Jinchuu - [R1] One Must Fall

Description: [Luc vs. Hakuya] Luc and Hakuya fight on a wooden platform held up by a balloon in the air. Being a fast and furious pace, neither fighter has the time to dodge or block, only able to take the punishment and then dish it back out again in a wild rumble. Though the balloons were threatened at one point, Hakuya managed to save the day... or did he? The Suiryuu seems to get an airdrop, special delivery - two warriors and one hood ornament. [Draw Match]



Southtown's forests plays host to a number of strange things -- an 'abandoned shrine' that is usually not so 'abandoned' as much as it is 'host to an untold amount of battles and other miscelleaneous activities' amongst them. Luc Schroedinger has never been one to be particularly fond of communing with nature, himself; his visitations to Southtown's forests have been extremely limited. After all --
Why go be with nature when you could just as easily be picking fights out on the streets?
Still, a fight is a fight... and unusual structures are unusual structures, no matter what way you look at it. The locale for this particular match of the Jinchuu tournament certainly fits such criteria: if he cared enough, Luc may have noted the fact that a 'wooden arena' placed deep within the forests of Southtown wasn't only unusual, but not even in existence until now. But, the German boy isn't one to really look at the 'fine details' of any arrangement. He was told to fight. And so, that's why he's here... to -fight.-
Currently leaning against one of the wooden walls that the seemingly simple 'open arena' consists of, Luc Schroedinger has found himself early today, mainly by happenstance than anything else. While eager for a fight, the young man does not have much of a sense of direction, and had ended up leaving early in order to simply wander through the forests in hopes of coming across the arena he was looking for -- which, luckily enough, he did. The arena itself is simplistic. Wooden, with no roof, and small enough to accomodate to fighters with no audience to speak of -- yet for all it might seem 'off,' this suspicious, spontaneously-appearing arena doesn't seem to concern Luc all too much. Instead, he simply waits, an eager look gleaming in his green eyes. It's been a while.
He's just looking forward to a -challenge.-

The invitation had been sent, and Hakuya had received it. He wasn't much for tournaments, himself. It was sort of why he didn't participate in the SNF except when his sister pestered him to. It wasn't that he didn't like to fight or that he didn't like the money, it was more just that in tournaments people seemed to take fighting more seriously. It wasn't fighting for fun, which he was okay with... they were fighting to win. Yet, the one who had sent the invitation was of interest to Hakuya, because... well, Seishirou had -kidnapped him- and fought him to 'test' him. Hakuya was interested in what that was all about, pure and simple. So, while he normally would've declined, this time he accepted.

And apparently actually read the instructions beyond 'be here to fight' because he shows up in a bus.

The bus is ghetto, but servicible. It pulls up to the forest clearing, idling with almost obnoxiously loud rumbles of the engine. The doors acordian inwards, and out steps Hakuya in his normal hoodie, who looks even more vacantly bewildered than normal. Taking the last step, he turns back to the bus driver, and begins to ask something, but merely gets the doors shut right in his face. The bus revs up, then begins to roll on through the forest again, driving off, its engine noises giving way to the pure silence of the forest after awhile. This leaves Hakuya to rub the back of his head nervously, then turn and look around. It's fairly hard to miss the wood 'arena' however, not to mention the other fighter there. 'Ah'ing silently, he brightens up and begins to walk over to the wood stage, hopping over the railing, and then offering his best smile. "I'm here! I think the bus driver didn't know where he was going, he seemed pretty tense... um..." he trails off as he notices who his opponent is. Crap. "...Uh, hi."

