Description: Master detective Soma Travedi's investigation uncovers that yes, he is totally ineffective and that Sergio probably isn't a criminal when the Italian humiliates him totally for the second time in a week. (Winner: Sergio)
It's Saturday night and there are camera crews swarming inside of the Pao Pao Café, which has been cleared of patrons. This can really only mean one thing; that Howard Enterprises smash hit series Saturday Night Fight has arrived! And, in fact, it has. While fights do tend to break out in the café during normal business hours, the organizers of the fight have decided that it's best not to have people in harms way. There are still spectators, but the vaguely designated fight area is deprived of diners. As always medical staff are standing by, because you never know when there's going to be an emergency during or after a match.
One of the fighters is already present and accounted for, standing amidst the tables and chairs. The notion that these on location fights are going to include property damage is really pressed into Sergio's mind. He had of course seen such damage on television, but there was always the possibility that it was staged. That doesn't seem to be the case, however. He's checked with the crew, and upon finding out that it's actually Howard Enterprises that will have to pay for any damage he's allowed any reservations about holding back to pass.
The Italian is currently standing by a couple of tables, waiting for his opponent to show up. He already knows he can beat Soma, so it's time to see if he can be consistent. Was the last fight with the Interpol agent just a fluke, or does Sergio really have what it takes to survive in the fighting circuit. Considering that this is Saturday Night Fight, a large portion of the world is going to find out with him.
When Soma got back to his hotel room in Metro City the other day, he was not pleased at all to check his email and find the message that he did from the Special Crimes Directorate. Oh, we're working with known criminal Geese Howard now, since we have no hopes of ever being able to bust him. Just show up for his little weekly song and dance game show thing and see if this guy you just fought is an operative for one of Asia's largest crime syndicates, would you?
But orders are orders... and a surface background check of Sergio's history certainly does reveal a number of factors that suggest, if not criminal background, then a certain... ripeness for criminal recruiting. Constant moving around, no real home address, the cocky attitude and smug self-assuredness... it does seem to fit.
The question, of course, is if the clueless pretty boy act is just an act or not.
It's an entirely different Soma who's present for this fight today, at least compared to the one Sergio fought earlier in the week. Undercover though he may be, the 'policeman' face is on... as are the skills, such as concealment. Soma's been here a long time, waiting for Sergio to arrive... and when he sees the Italian playboy waiting, he doesn't waste time with introductions. Instead, he stands up, hops up on a table, and *leaps* at Sergio, slipping one dagger into his hand and turning it sideways, looking to 'punch' the Italian in the jaw with it. "Let's get started."
COMBATSYS: Soma has started a fight here.
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Soma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sergio has joined the fight here.
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Soma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Sergio with Weapon Jab.
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Soma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
It's true, it's all true. Sergio is indeed a criminal. Of course, his crimes aren't of the 'international crime syndicate' variety, but rather the 'petty theft' and 'shoplifting' kind. Ripe for criminal recruiting? Maybe. He's definitely not going to be winning any prize citizen awards, that's for sure."
Soma has gone completely unnoticed by the Italian, a merit to his skills in concealment and stealth considering that Sergio's had little to do other than look at people. In fact, he's managed to escape his attention to the point that when the attack comes, he barely even notices it in time to react. He doesn't even realize who it is when it happens, and he lurches to the side to try and get out of the way, resulting in a nice, solid sock to the jaw. "Ouch!"
He whirls on his attacker, "Hey, what's the big idea!" A short pause, "Oh, it's you." He takes a moment to figure out his feelings on this weird development, and then grins. "Okay, that was a good one. Yea, lets go." He drops into his fighting stance, an altogether unrefined posture with his fists up and movement on his feet; a brawlers stance. This is to be his first 'major' televised fight, and his mind is on that partially. As such he intends to show viewers what he's all about. So to start things off he'll start with his simplest, and possibly his most effective, attack. He takes a step towards Soma and thrusts his hand out in a palmstrike, stopping just before impact and releasing a powerful blast of energy at him in the form of water. "Hah!"
COMBATSYS: Soma blocks Sergio's Alpha Release.
