Description: Frankenstein's Monster! The Bride! MP3-man! And... Duolon who is also awesome. (Winners: K' and Duolon)
After a long hiatus from the Saturday Night Fight due to various... scheduling conflicts (one simply could not say 'no' to a major crime boss asking you to assassinate someone for larger amounts of money than you'd get for beating people up on live television), the enigmatic Duo Lon has returned. His small group of followers were delighted, and even further delighted to hear of the match's setup - a kind of mock Frankenstein, complete with a spooky castle and everything. Wasn't that awesome?!
To Duo? No, not really. While he was impressed that the SNF coordinators had gotten Germany's government to agree to this, and was certainly appreciative of the castle's old world architecture, the setup, frankly, annoyed him. He wasn't amused by the SNF's attempt to make these matches look like anything but pure fighting. Why dress it up? He supposed he understood showmanship, as he was no stranger to it himself, but really... going -this- far? When he'd arrived on the set the event staff had even tried to give him a torch to hold, and after looking at them with an unamused expression, they'd finally backed off on -that- particular idea.
In any case, it was almost time for the match to begin. The drawbridge was let down across the moat, and the wide, tall doors that marked the entrance to the castle stood closed and barred, as if waiting for the angry villagers to round the hill at any moment, searching for the monster that supposedly lived in the castle. Overhead it was cloudy, threatening rain but delivering nothing of the sort, only providing a gray overcast to the features of the land. Duo himself stands like a shadow at the opposite end of the moat, hands folded into his sleeves in front of him, waiting for the other contestants, and the sign to begin.
Yeah... the SNF staff had tried to give K' some props as well, upon his arrival at the scene. He'd been unable to avoid being routed over to the knot of organizers and staff that had built up a decidedly un-creepy sort of camp a little ways off from the set proper, having to go through such bothersome things as checking in and being informed of the match 'theme,' and once they'd got him cornered they'd tried to suggest that he carry some sort of themely implement.
'Tried.'
Anyway, subsequent to chasing off the event staff and shaking off their protests like an irritable dog, the young fighter had stalked out of the knot of cameras in order to head over to the general area where Duo Lon stands ready. He doesn't really bother to greet his assigned partner in this match, instead flicking a casual glance over the man from behind his shades. The fact he's quiet, at the least, draws some approval, which forestalls any rudeness K' might have indulged in. For now.
He was hardly standing anywhere near Duo, not being prone to anything that might possibly be construed as an overture of friendliness, and that space gives him a lot of room to pace: which he does, slowly, while waiting for the match to start. A frown is cast upwards at the cloudy sky. It better not freaking rain on his leather.
Blanka has /finally/ been told what acting is. What playing to the crowd entails. He didn't understand why everyone said 'It's a monster!!' and screamed like little girls when he showed up, when they normally acted like tough men. People would yell at him, and hate him.. And it turns out that they were only 'pretending'. This ... bothered Blanka, a lot. But if it was what 'people' did, Blanka would be very good at it. He would have to be.
Given his time to prepare and plan, Blanka had researched 'Frankenstein' as best he could - his own limited reading meaning that he had not been able to read Shelly's work himself. Instead, he'd managed to see the movie, to understand and learn about the pain of feeling not part of humanity from black and white images on the television. He'd learned about people fearing that which is different, that which is strange and too close to similar to be comfortable. It was a very resounding story. There was one thing he didn't understand, though..
Why was 'Putting on the Ritz' a good song?
Blanka still makes his entrance true to the story of Frankenstine. Without Froederick to assist him, he settles for appearring in top hat and tails, black suit and cane spotless and pressed, an amazing thing to find a tuxedo in his size. His hair slicked back, he shows up in a spotlight at the gate, pushing it down with his full strength, to allow the fighters to see him. And then he clicks his cane on the ground, once - twice... And begins to tap.
COMBATSYS: Blanka has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Blanka takes no action.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|
Rose has not taken a strong interest in Blanka's case, which is, perhaps, not to her credit. However, she can tell that the burly fellow is, despite his gruesome outside appearance, dear at heart. However, she also understands why he might be surprising to find in a dark alleyway. This is why she was an enabler.
'Enabling' here meant, for the most part, explaining how to tie shoes, but she steps out from behind a ruined archway as Blanka breaks into his tap routine. She holds a glass of sherry in one hand, half-drunk, and from the way she's smiling approvingly, it may not have been the first one. Perhaps K' and Duolon have been set up.
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose takes no action.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: K' has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Duolon has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
Unlike K', Duo does not look to his partner to gauge him. The Hizoku has no idea what K' is capable of, nor what the man even looks like. And frankly, he doesn't care, so long as he can hold his own weight. So there's no desire to look over to K' at all. And even if K' were to start being a rude bastard... yeah, Duo wouldn't care. To his credit, though, it's not -entirely- a lack of interest in K' that keeps the Chinaman from returning his gaze. It's the... whatthehellisthat? It looked big, green, and... in a suit. What.
Blinking a few times, which in its own right was a very big reaction from the pale teenager, Duo seems to be not all familiar with the type of thing he's seeing. A giant green thing in a suit... and now, tap dancing. And it didn't help that there was now a half-drunk woman stepping in. These were their opponents? What? It was rare that Duolon got surprised. It was even rarer that he showed said surprise. But in only a few short moments, the opposing team has done something very few have accomplished. They've made Duo simply too stunned to move. Even when the crew finally gets into position, and calls out the traditional word to begin all matches: "FIGHT!" does Duo continue to just stand and stare.
COMBATSYS: Duolon takes no action.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
K' takes a good, long look at their opponents. He processes a moment. One can almost imagine the progress bar counting out the percentage complete on the flat black of his shades. He flicks a glance left at Duo Lon without turning his head; but the Hizoku doesn't appear to know what the hell is going on any more than he does.
K' takes another hard look at Blanka and Rose. The second time around doesn't make things any more clear. Or any less sad.
After a moment, he seems to come to a decision. His posture slackens, one hand hooking a thumb negligently into a pocket. His shoulders slope as he removes his sunglasses, folding them delicately away into his jacket. He pauses a moment. And then he fishes into another pocket of his jacket, pulling out... a pair of earbud headphones. A flick of the wrist spools out the cord, and he very deliberately puts the headphones on. And switches on the as-of-yet still hidden mp3 player: a recently-acquired object which has served him well in 1) getting him through matches like this 2) keeping random people from doing annoying things, like maybe talking to him.
