Description: Dr. Tran faces newcomer Nadine in a no-holds barred battle to the death! Except, wait, wait, wait. She's a schoolgirl? Like that could ever end well. The curse continues! (Winner: Nadine)
Pacific High is less of a favourite combat zone than, say, Gedo, or even Justice or Taiyo; all of those seem to get pushed into being used for these things on a regular basis. Pacific just doesn't.
That's why Nadine is several blocks from it, deep in the depths of downtown Southtown. She may have signed up for the combat league as a way to test herself and improve her style, but that doesn't mean she has to look particularly thrilled about her first match. In fact, she looks downright bored.
Nadine is at an intersection between one rather busy road and one mostly unused one-way street. Presumably they are fighting on the sidewalk, or at least that's where they're supposed to be, judging by the crowd that's starting to form up like flies on dropped food.
The camera or two, held by dedicated Neo League employees, doing their duty for the entertainment of the world, is a pretty good indicator that this is, indeed, the correct location. The fight itself might not be the most exciting, high-stakes thing in the world, but...well, that's why Dr. Tran's here.
Even when the fight sucks, the man can generally be called upon to liven things up a little bit. Case in point: the roar of a sportscar, previous owner one Kain R. Heinlein, which goes into a half spin and comes skidding to a halt a short distance away from the crowd.
The doctor leaps out of the driver's seat, trademark coat billowing behind him, and immediately starts pushing his way through the crowd. "Make way, make way, international celebrity coming through!" Some people recognize him and move, some look for the actual celebrity while getting out of the way, but the end result is that Tran finally ends up facing Nadine. He sizes her up a moment, noting several important characteristics. Or, well, just one.
"Another schoolgirl? God. If you're supposed to be who I'm fighting..." He trails off, then shakes his head, trying to shake off his own rapidly declining mood. "Crap, figures, let's just get this over with." Stretching a bit, he's making no offensive moves. Is he even taking this seriously?
Nadine looks Tran up and down rather dismissively after he describes himself as an 'international celebrity'. Ego much, she thinks to herself, but doesn't say that part.
Yet.
"Do you have a problem?" Nadine asks, somewhat acidly. "I certainly didn't choose you specifically. Generally I prefer to speak with people who are capable of distinguishing reality from fiction, 'Doctor'." Reaching behind her, she picks up a belt pack, opens it, and pulls out two sheathed knives. The sheaths go back in the pack, which she drops off to the s ide, walking down the sidewalk toward Tran.
Pots and kettles, Nadine. Pots and kettles! Tran just yawns aggressively at her as she starts in at him, supremely unworried. He does take the time to throw in a quick retort, however. "I didn't choose you, either, because I generally like to deal with people who aren't arrogant prickholes."
The doctor pauses, then scratches his head for a minute. "So, I gotta ask, why? Do you wanna be one of them or something? Well, good for you. Chase the dream, kid."
Nadine slides the bag the rest of the way back with her foot, against a wall. "You can leave if you don't want to deal with me," she says, "but I'm going to tell them that you forfeited if you do, because /I'm/ still here."
She waits about ten seconds, just in case Tran takes her up on that (she rather doubts he will) and then stops fussing with her knives, holding one in each hand somewhat loosely. It certainly isn't a skilled knife-fighter's stance, or at least not a normal one. Nadine takes one step forward, then another, mostly waiting for Tran to retreat.
Or not. His choice.
COMBATSYS: Nadine has started a fight here.
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Nadine 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Nadine focuses on her next action.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
What, retreat from this slip of a girl? She talks the talk, but not every schoolgirl is a Sakura Kasugano. Tran only fought HER once, and it was a long time ago, but damn. In the meantime, the doctor's got a fight to...well, fight.