A bus. Really, who uses public transportation in order to get to their designated location? Not someone who's too intense to actually pay attention to words that don't begin with 'fight' or 'battle.' The noise that heralds the arrival of that transport, though, is more than enough to catch the German's gaze. His head lifts, eyes squinting towards the direction of the bus as it begins to belch up smoke and pollution into the air. "... hmph."
From this distance, he can't quite see who's disembarked. Even if Luc had the common sense to try and look into who he's fighting, he probably wouldn't know who was approaching -- remembering names, for him, is something of a luxury he only affords to certain individuals. For everyone else, he only identifies them by face, or by nickname. 'Stupid' or 'fucking clown' or even 'piece of crap' are the most common. There are, however, some unique ones...
"Wha--"
... for example:
"PENIS KID?!"
It's a long story. Suffice to say, however, Luc's eyes snap wide from their squinting scrutinization the second that Hakuya enters the arena. Widened eyes of surprise give way to that tell-tale Schroedinger anger, as black chi leaks from the young man's fingertips like drops of liquid fire. "You? ... -YOU-? I'm supposed to fight YOU?" As Luc speaks, he fails to notice one of two things: one, the arena has begun to shift -- begun to -rumble- noticeably. Two... a gigantic balloon above them begins to inflate in a burst of heated air. No, he's too angry to notice or care. Hands clench to fists, a dangerous look playing across his eyes and lips.
"... I'll -KILL YOU-."
The arena -- or more specifically now, the airship -- begins to leave the ground completely as the German rushes forward, swinging his right fist in an attempted hook punch right across Hakuya's jaw, his entire arm ablaze with black-blue fire. "GRAAGH!!"

COMBATSYS: Luc has started a fight here.

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Luc              0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Hakuya has joined the fight here.

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Luc              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Luc's Fierce Punch.

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Luc              0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0           Hakuya


He knew it was going to be like this from the very second he confirmed who it was that he was fighting. There was, of course, an outside chance that Luc forgot that whole incident with the penis jokes on that SNF... but, even if he DID, it wasn't really likely he'd wait for any talk to happen. Luc was a fighter. He liked to fight. And while Luc hated Hakuya, Suigetsu oddly had no problems with Luc... and perhaps even liked him a little. Of course, shame that Luc would likely never forgive him for the comment!
But in any case, being prepared for the attack helps a lot. Because when the kraut rushes him, even though he -does- notice the balloon very quickly beginning to inflate, the wooden 'arena' set up for them beginning to lift off of the ground, he's ready for the punch. The ground's too unstable to dodge, and the movement too fast to block, so he just does what he can, by totally taking the blow. The fist lands, his head snapping to his right. But at the same time, his body begins to move with the movement, twisting clockwise and bringing his right leg up and around to kick at the back of Luc's head, while simultaneously shifting to the side, so if the strike hits, the bigger teen has somewhere to fall over onto that isn't him.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Luc with Heavy Kick.

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Luc              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0           Hakuya


Despite any anger Luc might feel for Hakuya, in the end it's just a way for him to better focus his fighting instincts and hone that dangerous black-blue chi of his. The rage, of course, doesn't detract from his enjoyment of the fight; it just intermingles with it. Thus, as Hakuya actually takes the full blow -head on-, Luc's look of rage melts away into the starts of a fighting maniac's grin, his energy charging straight into Hakuya's face. Of course, the aftermath of this fact leaves Luc ill-prepared to deal with Hakuya's reciprocation. The foot impacts solidly against Luc's head the moment his fist impacts, with a sickening crack to come with it. But as that blow connects, instead of making any noises of pain... the German laughs.
"Hahah... what are you doing?" Uttering the question as his body is yanked towards the ground, Luc nonetheless acts on pure instinct within a matter of seconds; his right hand whips out, pointed directly at Hakuya's face. His fingers -snap- as he falls down, and in the wake of it, a spark of energy blossoms outward into a full, burning sphere of black-blue chi, intent on slamming into Hakuya at point-blank range and launching him -backwards- with an explosive BANG. "This isn't gonna be fun of you keep coming at me with that weak crap!!" Of course -- it's just about THEN that Luc finally takes note of the fact that they are no longer on the ground.
"... what the hell? Since when do arenas fly?!"

