Description: Zach's Neo-League Debut is against the Number 2 ranked Hotaru Futaba outside the Kyokugen Dojo. The newcomer does surprisingly well against Hotaru, even if he doesn't mean it. (Draw Match)
It goes without saying that one can only rest at the top of the Neo League charts for so long before the officials will get anxious to throw new challengers one's way. Hotaru expected that, of course, and when the invitation to fight appeared she accepted it without giving it too much consideration.
The Kyokugen Dojo would be hosting the event, which helped make it a more personal thing for her than most matches, as she will strive to do all she can to make her instructor proud! The thing that has her wondering is the name of her opponent. She expected a match from someone in the higher ranks of the Neo League circuit rather than a relative newcomer. The fact that they have seen fit to pit this person against her means that someone must see a lot of potential in this new face in the fighting scene.
The cameras are in position and the front courtyard is cleared out, leaving room for the two fighters to have their space. Clasping her hands behind her back as she waits patiently, Hotaru quietly goes over her own lessons, having already warmed up for this match.
Zach was here, in a way, on Katelynn's advice. That through combat, one can improve themself. He followed the directions to the Kyokugen Dojo that he had written down, entering through the front gate. He sees the sixteen year old who is Number Two on the league standings.
Strangely, he's not terribly concerned. This may be out of ignorance.
The purple haired youth looks the girl over, "Are you Hotaru Futaba?" He asks, sounding like the gaijin he is. He holds up the Neo-League assignment card as if to validate his presence here, but continues to look around the dojo from where he stands; it's the first time he has ever been inside a complex like this.
Perhaps she hardly looks the part. Hotaru doesn't appear to be terribly threatening. Small statured and clearly young, it's probably not too hard to guess that she gets by with speed. How else could she possibly have a prayer?
When Zach approaches, Hotaru nods, her expression friendly, "That makes you Zach Glen, then." she replies, offering a very traditional styled bow before leaning her head to the side slightly. "Welcome to the Kyokugen Dojo," she continues, expression brightening as she waves a hand toward the structure behind them. "Due to, ah, recent need to renovate, we'll be fighting outside." It sounds like the interior got trashed again... a common occurance around here.
Zach nods while raising an eyebrow at this, before trying to mimic the bow gamely. He shrugs off one question in exchange for another.
"This is my first Neo League fight, so I'm not sure what the procedure is outside of 'we punch each other,'" Zach says as he fidgets slightly. "So how does this play out?"
Well, this guy is really green to this, Hotaru muses, looking a little uncertain now. Is she getting pulled into some kind of mean prank. Has someone set him up to fight her just to get him hurt? "Well, that's pretty much the idea of it," she laughs lightly, resting her hand behind her head.
Her other hand gestures toward the cameras arranged in the corners of the courtyard so that the officials can splice together footage from various angles to get the best shots. "They'll be recording this for broadcast. We fight until either one of us gives up or can't fight any longer."
She has to ask, "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" a somewhat worried look on her face.
Zach looks over at Hoatru and nods slightly, "I'm not a stranger to /fighting/, Miss Futaba." Not after Spider, and Jaeger, and then that fight with Rugal, "Just to organized combat." Zach slides into a somewhat comfortable stance, one full of openings, but one that allows him to move at a moment's notice. "I am ready whenever you are."
As he indicates that he's not a novice fighter, just new to the organized circuits, Hotaru brightens a little, a vague sense of relief visible in her features. That's good to know, to say the least.
"Okay!" comes the cheerful chirp as she gets ready, turning so that one shoulder is closer than the other, her feet apart as she stands lightly on her toes, clearly ready for swift action. Raising one arm in front of her for defensive purposes, her other arm is bent, raised to her shoulder, probably for striking purposes.
"In that case, I'm ready!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
At that, Zach nods, bouncing on the balls of his feet for a moment to size the younger woman up a bit.
"Here I come, then," Zach comments with a look of concentration on his face. She had mentioned that the dojo was /already/ under repairs, and she seems nice enough. While he wants to win, he doesn't want to cause too much damage in the process.