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Soma 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sergio
Never let it be said that Soma's reaction time is poor. Once he felt his 'punch' connect, the undercover agent was already moving backwards away from what was certain to be immediate retaliation. Case in point: when the water blast comes for him, Soma actually swings one dagger *through* the blast, the blade glowing very faintly silver. The water itself is dispersed, the majority of the attack splashing off harmlessly to the side, though Soma isn't able to disperse it entirely.
The grin annoys him. Everything about Sergio annoys him, in fact. Being beaten by another fighter is just the way of things... but the Italian's "oh, did I do that?" attitude on the bridge *rankled* in Soma's socially egalitarian consciousness like lemon juice in a papercut. But he doesn't attack... not yet. He's got a job to do, so he's going to do it. "This your first time to Southtown?" he asks conversationally, letting the other dagger drop out of his sleeve and into his hand, both held to his side, blades facing backward.
COMBATSYS: Soma focuses on his next action.
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Soma 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sergio
Soma probably won't be alone in his feelings once Sergio becomes more well known. The fact that he can fight competitively at all is partially due to the fact that he grates on people; he didn't train in a dojo, he trained by getting worked over and working over people he pissed off in various ways. The fact that he doesn't have many fighters pissed at him may well be because he simply doesn't know many fighters. Soma manages an effective defense against his attack, and seems to emerge from it almost unscathed. "Not bad at all! This should be fun."
The question causes him to blink a bit, however. Namely because Soma isn't attacking, and seemingly giving up initiative in order to ask it. "Nah, I've been here for a couple weeks now. I've actually moved in. Pretty nice city. Not like European cities, but nice." He'll respond to the question, but he's not about to give up his own initiative in order to do so, speaking up quickly and then getting on the move, approaching Soma in a semi-cautions manner and than attacking all out with a completely incautious attack. Once he's close enough he begins rotating his body at the hips, lifting up his right leg and pulling it backwards before rotating it in a full circle, momentum quickly building. Water streams out behind the limb as it moves, suddenly slamming down hard in an improvised axe-kick aiming right for the top of Soma's head. "HYAH!"
COMBATSYS: Soma interrupts Strong Kick from Sergio with Ashvinau EX.
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Soma 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Sergio
The axe kick slams into Soma's shoulder, exactly as planned... but the 'as planned' portion of our program ends there. Even as the Italian is coming in for his attack, the daggers in his hands disappearing back wherever they came from... replaced with a faint silver-black glow in each palm that is slowly resolving itself into the shape of a dagger. Thrusting his shoulder *up*, the agent is able to keep Sergio's foot stuck on his shoulder for just long enough to make this attack work...
And work it does. The two light-daggers in his hands suddenly become one weapon, a glittering double-bladed polearm of silver and black light, which Soma slices upward *through* Sergio's body, driving the Psycho Power weapon from stem to stern... and continuing that oddly conversational tone as he does so. "Really. I recently moved here myself... I'm a novelist, and I write about the fighting world. How about you?"
It looks like it's time for Sergio to get a taste of his own medicine, as far as counterattacking goes. He normally attempts such maneuvers on a regular basis, so it feels a bit odd when the tables are turned. He pretty much assumes that his attack has succeeded upon the impact, but suddenly realizes something's very wrong when his leg fails to descend back to the ground. His eyes catch the silver and black energy, and he realizes what's about to happen. "Oh shAUGH!"
The psychic energy punches straight through him, as energy tends to do to people. He completely collapses from the onslaught; something that's not seen very often, wincing and slowly picking himself up. "You pack quite a punch..." Not something he'd gotten much of a taste of the previous fight. Things are looking quite a bit different for him now than they were moments ago, but he's in no way ready to give up. "Alright, time to bring out the big guns!"
What are the big guns, you ask? Apparently it's a length of rope. This rope is swung forward and flung towards Soma, a mini tornado of water forming around it as it flies neck height towards him, the purpose of the attack to wrap the rope around his neck and strangle him while delivering potent energy.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Soma with Whirlpool.