So it comes to pass that Tran, finally finished with his stretching and other assorted acts of relaxed preparedness, advances right back, and almost immediately spins around, looking to clock Nadine in the head with his heel. If it connects, he'll continue the motion, hooking around her neck slightly to drive her down to the ground. From there, he'll jump up (using the schoolgirl's face as a jumping board), flip backwards, and come down to deliver a whompin' good bodyslam. Xtreme.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Tran's Dr. Tran's Summer Splash.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine does not look like she should go particularly fast. Most of the fast ones at least move around a little bit while waiting for the other person to do something.
She doesn't. She just sort of stands there and watches, carefully, until Tran moves. At the last moment she ducks down, rushing forward several steps with her head down low. Tran doesn't touch her.
As she runs by, Nadine lashes out with her left hand's knife, a midline strike toward his torso. It's meant as much to mess up and rip his coat as anything else. She doesn't like the coat. There may be no reason why. "Slow," she says, as much to herself as anything else.
COMBATSYS: Tran dodges Nadine's Medium Strike.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
It's not like Tran's attack is exactly fast - this outcome is well within acceptable parameters, so to speak. Things get a little dicey when she goes after him, though. Certainly, she slashes his coat, opening a neat slit along the side of it. The problem is that, somehow, Dr. Tran has ceased to occupy it in the time between his failed attack and the schoolgirl's attack.
In fact, he's standing where she was just moments ago, a smirk on his face that could easily be described as 'shit-eating'. "Slow," he remarks, more to Nadine than anyone else. The coat flutters to the ground.
After waiting there a moment, letting it sink in, Tran moves in again, pursuing Nadine in order to deliver some pain. His leg swings around in a wide arc - it's a simple kick, only special in that it's Trantastic!.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Nadine with Light Kick.
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Tran 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Nadine
"Very funny," Nadine says, as she shakes the coat off her knife. Rather predictably, she seems less than amused, perhaps because she's managed to tangle the knife on the slightly thicker piece of fabric you're supposed to attach a name tag to.
Finally freeing the wrapped coat, Nadine twists to one side to keep out of the way of Tran's foot. It doesn't work; she's smacked rather solidly across the side of her torso, causing her to stagger to the side with the impact of the boot.
Stepping back, Nadine lowers one hand and then snaps it up and diagonally to the side, as if slashing - although she's too far away to actually hit, and it's more like she's attacking sideways. A gust of wind follows its path, curving forward and forming a small tornado about waist high on her. It stands in place for a moment before rocketing forward as it finishes forming.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Nadine's Rolling Storm.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Nadine
"Aw, don't take it so hard, kid." Tran lets Nadine step back, not terribly interested in charging forward with total abandon. Not yet, anyway. For now he'll be more cautious - especially now that Nadine's pulling out some special effects. He stands for a moment, considering his options, and then simply sticks both of his palms out toward the tornado.
It crashes into him, but Tran doesn't give any ground. The chi smashes against his palms, but he doesn't seem to be putting /that/ much effort into stopping it. After a moment, it fades away regardless. He gets a bemused look on his face.
"Maybe I should be the one giving you a chance to run, if this is all you can manage." Taking a step back, Tran spreads his arms, as if welcoming Nadine to give him her best shot. "You don't seem like the type, though, so come on. Hit me." Even as he says it, the air around him ripples, the power gathering inside him leaving a visible effect.
COMBATSYS: Tran gathers his will.
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Tran 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
"I don't give up," Nadine says, very simply. He might be able to stand there and charge himself up with chi; she can't, so she has to do this her own way.
She keeps her distance, holding her knives in a somewhat awkward-looking loose grip as she considers the way he's standing and where. Nadine takes a step or two along the sidewalk, actually moving closer to the road (not that anyone's driving on it there, it's too close to Tran's car), waits one more moment, and then pitches a knife at Tran overhand as hard as she can.
Wind chi is good for other things than blasting. Hit or miss, a sudden gust of wind kicks up, and the knife returns to Nadine's waiting hand. "And don't call me 'kid'. You're not that much older than I am."
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Nadine's Power Shot.