COMBATSYS: Hakuya Toughs Out Luc's Explosive Round!

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Luc              0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Hakuya


In another way, Luc resembled Tenma, at least in their ability to talk shit while fighting. For some reason, that sort of thing impresses him... or maybe it's more just that, typically when people get kicked in the back of the head, they tend to growl in pain or something similar. Luc just laughs. That was impressive. Similarly, it was impressive as the other teen falls to the floor, but still makes an attack of his own, flinging his hand out to launch a black chi ball right at him. Even though they -should- be more worried about the fact that suddenly their area is taking off into the air... well, it doesn't look like Luc is really going to afford him the opportunity to reflect on that particular event and figure out what's going on.

So instead, he just reaches into the attack.

The sphere of chi slams into his hand, and it does burn. His hand passes -through- the sphere, however, and comes out the other side, grabbing at Luc's hand. The chi disperses, though to mistake it for being shrugged off would be a mistake, as it clearly did some damage to the grappler's arm. Nevertheless, as that grab is made, Hakuya attempts to lift Luc upwards, then forwards, and then throw the teen past himself, twisting the arm he has ahold of to aid in the throw, as well as invert how Luc is facing - up, rather than down, essentially flipping him, in a familiar way. Normally at this time he'd lift his foot to kick Luc back down into the ground, but rather than doing that, he brings his knee up, jamming it into the kraut's back, kicking him upwards into Hakuya's hands once more, then lifting him up, over, and down again into a rough suplex, should all go as planned.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Luc with Silent Crescent.
- Power hit! -

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Luc              0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Hakuya


This is clearly not going to go well.
It's not really a thought that crosses Luc's mind, of course. His entire drive and thought process at this moment is geared towards 'KILL KILL KILL' and, as such, the fact that Hakuya so simply bursts -through- his attack with a single hand doesn't quite phase him or come across to Schroedinger as 'potentially not good.' Instead, the German grins, intending to push off his right foot and into the air to greet Hakuya -head on-. Something happens though. Whatever the reason, Hakuya comes out with -incredible- speed grappling Luc before he can think, let alone prepare himself for what's to come. And what is to come, well... it hurts. Quite a bit. Hakuya grasps securely onto Luc, flipping the poor young boy before slamming a knee into his back, kicking him into the air with a crack, and then SLAMMING him into the ground in a horrendously powerful suplex.
In the aftermath? Luc rolls away, hacking up what can only be blood as it drops from his mouth in a slow, easy fashion. Stopping in a crouch, the young man wipes that dark crimson liquid from his mouth with a hand. His gaze tilts downwards, staring at the blood for a moment... before he grins. "That..." Within an instant, Luc is already off his feet, -charging- at Hakuya. His right fist cocks backwards as he propels himself -forward-, moving faster than his body should normally be capable of. "... THAT'S A LOT BETTER!!" The fact that they're now airborne discarded in the wake of Hakuya's powerful strike, Luc seeks to SLAM his fist into the other young man's face in a potent haymaker, a lance of black-blue chi searing out from his fist to ram into the Gedo student before Schroedinger pushes off his feet in a backwards flip, aiming to slam both of his feet into the other boy's chin to solidly launch him from the ground. "GRARGH!!"

COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Luc's Riot Revolver.

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Luc              1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1           Hakuya