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Soma 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Sergio
Well, isn't that nice? Soma's question goes unanswered... and the policeman's eyes narrow a little bit. Of course, trying to hold a conversation in the middle of a fight isn't exactly the smartest thing in the world, now is it? But at the same time, it's the only way to get anything out of this guy. Sadly, it's also plenty of distraction for Soma himself, who gets garroted by water. Never gonna live that down, I suppose.
But getting to his feet, the agent doesn't attack. Instead, he centers himself and takes a few deep breaths. Analyzing fighting styles might not be his *forte*, but it's easy to tell a few things about Sergio, which is the OTHER half of his assignment... and rushing forward to get smacked in the jaw a few times isn't exactly helpful in that regard. He doesn't ask any more questions, though, at least for now.
COMBATSYS: Soma gains composure.
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Soma 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Sergio
Let's just say that Sergio was in so much pain from the psychopowered lance sticking through his body that coherent thought was disrupted for the moment, so he didn't hear it very well. Chatting in the lull of combat is possible, but when you're in the middle of severely damaging your opponent... well, they're not so likely to respond!
But now that it is quiet Soma seems to be keeping to himself, and Sergio isn't saying much either. Hmm. What's he up to? He's not used to people sitting back and waiting quite so often. Oh sure, he's had it happen before, but something is striking him as odd, and he can't figure out quite what. The answer to this conundrum, clearly, is to press the attack! Such is the thinking of the SNF newcomer, who's showing off one of the attributes of his fighting style: constant punishing attacks. If he's completely unrelenting, he'll simply crush whoever he's fighting. ...right? "Comin' atcha!"
With those words to break the silence Sergio rushes forward, lowering his shoulder while a wave of water forms up behind him and crashes into him, providing a quick boost of speed and an added element of danger. He's going to attempt to simply run Soma down, and over. That probably doesn't bode well for the furniture.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Soma with Fierce Punch.
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Soma 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Sergio
And Soma gets punched in the face. Considering he's not exactly putting up a sportsmanlike front, the crowd isn't too happy with him... and the chorus of boos probably seems pretty familiar given the exact same scenario playing out as did on the bridge a few days ago. Of course, it must be a nice self-esteem boost for Sergio... not that he particularly needs it, one assumes.
But as he lands in a crouch on a nearby table, the undercover agent does realize one thing: Sergio doesn't know what he's doing, and thus it's at least unlikely that if he IS a criminal, he's more than hired muscle. It has something to do with the way he moves; never using finesse, always just blasting away with large, powerful strikes. Of course, this also gives Soma time to reflect that, all things considered, the quite agile ICPO agent is quite useless in avoiding them. "Maybe I should just stick to novel writing," he murmurs, more to himself than anything else.
Reaching inside his jacket, Soma withdraws a throwing spike -- a tiny throwing dagger, barely able to break the skin -- and, charging it with silvery Psycho Power, hurls it at Sergio. The knife, as stated... not that dangerous. But when it connects with a solid object, the knife explodes... and the sudden burst of Psycho Power that results *is* dangerous, to an extent.
COMBATSYS: Sergio fails to slow Nova from Soma with Large Thrown Object.
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Soma 1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1 Sergio
It may very well seem mindless, but it's fairly intentional. If he's asked about it sometime he'll probably say why he fights that way, but maybe that's best for an interview rather than in the middle of a fight. Soma would probably rather press his interrogation if he's going to ask questions. The shoulder slam seems to work perfectly, bashing Soma back as planned. Sergio grins a bit and leans against a nearby table, glad that he's recovered from that energy lance. That could have turned the tide if he hadn't have been careful.
"Novel writing?" That comes out confused, as if he doesn't know what the other man is talking about, simply because he doesn't. Remember a few moments ago where Sergio was being relatively careful? That goes out the window when Soma pulls out his throwing dagger and whips it in his direction. Sergio believes that he's, at this point, completely in control of the fight, and thus a bit of showboating is in order. He's currently leaning on a table, so he attempts to lift it up and fling it into the onrushing Psycho charged weapon. He's seen it plenty of times on television in SNF fights, it should work perfectly, right?