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Tran 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
Reaching forward with one hand, Dr. Tran grabs the knife straight out of the air. He doesn't do it particularly /well/, mind, and the blood dripping from his fingers is evidence of that. He tosses it to the side carelessly a moment later, not looking too suprised when it goes sweeping back toward Nadine. He's still fairly unconcerned, idly flicking some of the excess off of his fingers. "Good for you. Can-do attitude. Handy for employment."
Taking a few steps forward, Tran swings a quick fist at Nadine's temple, head cocked. "Our age is all the difference in the world though, kid. Are you quick to count out experience?" Say what you will about Tran, he's certainly got plenty of it.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Tran's Quick Punch.
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Tran 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
Something about Tran sets Nadine on edge. While this isn't too unusual - lots of things set her on edge - it's particularly bad tonight. Her lips purse. She elects to say nothing and at least try to look intelligent rather than respond and make it absolutely clear she's not.
That, and she's a little distracted with ducking out of the way. She tilts back and to the side, and the swung fist ruffles the hair that normally hangs down over her forehead. The pose is a little uncomfortable to hold for long, so she straightens up momentarily, reaching out to grab Tran.
If she gets ahold of him, she spins, using the momentum of her turn to get some good distance on him. Nadine really isn't strong enough to actually pick up a full-sized man, though; she buffers her lift with a sudden windstorm, propelling him along just like one of her knives if he goes flying.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Twister Toss.
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Tran 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Nadine
Hm, the silent treatment, huh? It's a pity. The doctor really does enjoy taunting schoolgirls - kind of a revenge trip, sure, but doesn't he deserve it after all they've put him through? No? Oh well. Maybe he should focus more on the fight, though, as Nadine sends him flying up through the air, to land roughly some several yards away. Pushing himself up, he doesn't look too terribly upset by the hit.
"Nice to see you're not a waste of time, at least." Spreading his arms again, Tran suddenly erupts in a series of small steam-jets, randomly shooting forth from all over his body. "Here's where it gets fun, though. Can you keep up?"
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
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Tran 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Nadine
Nadine flicks her knives back out; she'd rested the flats against the inside of her wrists while grabbing onto Tran. Don't ask how they stayed there. There wasn't any wind involved.
Nadine smiles, just a little bit, as Tran challenges her. It is not a particularly happy smile but it's as close as Tran is getting. "Watch me," she says, tossing a surprisingly fast-moving knife at Tran in a strange arcing path. Like the last, it comes back when Nadine is done with it, returning to her grip.
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to reflect Medium Shot from Nadine with Operation - Dr. Tran.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Nadine
"Good answer." Tran's smile is wide, and he lowers his hand toward Nadine's knife. Steam jets out in force, and starts to form a round barrier - however, it fails to acheive cohesion before the knife slams into the doctor's hand. The tip pierces through to the other side, but he doesn't seem to mind too much - he's had much, much worse. We'll just have to chalk this failure up to working the kinks out.
As the knive is dislodged and returned to Nadine moments later, Tran's spirits nonetheless seem high. Arrogance or confidence, whichever it is, it increasingly seems to be unfounded.
Nadine is slowly becoming more confident herself, although in her case it's fairly well hidden under the same expression of concentration that she normally has in the middle of a fight. For her first public match, she's doing fairly well. Even if she doesn't like him, Tran is well-known and at least reasonably skilled. "What was that about experience?" she asks, abruptly.
After catching her knife, Nadine only holds it for a few instants before flinging it again, letting it complete a circular path with her hand to guide it. This time, however, the weapon has a visible ripple of compressed air behind it, accelerating it and slamming it at her target with a good deal more force than previously.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Zephyr Dart.
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Tran 1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0 Nadine
It might be a visible ripple, but it's still not the most obvious thing - that burst of air gives the knife just enough speed to slam into Tran's shoulder, drawing more blood. No doubt it'll come free of its own accord in a few moments and go rushing back to Nadine, but Dr. Tran doesn't really care. It's time to get focused.
Well, mostly. There's always time for trash-talk. "You'll see in a minute, kid. Don't rush things, it's okay once in a while, but too often and the audience gets bored." Swinging one arm around, the doctor sends a thin line of steam, wide and compressed to a razor edge, toward his wily opponent.