He dashes in close, firing off a quick jab at the close shoulder to see what the score is.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Zach's Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
The quick jab is not quite quick enough. Hotaru leans swiftly to the side, allowing his punch to brush harmlessly by. But such a conservative, quick attack didn't really leave him too open for retaliation either. Rather than striking back fast, the girl takes to the air, leaping over Zach and landing more toward the center of the courtyard before turning around to face him.
Hotaru crosses her arms in front of her then exhales slowly, slipping easily back into her ready stance. "That was a pretty quick punch... but I'm not made of glass," she chides with a bit of a wink, perhaps thinking that he was taking it easy on her throwing out a light attack like that.
As if going to give him another shot at it, the girl braces herself, the smile fading just a slight as she concentrates. Her delicate style and lack of endurance requires that she be spot on with dealing with whatever Zach believes he can dish out.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
Zach knows he can dish it out if he needs to. However, he has to /connect/ with something first. He takes a slight hop back to put some distance between himself and Futaba.
He's looking for 'openings' that he can exploit. Granted, he's doing this with the same amaturish eye as he does anything else, but he knows he has to maximize his accuracy before he falls over.
COMBATSYS: Zach focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
When the attack she was bracing for doesn't come, Hotaru leans forward into a swift sprint, barreling in on Zach now. As if trying to prove that she's not to be taken lightly, she's attempting a very brazen manuever now, reaching out to try and grip both of his arms with her hands.
If she can get that hold, she'll end up stomping the young man with several swift kicks as she continues to use her momentum to run right up the front of him. Shins, stomach, chest, all valid targets, before she'll backflip off his shoulders to land back where she started. "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Zach with Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Zach
Zach staggers under the assault as Hotaru's feet stomp all over Zach's chest. He tumbles across the yard, gasping for air before rising to his feet. He mutters something that sounds vaguely like "owowowowowowow" as he stumbles slightly. He looks across the way at Hotaru for a moment.
"Okay...none of that close fighting stuff, thanks," he says with a slight grin as he brings an open hand up. He concentrates for a second as he wills a basketball sized sphere of royal purple Psycho Power in his palm. It stays there for a second before Zach wills it towards Hotaru's midsection!
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Hotaru with Warning Shot.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Zach
Warning shot? More like Kill Shot! When he forms the sphere of power in his palm, Hotaru's eyes narrow a little. Having always been at least a little sensitive to the powers others draw upon for their attacks, there's plenty about the nature of the young man's attack that doesn't make any sense to her. It's that she almost can't even feel that it exists even though her eyes plainly reveal that it does.
Spending too much time trying to make sense of what might just very well be an illusion from all she can tell, Hotaru is a bit too slow to get out of the way when he finally sends it her way without even throwing anything. The pain of impact elicits a gasp from the girl as she staggers backward, hand pressing against her stomach as her eyes widen a little. That hurt something fierce! No wonder someone saw potential in him.
"Not bad," she grimaces, lowering her hand a bit. When she charges at Zach a second time, the girl takes to the air, spinning into a swift kick aimed at his chest, "Kya!" risking the aerial acrobatics for a chance at a solid hit.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Zach
Zach doesn't quite understand the source of his power either; if he did, things would be much better for the former college student turned wanderer. He grins slightly as he turns aside to allow the kick to pass, "Thank you," in reply...
...right before he tries to grab Hotaru's kicking leg and toss her to the floor with a hearty shove.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Zach with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Zach
When he grabs a hold of her foot, Hotaru plants her other leg on the ground quickly, rolling her arm behind her while balancing on one foot. If she can just strike him with that projectile of hers at close range, she'll not only free herself from his attack but get a chance to deal some damage as well!
But it's not to be as the young man's hold on her ankle holds true, letting him turn to the ground, "HA- ACK!" and off goes her projectile through a paper door of the dojo in the background. As Hotaru hits the ground and rolls backward to get up to her feet, she winces inwardly. She's going to hear about that later, she knows.
Zach blinks once or twice as the Hakki Shou launches from Hotaru's arm and slams into the dojo. He winces a bit; he knows what it's like to be the inadvertent cause of property damage. He looks at Hotaru for a moment as he tucks a fist to his side. That same purple energy gathers around the tucked arm, wrapping around it like a protective glove.
"That was pretty cool. What's that called?"
COMBATSYS: Zach gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Zach
On her feet again, she can spare the time to talk she supposes, looking more sheepish than anything at the compliment from the mysteriously talented fighter, "I call it Hakki Shou." A focused strike. She shakes her head, trying to not let herself get distracted.
