Description: After a lengthy break in communication, two certain mimics get together to get reacquainted... AND TALK ABOUT SENSITIVE THINGS ON CAMERA!? MAYBE?! (Winner: Kurow)
Twelve has few orders these days. He is not used to functioning this way - but knows an /easy/ way to change that.
You see, Twelve has studied Kurow, in his time serving the man with Shadaloo - and briefly afterwards. He's confident enough to believe that Kurow will accept as a minion something like Twelve, not just something like Twelve's /disguise/.
And that is why Twelve has taken on the form of Fat Kid With Chi Power, and publically called out Kurow for a Neo League fight.
He's even gone to the trouble of "borrowing" (read: picking the lock of the door of) the Kyokugen dojo - both to allow for a good arena for Fat Kid's persona...and because he's confident that Kurow will appreciate the chance to vandalize the place.
Kurow is not so much into petty vandalism, but an opportunity to show off his skills in an arena where previously he's mostly been thrown into walls a few million times by Takuma Sakazaki? Why not. Kurow may be above exposing himself for petty revenge (usually)... but /not/ exposing himself for /subtle/ revenge? That's totally on the table.
The young man currently on top of the Neo League strides out into the center of the Kyokugen Dojo, cracking his knuckles once before slipping his claws on; he gives the spartan (though surprisingly well-designed) wooden arena a glance over, trying to put out of his mind the last time he entered these 'hallowed' halls of martial arts might.
He looks across the arena at this 'fat kid with chi power,' trying to discern if he's seen the boy somewhere here in Southtown before. He wouldn't put it past the young man, but at the same time, there's nowhere in specific that he can really think of... which in and of itself is somewhat curious. After all -- what teenage fighter in Southtown /doesn't/ Kurow know, at least in part?
The fat kid has been sighted a few times around Taiyo High - but never for long periods, and never in class. He's also been seen a few times around Southtown - most notably when he almost beat Rock Howard in a fight. The astute to the fighting scene will be quite aware, in fact, that Rock only won because, at the last minute, the kid /threw/ the fight.
The kid is, in fact, fat. A big, pudgy teenager with a t-shirt and jeans. He smiles - and Twelve intentionally makes the smile similar to that of 'Chao,' Kurow's semi-minion. Who is also Twelve.
"Hey - you ready to fight?"
/That/ Kurow picks up on. Some people never forget a face; Kurow Kirishima never forgets a mannerism. When he sees that Chao-like grin, something goes off in his head; he doesn't instantly nail down the fact that Twelve is, well, Twelve, but it's a first step down what may well be a long road.
Cracking his back a little before drawing his arms up into that usual defensive stance, Kirishima nods to the fat kid, giving the floor of the dojo a quick tap with his foot -- perhaps he's trying to determine how firm it is. "Does it matter?" he counters, flaring those claws out just a little bit for the cameras as he responds. "If I couldn't go from 'unready' to 'ready' at the drop of a hat, I wouldn't be where I am today." This prompts a big, smug grin to the cameras, as Kurow tries to play to the home audience just a little before turning back to the pudgy little boy. "By all means, let us begin," he says, making that universal 'come on!' gesture with two fingers.
COMBATSYS: Kurow has started a fight here.
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Kurow 0/-------/-------|
"Heh." This is - a far different persona from the Fat Kid that Rock fought - but then, the Fat Kid's personality has never been properly nailed down. Twelve largely uses him as an excuse to fight people without needing to explain why to them. He can just challenge them to a Neo League fight!
As such, the kid nods, bringing his fisdts up. "I'm not gonna go easy on you!" This is...probably Kurow's line. But Twelve has never been one to let that get in the way of playing up a persona.
He looks at the cameras briefly - but unlike Kurow, while Twelve /is/ manipulative...he doesn't /care/ about the home audience. In fact, he'd prefer if Kurow got the fame and audience love here - he's just a minion. He doesn't /want/ to be the famous one. So he just lunges forward in a move /calculatedly/ without style or grace - an amateur blow. The kind any trained master /hates/ because it is unpredictable.
COMBATSYS: Twelve has joined the fight here.
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Twelve 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Twelve's P.H.Y.S..
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Twelve 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Fame has a lot of uses -- Kurow Kirishima didn't think much of it, until he saw the massive outpour of /worldwide/ support that started rushing in the second Sakura disappeared, coupled with the complete lack of punishment for grievous acts that Rolento Schugerg's received. Between those two events, he's discerned that, yes, there /are/ some things about fame that are worth acquiring -- and he's certainly doing a good job of playing to that camera. After all, manipulating thousands of people isn't that much different from manipulating one.