COMBATSYS: Nadine overcomes American Hero Cutter from Tran with Rolling Storm.
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Tran 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Nadine
The knife actually stays put for a moment, mostly because Nadine is occupied with something else.
In this case, it is the blast of razor steam coming at her. Nadine's eyes narrow slightly as she sees it coming. It's moving quite quickly, but only in a straight line; a lot of people don't seem to use the arcing, curving paths she specializes in. It's also predictable, neither speeding up nor unexpectedly or suddenly slowing down after it is released toward her.
Nadine finally snaps her hand without a knife forward and sideways in an almost dismissive gesture. A wall of wind catches the steam - catches it, and begins to spin, moving back the other way at significant speed in a tornado of steam.
COMBATSYS: Tran overcomes Rolling Storm from Nadine with Oh Shit It's Dr. Tran.
Glancing Hit
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Nadine with Oh Shit It's Dr. Tran.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Nadine
Really, it's just the beginning. Deceptively simple, one might say. Tran grins, his arm still held in place, and then he brings it around again. Steam whips forth, forming another wide, thin blade that cleaves the steamnado in twain. It's followed up by a veritable barrage of similar blades.
The downside is that Tran's aim is just a little off - he's pulled up a little bit. It takes a moment's readjusting, but the stream of steam blades does come swinging back down toward Nadine. That'll be trouble, yeah.
It is in fact trouble. Nadine has fought other people who threw things. Fine. Normally if she manages to catch one in her tornado, it /stays/ caught and then she doesn't have to worry about the damn things again. Someone shooting more at it and making it come back the /other/ way is new. She doesn't know what to do; it's not something she's ever experienced before, and although Nadine is skilled once she knows what to do...the first time is always a stumper.
She stands there long enough to get struck with a chain of steam blades. It doesn't actually hurt as much as she expected from the sheer number of them, but it's enough to leave long, shallow and slightly scorched cuts along her arms and upper body, and cut some lines into the stomach of her shirt.
It also actually seems to irritate Nadine more than anything before. She seems about to charge - and then stops herself, taking a deep breath to calm down, then a second. She's perfectly calm again a few moments later, or at least she looks like it.
COMBATSYS: Nadine gains composure.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Hoo. Say what you will, but that always manages to take a lot out of a guy. The flinging chi like there's no tomorrow thing. It's tough - clearly, the doctor still hasn't managed to master it. He's trying, though, and by god he's going to manage it one way or another!
In a minute, at least. Exhaling, Tran backs a couple of steps away, his jetting steam quickly dying down after his last assault. It's a moment of peace in an otherwise eventful fight - who knows how long it'll last?
COMBATSYS: Tran focuses on his next action.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Not very.
Nadine finally does approach Tran again, not feeling quite up to summoning her knife from all the way over there. She's starting to run out of breath, even after her quick refocusing session. She does so carefully, not charging in mindlessly.
At least, not until the last few steps, when she darts forward, grabbing at her knife and yanking it around in a wide and rather violent slash. It's by far the most committed move she's performed tonight, putting all her strength behind the slash.
COMBATSYS: Tran dodges Nadine's Deep Strike.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Calmer than he was a few moments ago, Tran sees Nadine coming and simply steps backward, keeping out of her reach. She can have the knife, but she can't have his delicate manflesh for the carving. He notices that she's not looking too great, but he knows that he's not, either - problematic. Truth be told, he's unsure how to proceed. She's handled most of what he's thrown at her pretty well, and he doesn't want to just go in swinging wildly. Strange, sure, but Tran has certain standards of unpredictibility to maintain.
So it is that the doctor cocks his head, and questions, "Isn't it a bit early to be getting desperate, kid? It's not like you're doing too badly, here."
COMBATSYS: Tran gains composure.
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Tran 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
"The risk was calculated." Nadine straightens up once she has her knife back. Forcing him to dodge was not exactly the goal, but at least he didn't come after her before she had a chance to finish her recovery.