If he's going to have to suffer a match with a drunkard and a tapdancing green thing, he might as well keep himself entertained in -some- way.
The word to fight is called-- but K' doesn't immediately attack. Perhaps he's holding out some hope that there's been some sort of mistake.
COMBATSYS: K' takes no action.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
Careful on the round there, Blanka. It's tricky, but it's not too hard. Feet clack on the heavy stone, giving him a good sounding clatter. As he returns around, he throws the cane aside, holding his hands above his head. Head tossed back, he finishes with the song, oh-so-happily! "AR-OOPAH DOOPAH!" He looks forward, arms outspread. Waits. More. Even more? Clapping? Maybe? Nothing? Aww...
Luckily, Blanka has also practiced his other information on 'monsters', and he's got a good track record of acting like a monster, right? Throwing his arms up, Blanka shuffles awkardly towards the pair, aiming his hands out at K', trying to give him a friendely monster shake, just like Frankenstein would do! Hopefully someone has some Said-A-Give for Blanka to take!
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Rose swirls the wine in her glass and straightens up from her leaning posture, still smiling widely. "My friends! Welcome, please; come freely, go safely, and leave some of the happiness that you bring!" She congratulates herself on the authentic literary reference as she steps forwards, holding carefully onto the glass of wine.
She spreads her arms. "And..." Then she looks towards Duoron in particular, tilting her head to the side. The hand not holding a wineglass puts itself on her hip, fingers curling as she frowns slightly, glancing over towards K' as he puts on his MP3s.
She sighs and looks up towards the stormy heavens. She then shakes her head, walking off to the side of Duoron and reaching into her dress's small hidden pocket, drawing out a one-euro coin and transferring it into her glove. This may matter later.
However, she looks over as Blanka takes the initative, and from her position somewhat off to the side of Duoron, asks him almost slyly, "He's playing the role well, don't you think?" This is done as she extends one leg and sweeps it and the wineglass-free hand out in opposing directions, both of them aimed at Duoron to attempt to trip him and send him hurtling to the cold cobblestones of Castle Frankenstein!
Meanwhile, thunder rolls. Closer.
COMBATSYS: Duolon blocks Rose's Quick Throw.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
Was that... 'Putting On The Ritz'? Yes, how fitting. Finally, Duo gets enough of his sense back to actually do something: place his face into his palm. This was SO not a match he wanted to be in anymore. Finally, he does glance over to K' and sees the man with his earthphones... how clever. Though Duo wasn't really one to have such a device, he certainly can understand the intention behind K' wearing it... and kind of wishes he had one right about now. But alas there's not enough time to ponder such things, as the fight begins a little after the announcers want it to. Blanka goes after K', and Rose... sort of goes after him. Glancing over to the woman, he has enough time to drop his hands out of his sleeves before her attack comes, as he gives no real response to her inquiry other than that. The hand and leg sweep in, and do their intended task of tripping Duo up, but he's quick enough to invert his own body in order to catch himself on his hands, putting most of the strain on his wrists and forearms as he hits the ground. Catching himself like this, he's able to twist his legs around, intending to do two things: first, kick the wine glass out of Rose's hand, and second, drive his other foot into her stomach, hopefully pushing her away.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Blanka's Medium Throw.
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Blanka 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
The funny thing is, even despite being one of the most technically-impressive 'science projects' in the world, produced by one of the most scientifically advanced labs in existence... K' discovered, upon escaping out in the world, that he was still completely clueless about a great deal of technology more geared towards sheer entertainment. There hadn't been much in the way of culture or entertainment with NESTS, after all: what downtime peons like K' were allowed was usually rather bland and involved sparring or mindless console gaming. The first time he'd seen an mp3 player, he'd needed the entire concept of digital music explained to him; whereupon he decided that it was quite interesting and he's like to have one himself. It's not as if he spends his earnings on much else.
It's proving to be something of a fortuitous purchase. People are now sixty percent less likely to bother him!
It also keeps him diverted during official matches like these, which would likely be somewhat agonizing if he didn't have something to take his mind off how -stupidly pointless- most sanctioned fights are. That, and it usually pisses off the staffers when he blatantly ignores whatever inane theme of the week they want to impose, and their rage is always amusing.
But in the end, he -is- here to fight. He hasn't forgotten that fact, sad as it is. Which means he isn't entirely unprepared when Blanka comes for him, seemingly intent on playing the part he's been assigned. He throws up an arm in a block of Blanka's attempt to grasp at him, a low and unimpressed, "You've got to be kidding..." grumbled as he gets a nice close-up look at the suit, though his irritation isn't necessarily directed at the 'monster.' He's not prone to judge based on appearances-- most of the time, -he's- the one being judged, after all-- but apparently whoever it was told Blanka to act like this -is-.
He shoves hard against his block, hoping to open some space between himself and Blanka. His blocking arm flicks downwards, the red-gloved hand sparking with fire, and K' rakes hard upwards, whipping an arc of flame in the air before him, one that aims to sear straight into Blanka.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Blanka with Eins Trigger.
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Blanka 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 K'
Oh snap. Someone brought fire to the monster contest.
Blanka gets his hands batted at, large paws knocked away from K''s arms as the other man goes for a better angle, a better attack. Blanka's grin is wide as he shuffles a bit, preparing to take on the next attack. And well.. he's not ready for what it becomes.
Fire.
With a howl, Blanka is engulfed, the wave covering over him and burning his hair and suit quite badly - enough so that he's not going to get the damage deposit back. He howls in grumblyness, and then takes a half-step back, clutching at his chest. He's hunching over, the shoulders in the outfit giving at the sudden change in stance, beast /almost/ coming out.
But it's acting. Blanka's in control, and he's more than willing to offer up his body to play up the fight. He leaps towards K' again, his mouth open wide - seeking to grab that hand and it's last trail of flame, to put it out the only way he can. Er, other than like peeing on it. He tries to catch it in his mouth and /gulp/. *AWM!*
"FIRE BAAAAD!"
COMBATSYS: Rose interrupts Medium Kick from Duolon with Sliding.