The forward lunge results in a quick whip to the side, one which Kurow does almost gracelessly as a show of mild disdain for his opponent's lack of any particular tactic. "I don't think it's you who should be worried about 'going easy,'" he says.
Stepping behind that bull charge, Kurow -- in a slightly modified move he first gave serious consideration to after a training session with a certain tyrant -- tries to snag the pudgy one from behind, seeking to dig those claws into his side, lift him, and fall backward, in a vicious clawed suplex.
COMBATSYS: Twelve blocks Kurow's Strong Throw.
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Twelve 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Fat Kid has padding. He - or at least Twelve pretends that he - has learned to /utilize/ that padding. He is lifted and suplexed - but shifts his position so that it is one of the fattier areas that strikes the ground, causing a small grunt. Then he rolls to the side and gets to his feet, shaking himself.
"Heh - I was just getting started!" He focuses - and Twelve intentionally mimics the motions of Chao in combat, taking a deep breath in through the nose - and then striking forward with two hands, chi power rising. Unlike Chao's, this is not smoke-exhaust chi - it is a more typical electricity, crackling along the Fat Kid's arms and slamming at Kurow - but the motions are eerily similar.
Thankfully, very few out in the wide world have seen Chao - and Kurow, on the other hand, /has/.
COMBATSYS: Twelve successfully hits Kurow with N.R.G..
- Power hit! -
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Twelve 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Kirishima is too busy studying those movements to worry too much about the electricity building in them -- and perhaps the similarities, becoming more pronounced by the second, are what throw his game off and open up his guard long enough for that sudden burst to send him back a few feet. He doesn't seem much discouraged by it, though -- after all, one lucky shot has hardly been enough from far more adept opponents than Twelve.
He does think, however, to /ask/ about it, as he's putting his guard back up. "... interesting... I'm curious -- have you ever been to China? Or Thailand, perhaps?" That probably seems like a completely random question to all but the two men in the fight; for Twelve, though, the meaning is probably all too clear.
Kirishima rolls his neck, trying to find a weakness in the young man's defenses; not finding one, he decides to go for a slightly different approach, trying to play to his own strengths rather than his opponent's weaknesses. Rearing back a hand, Kirishima lets it glow with a sort of eerie light for a few seconds, watching and waiting.
COMBATSYS: Kurow focuses on his next action.
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Twelve 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Twelve would smile inwardly, if he thought of his inner self as having /expression/ - but he doesn't. He's the perfect infiltrator - his base state does not have 'expression' so much as 'satisfaction,' 'anger' and 'obedience.' But outwardly, he nods. "A few times - on vacation, you know?" To most, an answer to an apparently random question. To Kurow - well, a partial admission, at least. Maybe he /knew/ Chao? Maybe he /was/ Chao?
Twelve does, however, stay in character - the kid does not step back, but presses his advantage, however brief and lucky it is. He kicks out at Kurow, his flabby leg surprisingly powerful - sure, the kid is Fat Kid, but he's not a /horrible/ fighter.
COMBATSYS: Twelve successfully hits Kurow with Light Kick.
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Twelve 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kurow
The kick again hits Kurow squarely in the gut, and the fat kid continues to prove his surprising dominance in the rare occasions that he comes out to the Neo League; Kirishima nods to him, though, even as he's staggered a little by the kick. That building energy doesn't stop even for a moment, though -- and that's the real danger of the situation that Twelve has placed himself in.
That eerie purple light continues to build, even as Kurow refinds his footing, as Kurow continues, "So what did you do there? I've only been over there a few times -- mostly on business." It is in that instant that he re-finds his footing, and suddenly speeds forward at Twelve, extending those claws out to meet the pudgy young man's stomach, trying to shred his organs a little -- or rather, where organs /would/ be, were the other young man something other than a massive pile of stem cells.
COMBATSYS: Twelve fails to interrupt Roppu Zuki from Kurow with T.H.R..
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Twelve 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
"Mostly? Uh, saw some fights on the local circuit, almost got mugged by bikers - you know, standard tourist stuff." The second is as close to a direct reference as is possible, with the camera on. Twelve /wants/ Kurow to figure it out. IF Kurow is not perceptive and bright enough, he is worthless as a potential superior - just as a pawn to be obeyed until a better position is found.
Twelve is somewhat.../selective/ about who it (he?) chooses to accept as a superior to be obeyed without manipulation. Much manipulation, anyway. The Fat Kid hops back a few steps and watches the glow carefully. Not carefully enough - as Kurow's claw flies for his stomach, he tries to grab it and toss - but is far from fast enough, and Fat Kid is ripped open.