Seeing as Tran is trying to keep away from her, Nadine does the opposite - she presses him, moving forward to follow his backstep. She shoves one of the knives in the concealed pocket down the side of her skirt where she can keep them if necessary; it's not exactly well-hidden when the pocket is filled, making a rather unsightly lump on her thigh.
It /does/ empty one hand, though. Nadine snakes one foot out, trying to lace it between Tran's legs and trip him forward, onto her. While that is neither painful nor particularly unpleasant, the follow-up throw using the momentum from the drop backwards might be.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Strong Throw.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Whoops! Nadine nabs the doctor, and while he's gotten better with this sort of thing, he's still not the best at rolling with the rolls. Once again, he's sent flying through the air with what falls well short of grace. One might say it falls, period.
The doctor yet has fight left in him, however! Rolling onto his stomach, he pushes himself up and then moves forward resolutely, cracking his knuckles. "So's this, then." Then he reaches forward for Nadine's collar, more to hold her still than anything else, and goes for a forehead-to-forehead clash, the likes of which is spoken in legend.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Nadine with Strong Punch.
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Tran 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
Nadine's shirt has a low collar and as such she is understandably wary of a man trying to grab ahold of it. She jerks back automatically, but not quite soon enough to avoid having it gripped by Tran and introduced to his forehead.
His wins, by the way.
Seeing stars, Nadine staggers back, dazed for a moment. She squeezes her eyes closed tightly for a moment, then opens them and stares at Tran, trying to recover her focus and stop the world from spinning rather impressively by picking one point and looking at it. "You must not have anything in there," she says; it's the obvious answer, but why not?
COMBATSYS: Nadine focuses on her next action.
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Tran 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Nadine
"Or I've got enough to know how to protect it. Sheesh, try not to sound too dumb." Maybe Pacific needs a 'witty banter' class or something. That'd really get a fight like this going. As it stands, Tran will have to rest comfortably in the knowledge that, whether it's true or not, he sure sounds smarter. He'll take his victories where he can get them, thanks.
Letting her get away with her little break, Tran takes advantage of it by keeping his distance and focusing inward, getting his chi flowing again. Once more, the air ripples, although this time jets of steam escape, only to be immediately drawn back in to the Doctor's body. "I mean, it's not like that one's ever been tried before. Ha ha, it's funny 'cuz I'm dumb, is that how it's supposed to go?"
COMBATSYS: Tran gathers his will.
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Tran 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Nadine
Nadine does better when she's not half-unconcious.
Slightly recovered, Nadine starts to edge sideways, around Tran and toward his car again, tensing as if going to jump onto it. "At least you try," she has to admit, whether she wants to or not. It sounds as if she hates saying so, but what is she going to do?
Nadine leaps rather suddenly - backwards. She doesn't go toward Tran's nice car at all, but instead the other way, springing off a mailbox and throwing herself past the doctor, one arm extended as she tries to swing herself around on him toward his back. She grips, then, trying to pick him up from behind with the same blast of wind chi.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Nadine's Twister Hurl.
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Tran 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
Once she's gotten ahold of him, Nadine tries to spin in place, picking up speed as she swings him around in a circle. Probably more worrisome is the whirlwind that forms around her, dragging Tran along with its rotation.
And then, all at once, two things happen: Nadine lets go, and the whirlwind stops spinning and simply blasts in the last direction Tran was going.
"Heh. I do a whole lot more than that, girl." Standing with his legs out to either side, the doctor waits for Nadine, motionless save for the steady rythm of his breathing. After a moment, that ceases, too, as he tries to make sure he doesn't screw this up.
Then, all of a sudden, she's on him, but things go a little...well, strangely. Even though he's getting spun around, Tran's feet aren't leaving the ground, his heels dragging along even despite the added boost of the wind. When she releases, he goes forward alarmingly fast, hunched over slightly but still upright, skidding on his heels. The wind buffets him, but at least he whirls about and finishes braving the last of it.