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Blanka 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 K'
The twisting of Duo Lon makes Rose raise an eyebrow and take half a step back, and when the first foot swings towards herself, she adjusts her grasp on the wine glass and, with serpentine grace, falls down.
Or seems to; she's propelling herself forward, cushioned on the frictionless Soul Power-enabled surface of her scarf. This does mean that Duo Lon's first kick hits her in the side of her head, but it means that he, now, is faced with the menacing image of a spiked Italian pump angled towards him.
The strike doesn't go towards his face, instead angling towards his hand and knocking it from beneath him, sending him tumbling down - Rose proceeds forwards, regardless. She kicks up some dust, just in time for a few fat spatters of raindrops to land in it.
After the approach, Rose twists her wrist deftly around; she has yet, it seems, to spill a drop of wine. Outside of drinking it, anyway.
Well, that was abnormal. Supported by just his arms, Duo had little room to really manuever around, and being attacked just as Rose had done was probably the worst thing that could've happened to him. Though he -does- land a hit on the woman, she hits him harder still by driving a spike heel into his hand, bowling him over rather ungracefully into the ground as well. Thudding hard, he rolls to the side a bit, and then quickly pushes himself up into a crouched position, rolling, unlike his fall, gracefully to his feet. "Hmph... I had hoped to make you fight seriously. I was aiming at the right thing, I think." With that statement, he raises his hand. Purple-black sickly chi begins to bubble rather than flare up across his pale hand, and as the energy builds, he flings it out. The ball of chi begins to shape as it flies, black eyes and mouths opening to form grotesque screaming faces, wailing as the ball races towards Rose.
COMBATSYS: Blanka successfully hits K' with Wild Fang.
Glancing Blow
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Blanka 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 K'
K''s right hand, still sparking with remnant licks of flame, abruptly becomes Blanka's first target. No surprise, as it's just caused the poor 'monster' a considerable amount of pain. Taken by surprise by the means of attack, K' is a few seconds too slow to completely avoid the retaliation. Those fangs rake along the back of his hand, grating against the armored glove, and K' jerks his hand back fast before Blanka's jaws can shut. "Shit..." he curses, half impressed, half annoyed, shaking saliva from his hand. There's a couple nice scratches in that heavy glove now, too.
Well, if Blanka's so adamant about his hatred for fire... there's nothing for it but to give him more of it. Exploit any weakness, take down opponents with maximum efficiency-- that's what K' learned in his formative years instead of normal things like trigonometry. If any form of math can be said to be 'normal,' anyway. It's cruel, certainly... but thus far K' hasn't seen any reason to alter his tactics from how he's been trained. Sportsmanship? K' doesn't even like sanctioned fighting, he's not about to jump through its hoops or play by its predefined rules. Besides, he wants to go the hell home.
He's swung around to Blanka's left, slipping to one side of the other combatant as he plunges forward. He considers only a moment before he decides on a means of attack. Swiping another ring of fire before him, he twists around like a whipcrack to literally kick the flame: sending it arrowing, in the form of a bolt, straight at Blanka's side.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Blanka with Second Shoot.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Blanka 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 K'
Ok. So the monster is angry at fire! This is a given! But should this mean that the monster get continuously set on fire /over and over/?! Perhaps... OR PERHAPS NOT! Blanka's awmmning is only close enough to get a taste of leather and burn, skidding off armor and slamming shut with a clack and clank. He doesn't quite know how to react, no - he's used to that working! Instead, he finds himself suddenly with his opponent half-about him, and then - more flame.
Blanka, Blanka, Burning Bright...
How his tux makes a pretty light~ In fact, the new flame catches and knocks him off balance, burning the rest of the coat off and away, and causing him to howl in /real/ pain. This isn't fun, this isn't acting, is it? He rages inside, and it's a very, very close thing - those psychics in the room (that's you, drinky) may be able to tell that he's not happy, not happy at all. He launches himself away from K', desperate to keep the fire from burning him again, trying to remember that this is a team, and he should be helping. He's not helping like this, trying to go toe to toe and getting burned over and over. So he boounds once, twice - and tucks into a ball, aimed at Duo Lon and his projectile. At the apex of his roll, his body explodes into energy, lightning arcing around his skin with every bit of power he can muster. But... is it too close to his teammate at the same time?!
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Blanka's Direct Lightning.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: Rose overcomes Genmu Kyaku Uchikiba from Duolon with Soul Spark.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 K'
"Of course," Rose says as she turns her head around towards the young man. "I wouldn't dream of insulting you in such a way, but a light heart in some elements, does not mean ins-" She sees the forming projectile, which would not normally cut her speech off. What does cut her speech off is Blanka.
Damn, she thinks: We shouldn't have gotten him that highly flammable polyester dress suit!
When he leaps and bursts into lightning in a wave of his inner strength, Rose brings her arm up, lowering her head as lightning crackles around her. It doesn't burst into her body directly, but it sears against her legs and midsection - and in the end, it causes something shocking to her hair.
The frizzed-up bouffant of jagged, interlaced strange of purple emits some rather unsavory smoke as Rose twists back around, snapping the scarf forwards and sending a wave of coruscant pastel light right back towards Duolon's own incoming strike - the Soul Spark bursting past it and continuing forwards on its path!
COMBATSYS: Duolon dodges Blanka's Direct Lightning.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: Duolon fails to interrupt Soul Spark from Rose with Fuuka Tenshi Combo.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 K'
The projectile is loosed, and there's little Blanka can do it about -that-... but at the very least, he might be able to slap Duo around a bit. His attention so focused on Rose so singularly, as he doesn't much care about Blanka and K', it'd be possible, too! Very likely he would've gotten struck by the lightning-charged bounding Blanka, had not Rose been just a bit more aware than he was. Likely, he would've noticed it at the last moment, and been a bit harder pressed to dodge. But Rose's cutting off of her speech and looking at the rolling ball of death tells Duo he needs to get out of the way of something that's coming. His form blurs, becoming like black streaks in the air, and he launches himself forward. The unusual nature of the green giant's attack, however, causes him to have to weave a little, the black streaks twisting to the side, then sweeping down low, under one of Blanka's bounds as he rolls past. Unfortunately, this disrupts Duo's plans for following up his projectile attack with something a bit more forceful: his feet. The plan does awry, though, and the Soul Spark slams right into his chest, driving him backwards. He fortunately is able to keep his feet, heels digging into the soft dirt and sliding backwards a short distance, holding his chest.