Twelve /does/ remember to bleed, but mostly is concerned about where he's going to get replacement mass from. He may have to go steal some chickens later.
That sort of veiled reference and wordplay is a hallmark of Kurow's own style, which is probably why he sees it the second it comes up. At the very least, he has a contact of Chao's... and at the most -- well, Kurow himself often masquerades as men slightly more 'built' than he himself could claim to be...
The young man, grinning as he sees the 'fat kid' shrink back a little, continues, "Interesting -- was there anyone particularly out-of-place with them? A lot of gangs in that area hooked up with Lord Vega during the recent insurrection." It's a strange conversation -- both of them playing at something, neither of them actually /admitting/ anything -- and every sentence punctuated with a vicious attack.
Even though Kurow's been branching out recently, at the heart of his style are still those high-speed, high-flying maneuvers that are the hallmark of a ninja; in this case, the 'vicious attack' is a sudden spring off of one of the Kyokugen Dojo's roof support beams, launching the youth forward as he goes for a hard slice into the pudgy young man's arm with the claws of both hands.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Twelve with Fierce Strike.
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Twelve 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurow
"Yeah, there was this guy in one of 'em - he was a fighter. I can tell, you know? 'cause I watch fights all the time." This is half wordplay, half Fat Kid Persona. A close admission to the existence of Chao - and a furthering of the Obsessed Fat Fighting Kid persona. Viewers at home are probably boggling at this - especially at the lack of pain apparently shown by Fat Kid.
But hey! Fat Kid's a fighter. Fighter don't feel no pain! The roof support leap-claw sends Fat Kid stumbling back, as he is slashed several times. Twelve again remembers the blood - though a half-second later than it really should happen.
"Geez, you're tough." Twelve is pleased - Kurow is strong and appears to be picking up on the hints. Good.Twelve focuses - and then hops forward, striking out quickly at Kurow with a light attack. "No wonder you're on top of the Neo League!"
COMBATSYS: Twelve successfully hits Kurow with Jab Punch.
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Twelve 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurow
If there's one thing you learn when you're being trained to kill people, it's how they bleed. And Kurow knows that that is definitely not natural bleeding in the least -- /something/ is up with this kid, and he'll probably have to pull him aside after the match and figure out just what the deal is. For now, however, he's going to -- get a little punch in the gut, just enough to momentarily stagger him.
"I see," is all Kirishima says -- it's clear that there's a lot to the other young man that isn't immediately obvious, but he thinks he's also figured out as much as he's going to on camera... which is good, because it means he can focus a little more on the fight. Like his opponent, he decides to ease off a little, though he does so in a slightly different manner -- hypothesis testing, one could call it.
The youth plants one foot firmly on the ground, and then snaps the other up hard toward his opponent's orbital bone. Theoretically, the bone's structure /should/ 'bust him open,' sending blood streaming down his face... but conversely, it's just a quick blunt strike with his foot -- if one were /forcing/ bleeding, one might not know to make it bleed, or at least be slow to realize it. ... or at the very least, that's Kurow's guess.
COMBATSYS: Twelve fails to counter Light Kick from Kurow with T.H.R..
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Twelve 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Kurow
On the one hand - Twelve has no bones, no real blood, nothing /real/ in the biological sense - he's a pile of self-controlled stem cells. On the other - Twelve /knows/ biology, as he has been trained to mimic it nearly perfectly. On the third hand, he's never been perfect at internal biology.
Twelve attempts to solve the problem by /cancelling/ Kurow's attack, his hand coming up to try and grab the teenage supervillain's foot - but Fat Kid is too slow, and the kick slams into Fat Kid's face. He jerks back, his neck moving oddly - Twelve's skin is elastic, and his limbs tend to elastically react when struck hard - and it is a fraction of a second before the blood flows. Enough time for Kurow to notice.
Twelve knows how to keep the disguise going, but wounds - wounds it has never been great at. Good enough to fool the average fighter, sure - but not one who's looking for it.
Interesting, Kirishima thinks as he sees the direct attempt at busting-open first try to be deflected, then just barely seem somehow -- forced. It's still a little sketchy -- is he trying to /keep/ himself from bleeding or is he /forgetting/ to, Kurow has to ask himself -- but it is distinctly abnormal, and bears some looking into either way -- especially coupled with the curious resilience of Chao to being choked. There's a lot of unusual biology to this fight, to say the least.