BZZZT! Wrong. Maybe if he practiced at that kind of maneuver more he could have pulled it off, but the table is completely ungainly. By the time he even manages to get it off the ground the weapon's exploding upon impacting him, the explosion blasting him backwards along with his table and crashing into a wall. "Sh-shit..." He actually has to remove a table leg from his shirt, and then picks himself up off the ground slowly. What was that about a momentum shift?
As far as the ICPO agent is concerned, the fight's already over. He knows how hard Sergio can hit and is entirely aware he can't handle another attack. So at the very least, he can go down in the proverbial blaze of glory... though the word 'blaze' could also be read 'going down in flames'. As is typical of *his* fighting style, Soma doesn't actually wait to see if his last move is going to connect before he moves on to his next technique. Plus he feels like he got the information he needs. Sergio probably isn't a big ticket criminal mastermind in Southtown... but he's got the potential for it, and should be watched.
Sprinting forward with considerable speed, Soma turns and lets one of his real daggers drop into his hand, the blade suddenly glittering with a silver-black aura. Once he gets close to Sergio, the ICPO agent stabs forward with the dagger... looking to drive it into a point right above Sergio's breatbone. The knife actually barely goes under the skin -- certainly not enough to create more than a tiny wound -- but far enough for the tip to deliver a jolt of Psycho Power to one of the Italian's central nerve bundles... which might be a little painful. "It's what I do for a living," he says conversationally during all this, as if he weren't trying to stab another man. "I write books."
COMBATSYS: Sergio blocks Soma's Sagittarius EX.
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Soma 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Sergio
Probably not a big criminal, but there's the potential for it. Is that a compliment, an insult, or both? Whatever the case Sergio is unable to form an opinion on the subject since Soma isn't telling him why he asked his questions. And now that he's back on his feet he barely has time to see Soma incoming with the dagger in his hand. But more importantly than just that, it's a weapon filled with potent energy. Sergio has known the potency of energy ever since he became capable of using it, and the displays Soma is giving is only reinforcing his opinion of it. He's easily dishing out the most pain per strike that Sergio's ever taken.
With this in mind he goes for what is simply put the safest defense possible. He tightens up his body and crosses his arms horizontally, lowering his center of mass in preparation. The dagger stabs forward, and firmly pokes a hole in the skin of one of Sergio's forearms. The powerful jolt of energy is delivered, but in the place the Italian's grown accustomed to taking pain, and certainly not in a delicate never cluster. This means he can actually reply! "Write books, huh?" He gives Soma a grin, "Well you've got me there; I can barely read!"
Once the attack is dealt with Sergio continues to move on the defensive. It might seem possible that Soma actually has him running scared, because he's backing away fairly quickly after making a quick quarter circle. This might make a bit more sense when it's finally time for him to attack, the ground beginning to rumble underneath the café. He quickly moves down into a power position, pulls his arm back, and then thrusts it harshly forward, water crashing up through the floor and blasting it's way towards Soma as if an underground river has suddenly been redirected to the surface, hunks of flooring and tables alike sweeping towards him.
COMBATSYS: Soma dodges Sergio's Whitewater.
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Soma 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Sergio
Well, if the floor isn't safe to stay on, then... Soma's not going to. The rumbling of the approaching water -- even if it's not *really* coming from some hidden underground reservoir -- tips off the agent that he needs to be on the move, so that's what he does. Snapping the arm with the dagger back, he leaps straight up, throwing that arm out again... and the blade of the dagger detaches from the hilt, flowing out on a wire to wrap around a nearby light fixture like a grappling hook. Swinging over the water attack, Soma lands on a nearby table in a crouch, the waves crashing behind him.
But in true form, he's not going to make this into a one-off thing. Even as he stands up, flicking the wire-dagger off the light fixture to retract it, he suddenly swings his arm around and the blade, like a yo-yo or a whip, alters its arc, looking to slash across Sergio's stomach. It's not so far away that Soma's 'throwing' the weapon at him... but the attack does let him keep a little bit of distance between the two fighters. Soma just continues to give Sergio a sort of... impassive look, responding to his statement with a tone of wry amusement. "You should learn. Reading is fundamental."