K''s erstwhile opponent goes charging abruptly off, seemingly not willing to endure any more fire from the ex-NESTS agent. Considering the effect it's had on the creature thus far, K' can't say he blames him. Forgotten and abandoned, K' glances after Blanka as he bounds straight into the other conflict with a surprising surge of electricity. The boy's only reaction to this revelation is to lift a brow, moodily pawing into his pocket to tweak the volume of whatever he's listening to a little bit higher.
Well, he's not by nature a cruel sort, even if sometimes his behavior heads worryingly close to it. He doesn't need to keep after Blanka with the fire, and so he doesn't. Not immediately. His glance turns instead to Rose, who his 'partner' appears to be having some difficulty with.
He gauges her a moment, his hand still shoved into the player-containing pocket: then after a second of this lazy, loose-stanced appraisal, his slack form rips abruptly into movement. His frame tightens, winding like a spring, and then launches straight from zero to 'pretty damn fast.' This springing pounce terminates with a smart snapkick lashed out at Rose's face.
Not Blanka's night. At the very least, the one good thing is that the storm finally starts to break, fat droplets of water splattering down onto the battlefield. It soothes some of the burn marks on his shoulders and side, and as he recovers and digs into the ground with his claws, he can look about. Look back and... see that he's attacked Rose. Her frizzy hair is not just because she wished to be the Bride of Frankenstein, no matter how a monster might hope. No, no, that was his doing, and his frustration wells up as he realizes just how little he's done.
Lashing out with a burst of speed, he closes on DuoLon. He can't reach K' in time, but the other opponent is targeted with a swooping, leaping slide like the monster were trying to slide into home plate - however, in this case, home plate is Duo's knees. Time to take him off his feet!
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges K''s Minutes Spike.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 K'
Something tickles at Rose's mind as she gives Duo Lon a brief smile, and then glances at Blanka in that moment of concern he has. No, she thinks in emotional indicators towards him: It is fine. Quite charming, I'm sure!
She will change her mind later when she has to comb it out.
Her attention whips around then towards the approaching K', and she sucks in her breath through her teeth, taking another sip from the glass of wine still in her hand. Her eyes narrow as she watches him come, letting her knees tense slightly, preparing perhaps to jump - until at the last moment, that kick comes up and arcs towards her head. Just as it does, she isn't there, ducking down low -
The scarf around her other arm whips up, whirling around it as she strikes towards K''s extended leg, or more properly beneath it, towards his opposing thigh. "What are you listening to!" she shouts; she's not sure, of course, just how loud he's listening to it.
COMBATSYS: Blanka successfully hits Duolon with Amazon River Run.
Glancing Blow
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Blanka 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 K'
Not very much Duo's night, either. Though he had been pretty confident in his ability to fight someone challenging for a change, clearly spending too much time at the 'murdering hapless crime bosses with pitiful guns' game had left him a touch rusty. Rose was conquering him pretty good. But, that's okay, because now he has an excuse! K-Dash's opponent has begun to target him, and he had a convenient reason to change targets. Far be it from Duo to run from a fight, of course, but why not see if his partner can do any better against the woman? Despite appearing half-drunk, she seemed quite formidable. Perhaps wasn't just rust, but a different level of skill. He'd just have to see, wouldn't he? His attention turns from Rose, then, to Blanka as the green monster seeks to rush at him once more. Setting his jaw, Duo is quick to get his feet in motion, seeking to entirely leap away from the sliding attack, but only being partially successful. Only one fist hits, impacting on the Hizoku's knee roughly, causing him to flip forward, over Blanka. Or rather, would be flipping over Blanka if not for Duo planting his hands on the beast's back, then pushing himself up in the air straight up, only to twist his body back down, seeking to drive a heel into Blanka's spine, then in the same motion, push himself off and away from the raging beast.
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits K' with Medium Punch.
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Blanka 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Duolon
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Rose 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 K'
The sky starts to crack in earnest. What had initially been little more than an intermittent splash of drops becomes a fairly steady rain. Thunder cracks, lightning prints jagged forks across the sky, and the event staffers avidly pan their cameras out to capture this 'mood-setting' change in the weather. Atmosphere at no cost! The organizers are quite pleased with themselves.
K', however, is not happy.
His silver hair starts to melt in the rain, running into his eyes and briefly impeding his sight. Even with that momentary handicap-- he soon enough shakes the hair out of his eyes with a muted growl of annoyance-- he might have avoided Rose's retaliation if not for the fact that he's still in the air and unable to maneuver when she fields it. She hits him dead on, knocking him out of the air; he fumbles his landing a bit, hitting the ground in a skid, one knee and a hand to the ground.
Still, he seems largely undeterred by the blow, as evidenced by his response to her question. Which is, in fact, a nonresponse. He lifts his brows at her, one shoulder shrugging indifferently, and a mock-repentant look tracks briefly across his face, leaving smug prints in its wake. It is a look universal to teenagers like him: one that says, '...Sorry, what? Can't hear you.' Yes, K' is in fact... an asshole.
That done, he rises to his feet, his shoulders sloped negligently. He fails to act for a second, as if considering what best to do: or as if catching his breath. And then, he lunges in close again. A wreath of fire kindles before his lean frame, sparked by the swipe of his gloved hand, and he scythes a direct uppercut of a kick at Rose straight through the fire: the momentum of it hopefully serving to drive the flames into her, as well as the blow.
K''s playlist remains, for now, a mystery.
COMBATSYS: Duolon successfully hits Blanka with Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 K'
So close..
But yet, so far. Blanka's bestial features turn up in grumbly rage as he feels his foot just glance off of Duo's shin, the skiddy motion making him slide against the damp rough stone. And then there's the impact of Duo Lon's foot to his back, a spark of pain that threatens to bring the lightning out from Blanka's hide again. But he forces it down, pushing it away, knowing that he needs to keep control. He wants to remain less than a monster for this, more than what he plays at being. Because really - he is a man that plays at a monster.. He /has/ to be. Deep down, he knows this - and /no/ pain will make him forget this.
So, he learns from the Man in his life. That Man... is Dan. Dan the Man. His Plan would Demand - respect. Something that Blanka needs more than anything. Blanka's tricks and jokes are all learned from his time with the pink-gi'd warrior, and now he dips deep into that batch of tricks. He can't match fire with lightning. He can't match feet with feet. So instead, he fights them both on a field where he and Rose hold sole advantage.