And with /that/ question answered, or at least close to it, Kirishima decides to try to end the match in favor of being able to talk to this strange young man away from the cameras, where they can speak in more than veiled allusions. With a forceful forward leap, Kirishima raises one leg, and then starts to swing the other up as if to scissor the fat kid's head between them; the real pain of the strike comes, though, when it's revealed that his lower leg is coming up /a lot/ harder than his raised one could ever have. If he can snag Twelve's head, he actually does a full flip in midair before driving the poor kid's head straight into the ground, finally releasing his shins' forceful hold.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Twelve with Strong Throw.
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Twelve 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kurow
Twelve is certain that Kurow is the only one that noticed his 'odd' biology - having played with this before, he /knows/ that most people believe two things:
1. fighters are amazingly resilient and can do this sort of thing.
2. It's not polite to stare when people are hurt, so they don't know how real people react anyway.
As such, he's confident that being wounded and not being perfect about it is all right. Kurow's leap works perfectly. The Fat Kid tries to dodge - but being Fat, he fails horribly and is /slammed/ to the ground. This gives him time to make his blood appear to react normally, as he peels himself from the ground.
"Heh...you're a lot tougher...than Rock Howard." The Fat Kid pants, and Twelve gathers his chi, his form crackling with electricity. In one last gasp, he spreads his hands - and a Fat Kid-shaped blast of electrical chi flies from him, for Kurow...even as the Fat Kid falls over, Twelve devoting all his attention to keeping it so that the body stays capable of acting and maintaining itself, rebuilding some of his flesh to ensure this is the case.
COMBATSYS: Twelve can no longer fight.
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Kurow 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kurow overcomes X.P.R.O.J. from Twelve with Kirishima Shinkuu Yamiarashi.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Kurow 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kurow has ended the fight here.
With a cruel grin, Kurow faces down that humanoid burst of electrical chi, saying, "You didn't know? I was under the impression, after what I did to him in Metro City..." Placing one hand quickly over the other, Kurow whips his body up and slightly back for a moment, not shrinking from the burst of electricity...
...because he's gearing up for a storm of his own.
The youth slams his hands into the ground with a cry of "EVERYONE knew /that/ much!", and a brilliant corona of golden chi suddenly covers the front of Kirishima's body completely; the resultant force through the tiny dojo, sending at least a few floorboards straight down into the gap between the floor and the earth below, and leaving a very tiny hole in the roof which Ryo will no doubt have to fix later. In an instant, all that electrical chi is completely obliterated, consumed entirely by the sudden force of Kurow's own power as that whirlind of golden blades continues to rage, just barely in control.
The young man suddenly stops that massive outpouring of chi as quickly as he let it loose, and that golden light fans out in all directions, dissipating as it reaches the walls of the dojo. Kirishima comes back up to a picture-perfect standing position, turning slightly away from the 'fat kid' and reaching into his pocket; he pulls out a silver pocketwatch and flips it open briefly, checking it before closing it and putting it carefully back into that pocket. "Still, I must say... I am impressed," he says, walking over to help Twelve's current persona up. "Do you have any pressing obligations? I'd like to talk to you once you clean yourself up a little."
Twelve certainly /knew/ - but again, has to play up his persona. The Fat Kid did pretty well, all things considered - but then, the Fat Kid lost. And didn't even /have/ to throw the fight. This is the point of the Fat Kid, in large part - if Twelve wanted to /win/ something, he would never be so obvious as to make it a Neo League fight.
Probably.
Either way - as Kurow dissipaytes his giant chi blast, Twelve inwardly nods to himself. Yes. This will do for now...as long as Kurow is intelligent enough after.
He allows himself to be helped up, focusing on retaining the proper shape and form. "I don't think so - sure. Just let me get something to eat..."
Kirishima nods to Twelve, saying, "I'll be waiting at the shrine a little ways from here. You seem to have been around town enough to know where it is... when you're done eating, come and we'll discuss your performance." The young man turns and walks away, stopping only for a split second to give the cameras another self-assured smirk and a simple two word declaration: "No contest."
Amazingly, Kurow goes precisely where he said he was going to go; after all, this pudgy young man has left him with a lot of questions... and he intends to get a lot of answers. Besides, with him still in solid condition and the youth trying to recover from the beating of a lifetime with some delicious food, there's low chance of it turning sour unless the other kid brings friends. And in that case... well, he probably knows the surrounding area better anyway, in his mind.
Log created on 00:08:17 09/30/2007 by Kurow, and last modified on 10:04:09 09/30/2007.