Rolling at almost the exact same time, Luc rolls one way while Hakuya rolls the next, rolling quite smoothly up into a stance, ready again for the other man to just race right at him. There's a surprising pause as he's... complimented? Well, as close to a compliment as Luc will ever give, no doubt. It doesn't really faze Hakuya, as he's tensed from expecting rapid attacks, focused solely on the various fists and kicks that no doubt will come very soon. And indeed they do. Again having no time for anything other than just taking it, the haymaker impacts on Hakuya's facemeats, and his head snaps to the side again. Despite being braced for it, he staggers back a step, but then is sent flying with a well aimed kick to his chin. He collapses into the railing on the side of the wooden, and now aerial 'arena' and gets his first look of just how high up they are, as the only thing that saves him from flying overboard is the fact he landed with a post against his back. It doesn't really startle him, but he does get a slight impression that shit is indeed going on that is funky. WHY were they in the air like this? Well, in any case, he better get up and attack Luc before Luc decides to push him off the edge!
Standing up, he turns his head to spit a gob of blood onto the deck, then reaches behind him to grab at the railing he just impacted against. Pulling on it, he rips a board free, and then lunges forward at Luc with a, "Hyaaaah!" All he really intends to do is slam the 2x4 over the brawler's head, likely snapping it in half when he does.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Luc with Random Weapon.

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Luc              1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1           Hakuya


Off his game today, there's very little way for Luc to properly sum up what occurs after he comes to blows with Hakuya yet again. Flipping, and landing in a sliding crouch some feet from Hakuya, the German's fingers graze along the ground, fnails digging against the wooden flooring as black chi explodes across his arms. The airship continues its flight through the air, but Luc doesn't seem to feel any care nor concern for any of his surroundings. Instead, he places his entire focus upon Hakuya, fists clenching as he sees the other young man... come at him with a piece of railing. He seems to note it before the attack actually comes and, indeed, the Pacific student can see it coming from a mile away. But something happens. Just as he prepares to intercept the swinging rail, the airship itself begins to shake. His footing loosens and, in a sudden stagger, the German finds himself suddenly SLAMMED with a hard piece of 2x4, launched straight into the ground with a sickening crack.
"Hrgh... this..." Blood flows from the top of the German's skull as he lands into a heap at the feet of Hakuya. Yet, he's not down for long. As he grumbles, energy flares from all around him, beginning to encase the young man in a veritable coccoon. "... it ISN'T ENOUGH!!" And then, without much further ado, Luc's body EXPLODES with chi as it jets out from underneath him in black-blue streams, propelling him straight vertical into the air like a human rocket. That chrysalis of power that encases him seeks to SLAM into Hakuya, to send him up into the air along -with- Luc. And, if he's caught, that energy will rupture in a deafening explosion in mid-air, seeking to send the other young man flying straight through the air. "HAAAAAAAA!!!"

COMBATSYS: Luc successfully hits Hakuya with Aufstand Welle.

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Luc              1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1           Hakuya


Hakuya actually looks a little surprised that his attack is successful. Even by fluke, he'd just meant to drive Luc back some, but the turbulence makes for a successful strike! It's the same turbulence, however, that makes the reprisal work so effectively, because even when one tries to take the brunt of an attack head on, they typically need footing of some kind to be able to do it. At least, in this one case, does the Suigetsu heir need it, because he simply can't manage it. The chi hits him like a mac truck, and he's sent up into the air, then exploded up into the air. Unfortunately, there's very little room to go upwards, as there's a massive balloon up there. So, all Hakuya manages to do is smack into the balloon, whose nylon acts something like rubber, smacking him back downwards, and rather painfully hard into the wooden floor, cracking it... almost dangerously so.
Groaning out in apparent pain, Suigetsu rolls onto his front, first, then gets up, staggering just a bit. Ow, did that hurt. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looks for Luc, and moves towards him, panting a little from the ride he just took, courtesy of kinetic and potential energy. With another, "Haaaaa!" he moves to sock the other teen, but it seems to be a startlingly familiar feint, meant to distract from the foot moving to hook behind Luc's legs, and then sweep them out from under him, tossing him to the floor.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Luc with Waning Dawn.