Melon.
Leaping forwards, Blanka skids /under/ the fallen drawbridge. From beneath, giant hands grab and dig into the wood. He swings easily around, his feet grabbing a carefully - laid - out box, and he carries it up and to the edge of the flooring. His body contracts, and he hurls himself and the box skyward. At the apex, he brings his hands down on the box, sending splinters of wood down upon the battlefield. But more importantly, in the end - something much more defiant rains down at the pair of opponents. Giant... hard-rined... watermelons.
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Second Shell from K' with Soul Reflect.
[ \\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 K'
To Rose's own annoyance, her hair is not sorting itself out in the gathering rain. Instead, it's turning into a further tangled mess; her hairdresser (or Alma) will have a lot of work ahead of them. As she rises from her feet again, looking at K' with an upraised eyebrow. She may not object to the MP3 player, but nobody appreciates dismissive reactions. She snaps her scarf around to one side -
And K''s move slips into her weak spot, slamming his foot up along her chest and making her face contort in pain as she's thrown up and to the side, the glass tumbling out of her hand on a high, toppling arc as sherry spills out, red and bright, into the rain. She lands half-seated, still smouldering; she pushes herself up with an irritated shake of the head, the glass starting its downward passage.
COMBATSYS: Duolon dodges Blanka's Tropical Hazard.
[ \\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 K'
Melons.
The green monster certainly had a lot of... unusualness to him. He could burst into streaks of electricity, or... well, throw melons. And tapdance, apparently. A beast of many talents, tonight's Frakenstein was, but unfortunately Duo had no intention of... getting hit by melons. Frowning as the beast backs off, going to the drawbridge in order to pull up a crate. The Hizoku isn't sure what's going on, but he knows one thing is for sure: he probably doesn't want to be around when the attack comes. And as those hard-rhined melons rain down, he's already in motion, his form blurring and being little more than black streaks in the air as he seems to literally teleport from place to place, the melons hitting spots he once -was- standing, but moving too fast, dodging through the rain of fruit, to actually be hit. Once the rain stops - though the water keeps falling from the sky slowly - Duo's all ready to begin a new assault. Flickering out of where he's standing, a bit away from Rose and K', he suddenly reappears to the woman's side, and without waiting for the 'approval' of either fighter, begins to strike. First he throws an elbow at Rose, aimed for her side, then steps in and tries to ram his shoulder further into her side. Finally, he brings his arm up in an attempt to do a rising palm uppercut, striking for the woman's jaw.
Blanka, meanwhile, probably miscalculates the landing and ends up in the moat, top hat floating after him.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Blanka's Tropical Hazard.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 K'
Melons. -That- kind of attack... is the sort you simply cannot anticipate. And K', being somewhat absorbed in the process of kicking Rose right off her feet, doesn't even -notice- Blanka heading off to pick up his crate in the first place, making it even harder to predict the occurrence of such a phenomenon. What first alerts him to Blanka's unconventional attack is the impact of the first melon about five feet away. The sharp crack of it splitting open on the stone almost gets even the apathetic K' to startle.
He backs off from Rose, ducking through the onslaught of melon: one fruit gets way too close for comfort, and K' grits his teeth as he swings up an arm to intercept it. It glances off his guard, stinging his entire arm right on down to the shoulder, but at least he wasn't struck head-on. Not only would that have hurt... he'd never have lived it down. Especially if Maxima sees it.
Swiping his arm back down to his side, hissing a note of irritation as he shakes some of the sting out of it, he seems content to let Duo field his attack first. He himself simply circles around to the woman's left, angling towards a better position from which to attack. A small fire has kindled in the palm of his curled right hand, and he rolls the little lick of flame along his knuckles as he waits for an opening: eyes narrowed.
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 K'
COMBATSYS: Rose interrupts Shaki Juuryuu from Duolon with Soul Illusion.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\======-\1 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 K'
Rose can still feel Blanka's mind, if faintly. The relative confusion, the distraction; it's not surprising, to her, even if it's saddening. The poor fellow; his mind is strange now, and while she does not suppose he is unhappy in the great scheme of things...
But the fight is continuing and she must do her best, even if Blanka is distracted now. She wishes the green giant well and crouches low as she watches K' slip in closer, pressing the soul power in her into a different form than the previous polychromatic punches and kicks. The elbow makes her bend slightly over, teeth gritting as she crosses her arms to block that incoming shoulder --
And then Rose is behind Duo Lon as well, a backhanded punch with a glowing hand followed up by a twisting pirouette of kicks from the illusionary duplicate, which fades away like a ghost a fraction of a second after the short blur of energy. Rose herself steps back quickly, glancing towards K'.
The glass hits the ground and smashes, some distance away.
K', backing off to let Duo do his thing is appreciated, as he doesn't quite know of the other man's fighting style. But, considering he'd taken Blanka down pretty much by himself, and now was fighting at least decently with Rose, it could be assumed that 1) yes, he was a little rusty 2) K' wasn't someone Duo could safely ignore as 'just another fighter'. But backing off seems to be a bad thing, actually. While it probably wouldn't be good to have stayed there, either, Duo gets only part of his attack in, while Rose has a little trick up her sleeve. A second set of fists - well, feet, but he can't tell - that Duo in no way could have been prepared for impacts against his back, and he gets a mighty beatdown IN STEREO. Getting smacked around, he staggers forward, towards Rose, then growls and twists away as the phantom ghost kicks fade away. Seeing no one behind him, he figures out what just happened fairly quickly, mostly because... he's got a similar attack, himself. "Hmph," he says, rising from the half-crouch he'd stooped into after twisting away. "You remind me of another I fought, once long ago. I had difficulty against her, as well." He says. About as close to a compliment as he'll be giving, for right now.
Adopting his fighting stance once more, his jaw sets, and he's still for a moment, his eyes flicking just briefly to what K's doing, to make sure he's not going to launch anything Duo might be in the way of. Flicking back to Rose, the Hizoku concentrates for a moment, and the area around him seems to get darker, somehow, as though the patch of clouds directly above him were darker, and failed to let any light in at all for just that moment. The purple-black sickly chi bubbles up around his entire body this time, and he steps forward, seeking to thrust his hand towards Rose's face, and grab her by the head. Even if this doesn't connect, however, the grab is merely for effect, if not a feint altogether. The real attack comes from the chi that suddenly separates from his body, and begins to swirl around himself, forming into several ghostly skulls that start to hammer into Rose, passing through her body and swirling around again in order slam once more, doing it again and again before the skulls simply vanish, and Duo releases Rose.