And now she's on the offense again, attempting to do roughly the same thing back to him, taking the fight in close again. Her hands reaching out toward one arm to pull it forward then twist in order to wedge it behind his back so that she can kick his feet out from under him and send him to the ground of the courtyard.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Hotaru's Quick Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Zach
Zach plays with these words for the moment before Hotaru charges in after him.
"I'll look it up later. I only speak English really well," he says as he pivots away from Hotaru's grab.
With the same motion, Zach thrusts out with that energy-coated fist at Hotaru's ribcage. The fist stops well short of its mark, but the energy seems to slide off the fist just a bit...
...perhaps enough to complete the strike?
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Zach's Sting!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Zach
Her hands slipping through the air without getting the grip she had hoped, Hotaru leans back, aiming to retreat and put distance between them again so that she can think of something else.
But his retaliation comes even faster than she would have expected, his fist launching out toward her, only to stop shy of actually striking. As it turns out, she has a similar technique with kicks - where the actual force of the blow is dealt with energy rather than foot, so she isn't as caught off guard by it as some might be.
Striking out with her left hand, she knocks his outreached arm aside just before the discharge of strange power can go off. Her right arm is rolled behind her back much like she had done earlier, and then she slams it forward, attempting to snag him off guard with a second display of that Hakki Shou of hers. "HA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Zach with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Zach
Zach eats this Hakki Shou full in the chest. It burns through his system, incompatible with the psychic energy that boils just beneath the surface. He rolls and tumbles across the yard before bouncing to a stop. He gets up. Slowly, but he stands.
He winces in discomfort as both hands take on that strange purple tint. He looks at them with concern, taking his eyes off of Hotaru for a brief moment while he tries to fight it back down, tries to get it under control before he levels the already wrecked dojo. He almost seems more focused on this vital task than he is on Hotaru...
COMBATSYS: Zach gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Zach
The attack she delivered seemed to do more to him than she expected against a fighter with some experience. But she could tell something was amiss with the way her own brilliant, pulsating blue chi interacted with the energy within the boy and the reaction leaves her looking vaguely uncertain about this fight. She's never seen reactions like that before... except when striking down a particularly frightening devil woman in the past.
As he gets back up and takes a moment to recover from that blast, Hotaru holds her ground, frowning with some concern, "If you cannot go on, it's okay if we end the fight..." comes the offer. It isn't condescending - the teasing from her tone from earlier is gone now, replaced by genuine concern.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Zach
Zach focuses for a moment, and the purple glow starts to fade from view. He looks a bit relieved as he regains his stance before looking at Hotaru.
"I'm...I'm okay now. Thank you for your concern, though. If I back down to it now, I'll never be able to control it completely." He looks at Hotaru critically, "And I cannot afford that."
COMBATSYS: Zach focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Zach
"Nn," comes the reply from the younger fighter of the two. She knows something of the challenges of controlling a power and in the back of her mind she believes she should speak to him more about that than worry about this fight. After all, power that grows out of control... the ramifications...
But as he looks ready to continue and has braced himself, Hotaru does likewise, slipping back into her ready stance, prepared to resume now that the two have had a moment to catch their breath.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Zach
With Hotaru ready, he decides to take the offensive again, dashing in after Hotaru once more with that hand tucked in close. As soon as he thinks he is close enough, he fires off another punch similar to the one before it.
The difference? It is a bit sloppier, not as tightly focused, it leaves him a bit more open to attacks...
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Hotaru with Splinter Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Zach
The in tight punch is similar and while she tries to strike his hand away, she just doesn't have quite the leverage she needs to pull it off, allowing his blast of power to strike her right in the side.
It hits with enough force to send the girl careening, losing her footing and stumbling as she drops to the ground with a gasp, eyes wide at the pain that wrackes her from the strange power he uses.
Swallowing, she pushes herself back up, looking just a tad pale. Breathing in, the girl clenches her fists and then charges at him again, taking to the air to drive her foot down toward him, heel first, trying to plant it on his shoulder with a kick before following up with her other leg to strike him in the head, then leaping away to land somewhere behind him.
COMBATSYS: Zach interrupts Koushuu Da from Hotaru with Burst Stream.