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Luc              1/--=====/=======|=======\====---\1           Hakuya


Despite the strength apparent behind Luc's own attack, it is one that leaves him sadly -vulnerable- in the aftermath. He's expended an enormous amount of effort just to push that technique beyond its limits, and it shows when the German lands. He gives several short, panting breaths as he hits the ground, green eyes narrowing. Yet, even as he lands, chi still broils around him like whisps of steam, trailing around his legs and torso and beginning to snake around his right arm.
His landing leaves him ill-prepared to deal with Hakuya's counter-attack, though; as soon as he hits the wooden floor with that decided -thump-, he suddenly finds himself suddenly swept off his feet once more -- this time not of his own doing, and -this- time the end result is, much like Hakuya's other attacks, a decidedly -floored- Luc Schroedinger. The young man lands with a cracking thud against the ground, but it doesn't phase him; soon enough, he is rolling -across- the ground, landing in a crouch several feet away... which is when Hakuya might take note of the fact that Luc's right fist is glowing. Glowing -bright-. "Hahaha..." choking out a labored laugh, blood drips from Luc's mouth, from his forehead, splashing against the ground beneath him. "That's... that's..."
Without any second of hesitation of reluctance, Luc's fist lifts right into the air before being brought down in an overhead punch... SLAMMING into the wood flooring beneath him.
"That's SO -WEAK-!!!"
Surprisingly, despite the force, Luc doesn't quite puncture the flooring. Instead, all the chi within his fist is transferred -out- of it in a rush, spreading in four long, thin lines that spread out along the length of the arena in a cross. Said lines thrum with faint, violet power before each one EXPLODES into massive walls of black, blue and violet chi, dwarfing Hakuya with their height. Before too long, these walls begin to rotate, churning across the ground as they pick up speed and intent to slam into Hakuya, and take him along for the ride. The huge walls of chi rotate faster and faster, until they become a simple, blurring STORM of power. This isn't the only problem, though; the sheer energy unleashed by Luc begins to damage the hull of the airship around them, stretch outwards towards the balloon itself. As it reaches the absolute height of its rotational speed? The storm will EXPLODE outwards to launch Hakuya through the air, and likely puncture a large, gaping hole into the balloon itself. It looks like they'll be landing the rough way.
"GRAAAAAARGH!!"

COMBATSYS: Hakuya reflects Demiurge Trigger from Luc with Darkside Sunder.

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Luc              0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Hakuya


Well, damn. That's an impressive display of PAIN right there. Moving back from Luc as the other teen is thrown to the floor, Hakuya gives him a little space... which is probably, in retrospect, not a very good idea. Because there's nothing he can do once that fist, glowing blood red, slams down into the floor, and the chi lines form. Feeling a bit of deja vu, there's only one thing Hakuya can think to do at this point. And while the energy begins to explode, Luc might be hard pressed to see the young spiritual guardian lifting a hand back to pull his hood up over his head, face going dead serious.
The lines explode into massive walls of black and blue, churning and rotating, before they seek to slam into him.
A hand strikes out for the first wall, and slams against it... and /holds/ the energy back, somehow. The storm of chi, the raging wall of pain, tries its damnedest to get him, but it simply seems as though it can't go anywhere. The second wall comes up, and his foot lashes out, stopping it cold, too. A third, his other hand, and then the fourth, the other foot, leaving him held off the ground by some invisible force, as though he were a wall, and the storms of chi weren't doing much of anything to him. Hakuya and the chi begin to battle, and hard, trying to overcome one another.
It's only with a loud, strained cry that Hakuya seems to win, and pushes off with all four limbs, somehow breaking their concentration and exploding them outwards and away, to the sides of the airship, rather than up through the balloons. The force whips past Luc, likely striking him as though a pebble being blown by a sharp wind against his cheek (which is to say, he hardly feels it), but nevertheless, the end result is clear. Hakuya repelled the explosion of chi. Collapsing back to the severely damaged deck, barely catching himself on his feet, Hakuya pants in staggered breaths, sweat dripping off his forehead onto the deck. He clearly exerted himself there... but that was no small feat. Regardless, he'll need a second.