The thing of it is, the move K''s got in mind, what he wants to do... if he pulled it while Duo was in that close, he'd pretty much be guaranteed to hit his 'partner' as well as his opponent. And K' isn't quite so cold-blooded as to hurt an ally for a chance to hit an enemy. ...well, not in this particular situation, anyway. In this instance, it'd just be 'impractical.' Considering the damage Rose can output, it'd be patently unwise to do anything that'd unnecessarily tip the balance.
But he's done waiting. The instant Duo finishes whatever weird attack he's got going...
K' prowls a bit impatiently, back and forth, as that sickly chi stabs towards Rose. Whatever the outcome of that attack, if Duo's still close in to Rose when it completes, K' will speak up: even as his right hand lifts and turns palm-up, that flame slithering from his knuckles to pool and writhe in the cage of his fingers. "You'd better get out of the way..." his low voice rasps out suddenly, K' finally speaking to his ally for pretty much the first time this fight.
He gives Duo a few seconds' worth of grace period. Then the little fire he holds sparks and flares into a brilliant conflagration, in tandem with K''s sudden sliding rush towards Rose. He rips across the ground at a dizzying speed, a line of fire streaked in his wake, and aims to smash that searing mass of flame-- along with a pretty solid blow of an armored fist-- right into the woman.
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Duolon's Hiden Genmu Onryouheki.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Rose with Heat Drive.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 K'
"Oh did you?" Rose says, tilting her head back. "We are often surprising, aren't we?" The rain is finally starting to make headway against her hair and she tenses as she sees Duo Lon darken. This sort of change in light states, or in energy, is never a positive thing; she has her suspicion rewarded when that hand comes flying towards her, towards her face. She lunges, suddenly, to the side, Duo Lon's hand brushing against frizzed-up violet hair in passing as she smiles...
Just in time to face K'. Her smile vanishes. Fire gathers in his grasp and he bursts, slamming forwards towards her; she lowers her head and crosses her arms again, scarf flaring out like a combination of armored plate and air bag as the flame and K''s fist smashes against it. She is sent staggering by the raw force of the blow, teeth tightening as her lips draw back in momentary pain as she steps back, arms unfolding only slowly, with reluctance.
She finds herself not far from Duoron, and says with astonishment, "My /goodness,/" which is perhaps the best she can manage as she twists around, striking out with that self-same scarf in a scintillating whip-like motion towards Duo Lon! Why pick on the poor fellow? Well, perhaps she can smell blood; alternately, he simply was closer to her right arm. The scarf itself is virtually harmless, although the Soul Power practically soaking it is a great deal more painful.
COMBATSYS: Duolon dodges Rose's Aura Scarf.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 K'
Skulls are usually creepy things, and they tend to mess with people's heads, particularly when they try to slam into them in order to make with the hurting. But apparently Rose was just more concerned with getting out of the way than she was being freaked out by flying skulls. And getting out of the way, so she does rather well. Leaping backwards a small distance as the ghosts fade away, Duo is quick to get out of the way of any of the flames K' seems to be dishing up. Well intentioned or not, flames had a habit of going where they would. As the attack staggers Rose, the Hizoku is already in motion. The scarf doesn't bother him so much, the attacking appendage slicing through the air towards him, then -through- him-- wait, what? In fact, the thing getting speared is only an after image as Duo does another blurring movement trick, dodging around Rose's scarf in order to appear at her side again. His arms lash out and attempt to grab the woman by the waist, tugging her forward, then twisting his own body, engaging her in a simple hip throw to the increasingly muddy ground.
It's rare anyone can get out of the way of that particular attack in time. K' thus doesn't seem surprised that his blow connected, simply ripping right on -past- Rose after smashing into her, and skidding abruptly to a stop: putting on the brakes so hard that he rocks back slightly on his heels. He swivels around in a smooth pivot on that tenuous balance point, dropping back into a more steadied stance, and squints hard through the smoke he's generated at what Rose and Duo Lon are up to now.
His eyes half-lid in perturbation to see that they're grappling again. Or at least, an attempt is being made to grapple. All this close combat stuff is starting to cramp at least -one- aspect of his style; he can't throw fire if he's liable to hit both of them with the splash. Apparently he'll have to get in close himself in order to be more precisely effective-- but he hangs back a moment first, apparently needing a breather before he heads in.
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Duolon's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K'
Rose has seen a LOT of skulls here and there, and on some level they're almost cute. Not for themselves, or as ACTUAL skulls, but they've got that friendly look to them, don't they? Always grinning at you. Regardless, Rose seems to be tiring as Duo Lon moves in response - and her head tilts to the side in silent acknowledgement as the ancient technique demonstrates its utility. When Duo Lon comes close to her in order to grasp at her waist, she closes her eyes --
And she is not there, leaving only a trace of Soul Power sparkles behind her. She doesn't go far, perhaps four feet, and turns to face Duo Lon and waggle an index finger, chidingly.
She glances then over towards K', head tilting to the side. Light glitters around her, interacting with the steadily increasing rain as it goes from a steady patter into something moving closer to a torrent. "Are you two familiar with each other?" she asks, arms folding beneath her breasts: "You seem to work well in cooperation, but I am not sure I have met you formally..."
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 K'
A slippery one, Rose was. About as slippery as he was, all that moving so fast you seem to be teleporting stuff going around. It was pretty annoying to have it turned in on yourself, Duo has to admit. And his expression even reads as such, frowning just ever so slightly in annoyance as his attack is evaded. Drawing himself up, he calmly turns to face Rose directly, giving her an almost sour look. Or perhaps it was just how he normally looked, which certainly is possible. When she asks the question, he raises an eyebrow, and then shakes his head slowly, without looking at K'. That's all the answer he intends to give, it seems, and it's not certain whether he's just shaking his head as a 'no' answer, or whether he's shaking his head at her asking the question at all. Sliding his right leg back and leading with his left, he holds his hands up in his usual, if unusual, fighting stance, regarding Rose with a serious expression. Even though he must be at his limits, he's still ready to fight, it seems, and he's making an effort to make sure he'll stay that way.
