
The instant Hotaru is sure she can strike harder, she does so, each swing lighting up with a flash of chi. Maybe it's those firecrackers under her fingernails! But she only lands so many attacks before her arms can push no further. Leaning forward she strikes the blond with a shoulder slam much like the one before, then flips forwrad into a chi-flaring dive right back into the foreigner for a final powerful strike before sliding to a stop several feet away. She's slow to rise, gasping for breath, as if what she just did took everything out of her physically and maybe even deeper. The girl remains in a crouch, hands holding her from falling forward.
Tiffany suddenly realizes something far too late. She's over-extended herself. She's gotten some strong blows in, sure, but this other girl's been gathering focus for something truly devestating at just the right moment. She manages to get out, "Tch. You're fast." before she's literally pushed back across the grass by the ferocity of your blows. She manages to keep her footing, if only because that's all she can think to do... endure it. Her hands come to her mid-section and to her face, to deflect a few of them, but it's a token defense. It's mostly about staying on her feet... sending the shock of the powerful strikes that do get through into her legs, which spread and bend like springs winding tight.
And when the dust is cleared and Hotaru is left gasping in a crouch from the effort, Tiffany seems to use the very kinetic energy the girl's pummeled into her to power the launch forward. She puts all of her robust mass into the leap, flipping in mid-air to make an attack which... if effective, will likely make this battle legend among high-school boys the city over. She attempts to lock her knees and calves around Hotaru's head and neck.... and from there, to -spin!- If successful, this attack should lift Hotaru off the ground and slam her back to earth again in a fairly... embarrassing manner.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Hotaru with Groovy Screw.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Tiffany
The smaller girl is slow to push herself to her feet, but she does manage all the same. She's got a bit of fight left in her. Unfortunately for her, this means she ends up turning around right into Tiffany's leg grabble. "Erk," she squeaks and for a moment all anyone can see of the girl's head is her pig-tails sticking out from around the cheerleader's legs.
Though she flails her arms with valiant desperation for a moment, Hotaru is helpless to keep from being pulled up off the ground and into a spinning crash back to the ground where she lands hard, releasing a gasping wheeze as the air is forced from her lungs from the impact and her vision goes blurry. She can hear the cheers of the Pacific students for their most favorite cheerleader - and perhaps one of her most fan-favorite moves as well!
But Hotaru doesn't feel like she'll have given it her all if she doesn't try one... last... attack. Rolling hard to the side, she manages to wrest herself free. If only she had managed to pull that off BEFORE being crushed into the ground by the larger girl. A little unsteady on her feet, it's clear she doesn't have much left in her. But she pushes herself into the air all the same into a quick flip for Tiffany, her knee aiming for the other girl's shoulder, "Rengeki-" If she connects, she'll swing her other leg around to knock the girl once in the head with her foot. Normally, that would be the part where she backflips away... but at this point, she's just going to fall backward to the ground either way. "Shuu!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tiffany blocks Hotaru's Rengeki Shuu.
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Tiffany 0/-------/------=|
Tiffany has the wind taken out of her by the force of her own attack, and pants, heaving in a fairly fan-service-ish manner on hands and knees when she feels the other girl squirm out from under. A jolt of adrenaline stirs her into action... but it's not enough to even allow her to get fully to her feet before Hotaru strikes. Instead, Tiffany brings up one leg to plant a foot in the ground, and flings up an arm, getting struck in the fore-arm with the attack. She cries out an American expletive as the force causes her to reel on one knee, but she doesn't topple... barely staying upright. And when she hears the other girl thud to the ground, she peers around her guarding limb (which throbs painfully and redly), to stare at Hotaru's prone form.
After a long moment.... she stabs both of her arms high in the air and hoarsely cries out, "Woooo.... go... Pacific High.... uh... Me!" to the crowd, before collapsing back to hands and knees, murmuring to her fallen foe, "Damn... you're tougher than ya look."
Her hopping attack repelled by the resiliant cheerleader, Hotaru flops onto her back, arms out at her sides as she lacks the strength to get up and attempt anything else. The couple of blows to her head and the final smashing slam to the ground pretty much took the fight out of her something fierce.
She squints her eyes closed for a moment then finally lifts one arm to wipe across her forehead, shaking her head. "T-thanks," she murmurs, rolling onto her side, propping herself up with a hand. The fight over, Pacafic High honor defended, some of the students begin to scatter while others hang around to gawk at the two fighting girls even though they're no longer going at it.
Hotaru shakes her head, looking a bit rueful. Pacific High students are really tough. She has yet to ever best any of them in a fight, and Tiffany has managed to maintain that streak! "Well, I think you could definitely help out in a fight against Hayato-sensei..." She rubs the side of her head thoughtfully as she finally manages to get into a sitting position. "In fact, you might be able to handle him yourself," she admits with quiet respect.
Tiffany pushes herself upright as well, and in fact, reaches out to try and offer a steadying arm to Hotaru, should she need or be able to use the support. As some of the lingering students glance over to their champion and her foe, Tiffany flashes them a bright... if glassy-eyed smile and a thumbs up.
Dropping her voice to a more one-on-one level, she replies, "Like, if I could take him, you could, fer sure. I'll deny this part if ya say it too loudly aroun' campus... got a rep ta keep up... but it was pretty close fight, ya know? Yer fast. And good at seein' yer moments."
The compliments and analysis of her own abilities brings a faint blush to Hotaru's cheeks, "Thanks," she murmurs, keeping it quiet, perhaps understanding the position Tiffany is in well enough.
Having caught her breath and had a long moment to steady herself, the girl finally pushes herself to her feet. "It was really nice to meet you. And I owe you thanks alone for the challenging fight." She bows slightly, adopting a very traditional Japanese genuflection for the American before straightening up. "My name is Hotaru Futaba. I'm from Seijyun High. I think we'll see each other around again sometime? Maybe we can take on that Taiyo teacher together, ne?" she finishes, resting her hands at her hips.
She brings her hand up to rest against the side of her head, "Though for now, I think I had better get back to training. I need to get better at this!"
Tiffany slowly rises to her own feet, and stretches... a purposefully painful experience ro slowly roll the kinks and twists out of her battered joints. The battle over, she furrows her brow faintly, looks perhaps a bit... embarrassed by Hotaru's formal Japanese... maybe because she doesn't understand it as well as colloquial, maybe because she's just not a formal person. Forcing the faint blush down, she smiles cheerily, "I'm Tiffany! Tiffany Lords!" she fumbles for her purse, which fortunately, didn't get stolen during the fight... but then, who'd really dare? "I should give you my e-mail... or my cell number. So we can get t'gether and chatabout this... teacher guy, what'sisface."
At your self admonishment, she puts a hand on her hips and smiles impishly, "You should take up cheerleading! That'll toughen you up!" winking and giggling slightly.
"Nn!" Hotaru nods, sticking around long enough to exchange contact information with the Pacific High cheerleader. At the comment about cheerleading, the shorter girl laughs, shaking her head, "Oh, no. I don't think I could do that," she replies sheepishly, the hand at the side of her head shifting to rest at the back of her head now.
"But you should take your talents to the league fights. You'd be great at it," the blue-eyed girl comments before taking a step backward. "Thanks again, Tiffany." She waves her hand now before clasping both of her hands behind her back and turning around to make her way off campus, having caused enough trouble here for ONE afternoon. There's always tomorrow, after all.
Log created on 23:57:49 07/13/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 12:35:25 07/14/2007.