That was...
... unexpected.
At first, Luc doesn't even know what's happened. It takes him a while to grasp that his best, and likely -fastest- technique has just been repelled and, not only that, has actually been -redirected-. Of course, aside from its circular orbit around him, Luc's Trigger doesn't have much in the way of direction, and thus, as the outward explosion goes -outward- still, he really... doesn't notice the difference. That is, at least, until the backlash hits him.
He doesn't feel it at first. The blowback from the energy, from Hakuya's deft reflection of his technique, doesn't even really phase Luc until he feels the tingling burn at his skin, the short onrush of energy assailing him like a slightly unpleasant burst of steamy air. He staggers once, blinks, and then... just looks around him.
"... what?"
The young German stands, staring blankly at Hakuya and then at the area around him. He touches his face with slightly burnt fingertips, feeling the familiar sting of lightly singed flesh... and then he blinks. Very slowly. "Did you just..." he pauses here, looking towards the Japanese boy. He's dumbfounded. Stunned. And then...
... he just laughs.
"... HAHAHAAAHAAHAHAHA!!" Roaring out in actual -humor- rather than rage or agitation, Luc continues this almost madly as he grips onto a splintered plank of wood, -pushing- across the space between himself and Hakuya before bringing that slice of wood up into the air... and slamming it DOWN like a baseball bat, intent on knocking Hakuya across the face and simply into the -air-, laughing all the while.
Unbeknownst to the cackling highschooler, though, is the fact that, even as he swings, the ropes suspending the airship to the balloon begin to thin and fray dangerously. Will they snap?! DA NAAAH NAAAAAAAAAAH!!

COMBATSYS: Hakuya interrupts Random Weapon from Luc with Strong Punch.

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Luc              0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0           Hakuya


He's not too sure what Luc is laughing about, but in some way, the humor in his voice makes him feel a little wigged out. What was -that- all about? Standing up, still panting a bit, Hakuya has little time to ponder Luc's actions at having his chistorm repelled, though, as there comes something he really can't repel: a plank of wood. So tired, he can't dodge or block, and he doesn't even feel he could try to power through the attack. So, all he could do, really, is throw his own punch. The slice of wood slams into the side of his head, and while it doesn't knock him into the air, it hurts a lot... but no doubt so does the fist that comes up from the kraut's striking side, slamming into his jaw just as the wood shaft slams into his. Staggering a bit, Hakuya wobbles... and seems entirely too dazed to do much of anything else, really weak at the moment. He's even too tired to notice the very serious problem of the ropes, frayed from the force of his reflect, finally snap at one end. The wooden deck shifts a bit, but not enough to make everything start sliding off... just more difficult to stay up. But the other ropes don't look too good either. Below, they've already crossed the ocean, and a certain boat sits underneathe them, the eventual goal for both fighters of the Jinchuu tournament...