COMBATSYS: Duolon focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Rose 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 K'
"Never seen him before," is K''s short response, supplementing Duo's silent shake: a shoulder lifting in a slight and noncommittal shrug. Amazing, isn't it, how his hearing is selective? Especially since the rain has begun in earnest, and so technically it should have been -harder- for him to hear her now than it was before. In truth the volume isn't that high; and besides, earbud headphones are already pretty poor at sealing out ambient noise. Realistically speaking, that's how it should be; how K' prefers it. Hearing is as important a sense to fighting as sight. The music is just background noise.
It is surprising, though, how they seem to fight well together despite never having met. In part, it is a consequence of K''s training. Adaptability was always smiled on at NESTS. Though they never did manage to get rid of K''s somewhat foolhardy streak; an unfortunate tendency that manifests now.
The sluicing rain beats down on his soaked hair, streaming along his shoulders, coursing down his lean frame. Fortunately, the more expensive items he's got stashed on his person are relatively protected from the elements: -unfortunately-, it's at the cost of his leather's well-being. For a moment, he does nothing but get steadily more soaked-- possibly to the delight of those watching this broadcast at home-- and then he does something potentially foolish. He attacks. K' lunges in a move that looks almost identical to his previous leaping snapkick-- but then he feints out of the high blow, instead slipping in low to swipe a kick at Rose's legs.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Rose with Narrow Spike.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 K'
Rose has seen a LOT of skulls here and there, and on some level they're almost cute. Not for themselves, or as ACTUAL skulls, but they've got that friendly look to them, don't they? Always grinning at you. Regardless, Rose seems to be tiring as Duo Lon moves in response - and her head tilts to the side in silent acknowledgement as the ancient technique demonstrates its utility. When Duo Lon comes close to her in order to grasp at her waist, she closes her eyes --
And she is not there, leaving only a trace of Soul Power sparkles behind her. She doesn't go far, perhaps four feet, and turns to face Duo Lon and waggle an index finger, chidingly.
She glances then over towards K', head tilting to the side. Light glitters around her, interacting with the steadily increasing rain as it goes from a steady patter into something moving closer to a torrent. "Are you two familiar with each other?" she asks, arms folding beneath her breasts: "You seem to work well in cooperation, but I am not sure I have met you formally..."
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
A slippery one, Rose was. About as slippery as he was, all that moving so fast you seem to be teleporting stuff going around. It was pretty annoying to have it turned in on yourself, Duo has to admit. And his expression even reads as such, frowning just ever so slightly in annoyance as his attack is evaded. Drawing himself up, he calmly turns to face Rose directly, giving her an almost sour look. Or perhaps it was just how he normally looked, which certainly is possible. When she asks the question, he raises an eyebrow, and then shakes his head slowly, without looking at K'. That's all the answer he intends to give, it seems, and it's not certain whether he's just shaking his head as a 'no' answer, or whether he's shaking his head at her asking the question at all. Sliding his right leg back and leading with his left, he holds his hands up in his usual, if unusual, fighting stance, regarding Rose with a serious expression. Even though he must be at his limits, he's still ready to fight, it seems, and he's making an effort to make sure he'll stay that way.
COMBATSYS: Duolon focuses on his next action.
"Never seen him before," is K''s short response, supplementing Duo's silent shake: a shoulder lifting in a slight and noncommittal shrug. Amazing, isn't it, how his hearing is selective? Especially since the rain has begun in earnest, and so technically it should have been -harder- for him to hear her now than it was before. In truth the volume isn't that high; and besides, earbud headphones are already pretty poor at sealing out ambient noise. Realistically speaking, that's how it should be; how K' prefers it. Hearing is as important a sense to fighting as sight. The music is just background noise.
It is surprising, though, how they seem to fight well together despite never having met. In part, it is a consequence of K''s training. Adaptability was always smiled on at NESTS. Though they never did manage to get rid of K''s somewhat foolhardy streak; an unfortunate tendency that manifests now.
The sluicing rain beats down on his soaked hair, streaming along his shoulders, coursing down his lean frame. Fortunately, the more expensive items he's got stashed on his person are relatively protected from the elements: -unfortunately-, it's at the cost of his leather's well-being. For a moment, he does nothing but get steadily more soaked-- possibly to the delight of those watching this broadcast at home-- and then he does something potentially foolish. He attacks. K' lunges in a move that looks almost identical to his previous leaping snapkick-- but then he feints out of the high blow, instead slipping in low to swipe a kick at Rose's legs.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Rose with Narrow Spike.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 K'
"I'm not sure if you're honest," Rose says as she tilts her head forwards, eyes narrowing slightly - but she's smiling, which may make it a friendly sort of suspicion. However, Duolon seems to be focusing, which means that for now her enemy is K'!
She can't hear the music, only - faintly - the beat as K''s attention goes back towards her. The smell of steadily wettening leather is noticed absently as K' lunges towards her. She leaps back, but a moment too late; instead of kicking her legs out from under her, K' ends up smacking her in the calf quite sharply, sending her staggering to the side.
She rolls with it, more or less; as she tumbles to the side she twists her arm around, taking /her/ opportunity to do a handstand as she swings her legs around in a spiralling double kick back at the flaming leather-clad gentleman.
Regardless of whether Rose believed them or not, it was true. Duo and K' had never met. Duo -had- met Maxima some time ago, but he knew not of either Maxima's connection to K', nor the pair's connection to the entity known as NESTS. So, other than by the 'five degrees' rule, he did not know K'. Even so, as much as the flame-wielder's training included adaptability, so too did Duo's. You had to think outside the box a lot as an assassin, in order to reach your target, and then get back out again. Keeping in mind K's apparent abilities and working in timing was easy. And it helped that K' seemed competent, too.