Exhaling slowly, Tran opens his eyes, and starts to march resolutely back toward Nadine. "Case in point." Stomping downward toward her foot, he then follows up with a quick one-two punch combination aimed at the schoolgirl's chest, trying to finish this business. It's gone on long enough, after all.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Tran's Light Kick.
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Tran 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
Not quite what Nadine was hoping for, but she'll deal with it. At least he moved along instead of staying very close to her, there at the end; she has some time to prepare when he walks back over.
She moves when he does, keeping her distance - and at the last moment, leaps again, only two feet back or so. It does keep her out of reach of both foot and fist, though. "You've got some tricks, I'll give you that," she accepts, "but that's all. Tricks don't work forever."
Nadine takes one step forward, pivots on her newly planted foot, and swings her other foot up for a solid hit on Tran's chest. She retrieves her knife from her skirt's pocket as she does, mostly so it doesn't fall out when she does this.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Nadine's Strong Kick.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
"Neither do you, kid. How long do you think you're gonna last?" Raising his arms, Tran takes the hit firmly, rocking back in position. It doesn't hurt too much, but all of the damage is really starting to add up on him - he's got to pull something, or he's in trouble. Of course, he doesn't think Nadine's in very good shape either, but the problem is getting her to hold still long enough to kick her butt.
Then again, he could just hope he gets lucky. In fact, let's go with that. Whirling around almost immediately after Nadine swings her foot at him, Tran unloads a vicious looking roundhouse kick. If she's not careful, she's going to end up decapitated or something.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Nadine with Heavy Kick.
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Tran 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Nadine
On the plus side, Nadine is not decapitated!
On the minus side, she did just take a boot to the head, and Tran has stronger legs and probably heavier shoes than she does. It stings. A lot. She actually /does/ stumble and fall this time, catching herself on the palms on her hands, heedless to how the grips of her daggers dig into them.
She pushes herself back up, bringing the knives with her, and stabs one forward and underhand. It's not her best attack - it's kind of awkward-looking - but all she wants to do is get the job done before she passes out.
WHich is starting to feel annoyingly close.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Medium Strike.
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Tran 1/-======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Is that it? Is Nadine done? It doesn't seem likely, even though she goes down like whoa after Tran's foot sends her sprawling. Still, Tran finds himself watching her cautiously, only to find he wasn't watching closely enough. Her underhanded attack nails him in the stomach, penetrating a short distance inward, and causing the doctor to take a few steps back, clutching at his stomach. He wavers. Is this the end of the loveable Dr. Tran!?
Prehaps not, as a huge billowing cloud of steam blasts downward, hitting the ground and then spreading out, only to rise once more into a concealing mist. Whatever could Tran be doing in there?
Nadine does not especially want to know what Tran is doing in there.
She also doesn't just want to let him do it, because that's just asking for trouble later. She squints into the mist, trying to make heads or tails of what's going on inside before following him in. At least it's warm, she thinks.
"Stop hiding," she directs, as she lashes out with a knife in each hand in slightly different directions. One of them might hit, after all; Nadine puts a lot of force behind them in case one does, and to start blowing away the mist.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Tran with Dr. Tran Sets Them Straight.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to interrupt Fierce Strike from Nadine with Dr. Tran Bites the Bullet.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Nadine
"Just giving myself a window of opportunity, kid. If you don't like it, then tough." Tran's voice calls out from within the cloud. Gradually, it starts to disperse, and a great deal of motion can be detected. As Nadine gets close, it ceases, and Tran leans back, fist raised...only to get pre-empted by Nadine's knife, which sends him reeling back anew.
Of course, by this time things are clear enough to reveal that Dr. Tran's hands are wrapped in bandages, and other assorted injuries don't seem to be bleeding quite so heavily as they were before. Course, now there's a new slash across his chest to add to them, but you win some, you lose some.
When Tran reels back, Nadine snaps her knife to the side and forward rather like she has several times already. She's not going to follow him; that's just asking for a punch in the face.