CRACK.
The sound of fist striking jaw, and wood striking face goes off like a thunderclap, both at the exact same moment. It echoes throughout the largely empty, largely -destroyed-, remnants of their wooden arena. It's a sudden standstill, a sliver of time in which everything is frozen. Saliva and blood flies from Schroedinger's mouth as his face is ripped to the side, both hands still securely holding onto the board he used to strike into Hakuya. All for a -split- second before Luc finds himself stumbling backwards, coughing and clunching the side of his face. He staggers, looking around blearily... yet he's still smiling. "Heheh... great... I'm gonna..." As Luc speaks, he suddenly surges forward. Everything happens within moments; the frayed ropes unwind further. One snaps, and the airship rocks violently. Yet it doesn't seem to hinder Luc, who continues his sloppy charge forward. His intention is ultimately simple: to grasp Hakuya by the front of his shirt, and then, just THRUST him right off the side of the ship without a seconds thought. Another rope snaps, and the arena begins to sag to the side.
"... I'M GONNA KICK YER ASSH!!"
Almost immediately after the slurred declaration of 'ASSH,' Luc Schroedinger...
... jumps off the side of the ship right after Hakuya.
It's debatable whether Luc even recognized the fact that the airship was starting to collapse or not, or if he even noticed that certain boat just beneath them. Odds are, he really was just intending to throw himself and Hakuya overboard to just continue beating on each other -in the middle of the ocean-. As fortune has it, though, the German boy takes note of the boat as he begins to rapidly descend. Blinking, he actually manages to recognize it for what it is in his addled state. And he grins.
"C--c'mon... ... LET'SH GO FOR A RIDE."
Chi -explodes- at Luc's feet, propelling him downwards even faster at a diagonal angle. His forehead presents itself to Hakuya as he seeks to simply CRASH himself into the other boy like a battering ram, thick forehead slamming into the other high schooler's stomach in an attempt to make Hakuya a sort of make-shift shield. The final ropes of the airship begin to snap, as the massive bulk of wood collapses through the air just alongside Luc and Hakuya. The German doesn't notice. Instead... he just has every intention of headbutting into Hakuya and sending the both of them on a collision-course into the deck of the Suiryuu -- with Hakuya providing a convenient buffer.
"-AWSHUM-!!"

COMBATSYS: Luc can no longer fight.

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


COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Luc's Hellacious Headbutt.

[                         \\\\\  <
Hakuya           1/-------/=======|


He's just too tired to dodge. Maybe he could've, or even blocked, but the tiredness combined with the shifting deck of the arena makes it impossible to. Luc's headbutt comes right for him, and just as the last rope keeping them level snaps, they go flying. The headbutt hits him, and he makes a loud 'oof!' even as he goes sailing off the wooden area. Airborne, now, there's very little Hakuya can do... and for a brief moment, his deliriousness makes him wonder why the sky and the ground look exactly the same. Both have a wonderful blue color, stretching on forever. Both have white, fluffy... boats? Though he mistakes the Suiryuu below him for a cloud initially, there's some point in which he realizes that clouds don't have windows or metal parts to them, usually. Then that means...
"Sui-... ryuu..." Hakuya mutters, barely conscious at the moment. Such an impact would kill him... and really likely, even with him to 'break' Luc's fall, the other brawler would, too. Not to mention the wood deck falling towards the deck of the boat, right above them, as well. Taking a few minutes of free fall to gather his wits, Hakuya performs his last conscious action, not on Luc, but on the boat. Grabbing the man using him as a shield, he turns himself in mid-air, so his feet are pointed down to the ground. Closing his eyes, he concentrates... really, really hard. He's never done this before, and it's likely he won't succeed, given how tired he is, but there's no choice. He does it, or he and Luc are going to die.
He focuses. He drowns out pain with calm. He thinks only of the ground below him. He envisions himself, landing on the ground, feet-first, and simply stopping. That's all there was to it. Stopping. He had to stop. Were this a movie, the camera work would show it like this. Hakuya would be falling free, holding Luc against him, feet down to the ground. He'd close his eyes, and the camera would zoom up on his face. It'd then switch to him imagining himself on the deck of the Suiryuu, eyes closed, standing on his feet, and just... stopped. He'd then open his eyes, and realize... that's exactly where he is. Stopped. On the deck of the Suiryuu, holding Luc. Coming back to reality a split second later, he then leaps to the side, throwing himself clear of the large wooden platform crashing down JUST where he and Luc just were, shattering and sending wooden splinters flying this way and that. Hakuya and Luc lie on the deck of the boat to the side, both entirely unconscious, and at least Hakuya will be for several days yet.
The Sunder techniques of the Suigetsu clan stop kinetic motion using immense willpower. He'd just stopped his own, and saved both of their lives, while making it onto the Suiryuu.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Hakuya can no longer fight.


Luc is totally passed out and mumbling something about 'quitting you.' THE END.

Log created on 18:28:01 08/27/2007 by Hakuya, and last modified on 01:46:56 08/28/2007.