COMBATSYS: Sergio interrupts Saturnalia from Soma with Old Faithful.
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Soma 1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1 Sergio
It looks like Sergio's power maneuver is agily avoided. That was probably the most likely outcome, but like most of Sergio's more prominent maneuvers it would have hurt like hell had it connected properly. The method of avoidance is fairly spectacular, this time more than a recovery. "How can people move like that..." He shakes his head a bit, and then suddenly realizes that the recovery has turned into an attack. On a gut reaction Sergio quickly thrusts his right hand into the air, and a geyser of water blasts out near his feet, this time at an angle so as to actually hit Soma. It might seem odd, but the fact that that dagger's on a leash means that if the person holding it goes back, so does it. Thus, the dagger is already being whipped back by the time it reaches the Italian. It still cuts him, but not nearly as deeply. "Well... I -can- read, just not very well. Heh."
It's not enough to down him. Not yet, anyway. The geyser does indeed send Soma into the air, but he tucks and rolls, the lithe body rebounding off the ceiling, of all things, and landing on the ground a good distance away from Sergio. As he stands up, the dagger in his hand disappears back to... well, wherever it is he keeps the thing. Perhaps the ICPO agent's had enough and isn't going to retaliate? "You know what they say about people who don't read," Soma says blithely.
Slipping one hand into his jacket, Soma brings it back out and shakes out his hand... with throwing spikes fanned between each knuckle, sparkling silver. With one swift motion, he hurls the set at Sergio, each spike coming in at a different angle... before sweeping his *other* hand up and doing the same. 10 spikes total, each charged with the same explosive Psycho Power as before. Probably not the smartest maneuver in light of Sergio's apparent ability to completely minimize damage, but Soma simply can't think of anything else to do. "They don't grow up to be responsible citizens."
COMBATSYS: Sergio overcomes Supernova from Soma with Charybdis.
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Soma 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Sergio
Sergio isn't surprised when Soma gets back up; the maneuver was as much one for preventing people from fully completing attacks as was to actually dishing out damage. Not so much a 'power move' as a useful one. "I don't, what do they say?" It appears that a barrage of energy laden spikes is going to come with the answer. Not exactly what he had in mind, but it wasn't unexpected either. After all, conversation coupled with pain seems to be the theme of this match so far.
Sergio does have a way of dealing with such attacks, however. Much like before he pulls a rope out of nowhere, but this time the rope is much, much longer. About twenty feet in overall length. This gets whipped hard towards Soma, a large maelstrom of water forming around it. The spikes slam into the frantically twirling rope and energy, each and every one of them deflecting away and impacting various points around the room. And as for the rope and water? It's careening on towards Soma, the net effect being a drenching and hogtying if it happens to connect.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Soma with Charybdis.
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Soma 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sergio
Drenching? Hogtying? Who needs either? The sheer kinetic force is enough to smack Soma across the room, where he crashes through a table and lands, unmoving, on the floor. Blood starts pooling under his arm; looks like there were some glasses left on the tabletop he just got smashed through. But presumably the SNF medics will go pick him up and carry him off before anything too terrible happens, right? At the very least, it's obvious that Sergio has won this particular fight.
COMBATSYS: Soma takes no action.
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Sergio 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Soma can no longer fight.
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Sergio 0/-------/-----==|
While Sergio hadn't been surprised when Soma got up from his last attack, he does seem fairly surprised when he /doesn't/ get up from this one. Defeated? That was probably in the cards, but the fact that he's lying there limp on the ground is a surprise. "Err..." Well, the medics will probably take good enough care of him, and there are cameras around... So time to celebrate! "All right!" He turns to the nearest camera, puts on a slick grin, and lifts a hand to give it a thumbs-up. "I'm here to have fun and kick some ass. Who's next?!" Ok, that might come off as cheesy, but at least he's having fun, right?
COMBATSYS: Sergio has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:27:37 08/11/2007 by Soma, and last modified on 17:53:06 08/13/2007.