To be honest, objectively viewing the situation, Duolon did not perceive his ability to continue the fight to be all that worthwhile. He was hurt, he was fatigued, and Rose seemed to have no trouble reading his attacks, while the woman remained ellusive to him. His part in the fight was over - but perhaps, as Rose had just then suggested, the two should work together to beat her. Eyes glancing over to his partner, he can think of only one thing he could do. And, as Rose begins her attack, Duo does, as well. He doesn't attack in the usual sense, but rather just suddenly blurs once more, racing towards Rose and seeming to step in to strike her, precisely where she can see him. But before he can connect, his body seems to fade - an afterimage. Rather than striking her, he seeks to simply distract her by keeping her guessing where he'll be coming from, and if he'll actually attack, zipping in and out to attack her flanks and back, leaving K' plenty of room to strike the woman back.
COMBATSYS: Duolon assists K'.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: K' fails to interrupt Strong Kick from Rose with Claw Bites.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Duolon
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rose 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 K'
K' tilts his head, maddeningly silent on the matter. Half a rakish grin flickers briefly across his face, before disappearing as quickly as it came: leaving whoever might have witnessed it to wonder whether it had ever been there. His head tilts further, drifting to one side in negligent indifference. The cord of his phones swings indolently by his jawline, swaying in a regular and tiny pattern.
The boy then attacks, lashing out a sharp blow at the woman, landing a glancing hit. She recovers faster than he expects her to, and is on the offensive before he can properly recover from his attack: apparently undeterred even by Duo Lon's attempts to distract and confuse her. Alarmed at the rapid retaliation, fire sparks along K''s hands, bristling hotly like the hackles shooting up on a startled cat: but before he can swivel to slam that seething burst of flame into Rose, Rose has struck him first.
Hit dead-on in the chest, K' is taken off his feet: hurtling some distance back and twisting in the air to skid to a halt on all fours. White teeth bare briefly in a snarl as he pants out a harsh breath, slowly picking himself up and pushing wet hair out of his eyes. That'll be the last time he tries -that- against her.
Rose dismounts from her impromptu gymnastics after K' falls over, landing and skidding slightly on the wet stone as she recovers her balance. She's not on perfect terms, but she can, perhaps, move quickly and well enough to make the outcome favorable. Her head whips around towards Duolon, lips pursing tight. She looks faintly absurd for a moment; the 'waterproof' in waterproof makeup is proven to be more of a relative than an absolute term.
The afterimages confuse her, but not as much as they might. She watches them warily, letting K' rest at her flank for the moment, and feels outwards with her mind. She doesn't bother to really think about which is which; once she has a good sensation, she lets her arm move on automatic pilot, aiming an open-handed strike out towards one of the apparent images. Light crackles from it as it moves, pastel blue and lightning-shaped; of course, it's not REALLY lightning, which helpfully flashes and booms above her as she moves!
COMBATSYS: Duolon fails to interrupt Medium Punch from Rose with Genmu Hishou Keikou.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Duolon can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 1/------=/=======|
The plan was simple. His partner would strike, and irregardles of whether or not he was successful, it was very likely that Rose was going to attack him next, because... hey, what he was doing was pretty annoying, he suspected. Flittering in and out of sight, leaving afterimages behind... sooner or later -one- of those was going to be real. And Duo fully intended to let Rose strike him when he did show up as the 'real' one. Unfortunately it seems that K's attack not actually working means that Rose is able to strike a little more decisively, a little too fast. The Hizoku's plan had been fairly simple: do his usual kawarimi trick when she struck. Unfortunately the increased decisiveness means he can't get it off in time, and gets decked right in the face, instead. Snapping his head to the side, it looks like that shiz -hurt- too. Staggering backwards a few feet, he eventually just collapses, apparently out of the fight, as he's not getting back up.
Well. There's Duo down. K' might have felt a bit more badly about it if he weren't aware that there was almost nothing he could have done to forestall that eventuality. And if he weren't generally a dick. As it is, he flicks a glance towards the downed Hizoku, perhaps to see if he's all right, perhaps just to check that he really won't be getting up; and then his wolf-yellow eyes flick back to Rose. There's fire in them yet, perhaps in a more literal sense than one would think: the gold color of them is warmed by some hint of another shade, yellow mixing with a slight glow that creates an overall effect not unlike scotch in a glass.
In truth, that gleam of fire isn't really just aesthetic-- it is actually a herald of the fact he is building up another welter of fire energy within him. That energy manifests abruptly with a sound like the rip and snap of cloth, the twisting flames eating eagerly into the air as they crawl to life about his wrist and hand. The Kusanagi holy fire twines restlessly about his hand as it lifts and turns, cradling the energy haphazardly but deftly. Flame drips from between his fingers.
He's exhausted. He can barely see straight, much less aim in a straight line. But he's attacking anyway, doing about the only thing he can do at this juncture: repeating his earlier assault, bolting forwards towards Rose in a burst and shrieking line of searing fire.
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to interrupt Heat Drive from K' with Aura Soul Throw.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ < > //////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 K'
Rose breathes in deeply as light shines around her. She looks at K''s body and his motions, striving to transcend the web of fatigue cloaking her body. She crouches slightly - and she doesn't notice the faint discord between body and mind, as the Soul Power around her sends rain flying from her body and she leaps forwards towards K''s midsection, one arm extended.
The problem... is that he was advancing fist-first.
Well, fire fist first.
The flaming streak strikes her sideways against the head, and the force of it sends her veering off to the side, losing consciousness for a fraction of a second. All the time she needs to slip, slide, stumble, wake back up, and manage to control her fall before she hits the ground.
She lays there for a few moments, looking up at the sky and wondering how short she's going to have to cut her hair now. "--Well done!" she calls out, not getting up.
K' skids to a stop. Or, more accurately, he puts on the brakes-- and then abruptly miscalculates his own stop out of sheer exhaustion, stumbling and pitching forward onto his knees. It's hardly the graceful recovery he usually executes after he's pulled that particular move, and for a moment he is almost embarrassed. Then he remembers he's too bloody tired to care about how he looks on international television.
After a moment, he pushes back to his feet, unsteady but still grumpily eschewing any aid from the staffers that run up in an attempt to see how he's doing. His glance flickers first to the moat, where some crew members are busy dredging for Blanka, and then towards Duo, who's being attended-- lastly, his glance skates to Rose, whose last comment he actually replies: though his response is nonverbal. There's a sharp, amused breath out, a weird expression that might have been half a smirk; and then K' turns away, limping slowly but determinedly off. And shoving away an enterprising camera that gets too close to his face.
Log created on 18:44:30 09/30/2007 by Blanka, and last modified on 06:11:13 10/03/2007.