A tornado springs up in front of her, pulling in what's left of the mist and making it rather more visible than usual, not to mention warmer. No less bludgeoning, however, and certainly no slower; it goes forward quite quickly. "I'm surprised that you didn't hurt yourself worse doing that," she says, stepping back once her tornado begins to move forward.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Rolling Storm.
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Tran 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Still shaking off that last hit, and quite hurt at this point (still nothing compared to what he went through to get his car, though), Tran doesn't really realize that the tornado is there until it's, well, right on top of him. It slams into him, knocking him back a few steps further, but he still refuses to go down.
Breathing heavily, he keeps his distance - this is getting annoying, but he doesn't want to just charge in blindly. Gotta get it together, breathe...verbally retaliate. "Then it's your fault for being an overconfident little brat, isn't it? God, schoolgirls."
COMBATSYS: Tran gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tran 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
"Brat," Nadine echoes, as if she wasn't familiar with the term. Given her noticable accent - which is western British, not Japanese, so she's an English speaker - this is certainly untrue.
Striding forward, Nadine slips one of her knives away. This may be a good thing, or - and this is what is actually true - it means that she is about to try to grab Tran again. One hand up, near his shoulders, pushing him forward and towards her; most of the tripping is actually done by her legs, though, as she tries to yank Tran's feet o ut from under him.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Tran with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tran 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
Since Tran is already moving toward her, it's pretty easy for Nadine to grab him and trip him up again. He lands hard on his back, but with a burst of energy, he kips up right in her grill. That's right. He's so far up her grill it hurts.
Or, well, hopefully it will, because Tran's reaching forward for her throat with one hand. Rest assured, if he grabs her, it's going to hurt, as he'll strain for a moment, toss her up into the air, and then whirl around to plant a foot into her torso as she comes back down.
He'd taunt her, too, but frankly he's getting tired. The words just won't come anymore.
COMBATSYS: Nadine blocks Tran's 3 2 1...Dr Tran.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Tran 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Nadine
Both of them are running out of air, conciousness, and mental energy. At least they're even on that count. Now nobody is talking, as it's one of the drag-out fights that certain audience members seem to prefer.
Nadine gets grabbed around the throat, all right (which is another reason she might not be talking much) but she manages to get out of the grip. Mostly, at least; she goes up slightly, but manages to land on her own two feet instead of Tran's one foot.
She doesn't even use her knife this time. Once again, Nadine pivots on her foot, bringing one of her feet up to plant on Tran. This one's a little lower, though, and aimed at his stomach rather than his chest; aiming any higher without jumping is difficult for someone of her height at the best of times, and she's definitely not feeling at her best anymore.
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to interrupt Strong Kick from Nadine with Dr. Tran Bites the Bullet.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Nadine 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Nadine 1/-------/=======|
This is it. Frankly, Dr. Tran's sick of this entire fight. Nadine's essentially been pummeling him constantly this entire time, and even though he's managed to get a couple of good hits in on her in return, enough's enough. Putting one foot behind him, he rears back...and then Nadine kicks him in the stomach, and it's too much. Off-balance from it, Dr. Tran topples flat onto his back, spread-eagled.
"That's it. I give." He sighs and closes his eyes. He looks pretty unconcious, but he's still awake and thinking. Something along the lines of 'God damn it. Schoolgirls. When am I just gonna learn to walk away?' Someday, Tran. Someday.
Nadine is not feeling much better. She is mostly still concious by a combination of not wanting to look stupid in her first match, not wanting to prove Tran right, and sheer luck.
However, the three of those combine into victory for her. She doesn't seem to want to stick around very long to celebrate it, though. "Fine," she says to Tran, followed by: "And you can stop calling me 'kid' now, as your experience doesn't seem to be worth very much."
She returns to where she left the belt pack, cleaning off her knives on a cloth inside it and returning them to their sheaths.
Log created on 23:55:33 08/01/2007 by Tran, and last modified on 06:06:28 08/03/2007.