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Hotaru 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Zach
Zach sees Hotaru doing some Death From Above action, and tries to twist to get away from her before she pummels him a whole lot more. He fails, taking the first kick in the shoulder. This has some...unforseen results.
Zach continues to twist, and as Hotaru flies away from him, his hands are thrown towards her. His eyes go wide; he knows what is coming next. He tries to stop it, tries to force it down, tries to save Hotaru from the torrent of psycho power that follows. The scream he gives is not one of fury, or one of personal empowerment.
It is one of worry, and fear as the beam of energy screams for the young girl.
The power sends her crashing back to the ground some distance away, landing hard, curled up from the pain of his blast. That's about all she can really take, the girl muses, feeling ready to give in rather than have to suffer from something like that a second time. Only slowly does she manage to get back up to her feet, hands coming up to wipe at her eyes as she brushes away the unbidden moisture gathering there. The sharp pain feels unlike anything she's ever felt before but to let it make her cry in a fight is unforgiveable in her mind.
She takes a second focusing on him again, getting her breathing under control. Something like that hitting again would be more than she can handle, she's quite certain. She took risks jumping at him before and that's what it got her. Now the girl waits, looking to lack the strength to keep going at full speed anymore.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Zach
Zach looks concerned, one could say apologetic. He is /definitely/ unhappy with how this has played out.
"ohgod....I-I'm really sorry about that, Miss Futaba. I-I didn't mean to..." He looks embarrassed, "We...I think we should stop this. I...I obviously was not ready for this..."
Zach /does/ do what he can to force the power back down. It is a little easier now after firing off that Burst Stream, but it had too high a cost to his mind.
COMBATSYS: Zach gains composure.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Zach
Oh, and now he's apologizing for it. Of course he means well, but it only makes Hotaru feel worse that she isn't holding up so well under the nature of his attacks. Frowning a little, she shakes her head, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine," she claims even though it's obvious just by looking at her that that's hardly true.
But she's still standing, at least, so the fight /can/ go on. What comes next is a charge again, hopping from some yards out into a spin in order to add momentum to her attacks for when she lands, arms swinging out swiftly in order to deliver rapid palm strikes, each one probing for an opening in his defense in order to try and deliver a stronger attack...
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Zach with Sou-shou Tenrenge.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=======\======-\1 Zach
The moment she finds an opening, the attacks come faster, rapid swings, a spark of chi with each swing. "Sou-shou..." Individually they wouldn't be too bad, but she's swinging at him pretty fast, delivering a good fifteen or more palm strikes to his stomach, chest, and shoulders. When she feels her arms getting tired, the girl leans forward into a rising shoulder slam, "Tenrenge!"
It hits with enough force intended to knock him clean off his feet before she flips forward into the air, her entire body encased in a blue aura as she dives into him for one final teenaged-chi-missle strike... and then she slides to a stop, gasping for air, her body exhausted with the power she poured into that assault.
Zach slams to the ground with an almost cratering impact. He lays there for a moment, his eyes closed and screwed up in pain as he gasps for air. Then his eyes snap open, and instead of the somewhat sad-looking green eyes Hotaru has seen during the match...
...all there is is black highlighted purple pouring out. "...ohno," is all Zach says before the twenty feet around him erupts in a massive storm of purple and black psycho-power. All Zach can do is hope Hotaru can leap clear before it consumes her.
COMBATSYS: Zach can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Hotaru with Storm Flare.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|
Well, that should sink the fight, she figures, turning around to approach the young man, mouth curling into a hint of a smile, "You're tough, I don't-..."
She has no idea what is about to happen as the man's eyes open, looking entirely unlike anything she had seen form him before. The explosion that errupts from him engulfs her entirely even as she tries to raise her arms defensively. There's a scream, wrought by pain, surprise, and shock as she is blasted well outside of the radius of it.
Considering she isn't getting up after she lands, it becomes readily apparent that both of the fighters took each other out, leaving this NL bout a draw. A big boon for the new face to the league, pulling a draw against someone like Hotaru Futaba will no doubt do wonders for his future rankings, bringing him more challengers in the days ahead.
Log created on 17:31:59 08/15/2007 by Zach, and last modified on 09:33:48 08/16/2007.