Description: Roberto fights Hotaru at the park just outside of Seijyun. In the first half of the fight both fighters struggle. In the second half the fight things start getting a little weird, especially when sticks come into play. [OOC] Hotaru says, "Proof positive that the luck stat lies!" (Winner: Hotaru)
The park has a section cleared off for today's exhibition in the new season of Neo League! With a clear sky, pleasant fall breeze, and beautiful fall colors filling the acerage located in the heart of Southtown, the match has drawn a decent crowd combining people who knew the match was happening and the people who just happened to be out and about beacuse it was a nice day.
Hotaru finds it somewhat amusing to face Roberto on a grassy field like this. Hopefully he doesn't get so much into the heat of the moment that he uses her like a soccer ball! The young man from Taiyo is a tough opponent though, all quiet joking thoughts aside, and she'll have to be on her best performance to keep up with him. In fact, this is the first time she's ever fought him in a pure one on one match...
Dressed in her typical blue and white China girl outfit replete with her red hair ribbons like always, the girl is ready to see how the young man is doing now that he's finally been helped to recover past the ordeals he carried with him from Thailand. Hands clasped behind her back, the girl has already warmed up ahead of time and now is simply waiting for things to get going.
Roberto, truth be told has been nervous about this match-up. While none of their matches have been strict one on ones there's some evidence that he could beat Hotaru in that type of situation. In one of their first match-ups there was no involvement from Heavy D! or Dudley except after Hotaru had already fallen in a close fight. On the other hand Hotaru had put down Roberto in their SNF although there was also some assistance from Dr. Tran.
Roberto comes to the make-shift fighting ring carrying a mesh bag filled with soccer balls. After dumping the balls to the ground Roberto tosses the bag aside and goes into his stretches. Gone is the showmanship from before the war. His focus is on getting through this fight. While he doesn't show boat with the soccer balls he still gives Hotaru a smile. "This time I'll be able to give you the fight we should've had then," he whispers just low enough that the microphones can't pick up.
Roberto performs a quick bow and rests his right foot on a soccer ball as he waits for Hotaru to start things off.
COMBATSYS: Roberto has started a fight here.
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Roberto 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
As Roberto draws nearer, Hotaru's expression brightens, her mouth curling into a faint smile. She won't fret the past much for now. She has to put their previous fights out of her mind except to remember his skill, strength, and speed. All that matters is her own efforts in giving him a good challenge with her Kenpo arts.
"I'm glad you're doing better," the girl states sincerely. After all, he was a hero in Thailand. To have him come home paying that price was not the fate she would have wished on anyone who gave his all over there like the Taiyo student.
"This has been a long time in coming," she grins, turning sideways, slipping into her comfortable, loose fighting style, her right arm raised, as if for defending, her left arm bent at the elbow, primed for striking. Which might not mean much... she tends to kick mostly anyway much like the soccer fighter. She knows better than to take his style lightly though. He's taught her that on more than one occasion.
The officials running the match waste no time getting straight to the action though and the instant the fighters seem prepared, they call for it to begin! Hotaru takes off with a bold sprint toward the young man, aiming to get a hold of him before he can peg her with that soccer ball he's primed and ready with. If she gets a grip on his arms, she'll launch a series of rapid kicks right up the front of him before backflipping into the air back toward the center of the open area, "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Roberto just-defends Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
Hotaru does indeed get a hold of Roberto's arms however the soccer goalie manages to free up glove clad hand. Using a speed that surprises even himself he moves his hand in the way to stop the kicks as they rise up his body. His hand moving in a blur to intercept each kick before she back flips away.
He doesn't want to give Hotaru too much time to recover though since he knows from past fights that she can be dangerous if left to her own devices. His foot rolls off of the ball as he winds his foot back before letting it slam right into the soccer ball sending it at Hotaru. The odd thing about it though is the weird spin he puts on the soccer ball. He seems to curve right at her.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Roberto's Long Shot.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
The young man manages to fend the girl off with percision that catches her off guard, actually, though she tries not to let on as she comes down out of her back flip just in time to weave to the side and avoid the incoming pain-ball. Whew, she muses mentally. He's really on his game right now. Keeping up with someone who can defend against her so well is going to be a challenge.
Her expression loses its quiet smile eventually, becoming quite serious as she decides to take a less reckless approach to dealing with him. If her first attack didn't pan out with the high kicks, maybe something lower will do... A charge across the grass before sliding down into a kick. It might look almost like what Shoma would do, aiming for Roberto's shin like that!
COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto watches as Kenpo fighter weaves out of the soccer ball. Needless to say he's a bit surprised especially after the effort he put on making that particular shot hard to read. He has to admit it was also a nice recovery since she went on the offensive just as quickly as she dodged his signature move.
Roberto barely has time to get his foot on another soccer ball as Hotaru comes sliding into his feet. Roberto avoids it by taking a step in front of the ball while tapping the soccer ball with the instep of the foot not taking that step forward allowing for the ball to go a little bit to the side. This sets up a quick spin move which gets him completely out of the way.
Roberto still has the momentum of the spin move and he decides he wants to take advantage of it by letting it carry him until he can deliver a kick to her side.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Roberto's Heavy Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
Seeing that he's managed to re-equip himself with a second ball, the girl expects that that's where the next attack is going to be coming in from, which keeps her eyes on his feet. Not that she expects much from the boy's arms anyway... Roberto's power has always been in the legs like any good soccer player.
Eying his feet lets her see the incoming sweeping kick, however, that would have resulted in a major crunch to her side if it had landed. But the girl dips into her speed hard for that one, ducking low in a crouch to allow his leg to swing over her... Before she lunges in an attempt to take advantage of the missed strike.
Springing toward him, she tries to get her arms on him from behind so that she can pull her feet up and plant them hard into his upper back, hoping to send Roberto sprawling. If she can just manage to catch him off guard, that is...
COMBATSYS: Roberto interrupts Quick Throw from Hotaru with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto can not only see, but he can actually hear her moving to his back to take advantage of his position. Under normal circumstances, he would've attempted a Bicycle Kick to lash out with it while she was positioned behind him. But the time he needed to execute it he just didn't have.
Roberto is then forced to improvise. He suddenly jerks forward pulling her off balance before the feet could be pressed in to his back and then thrusting his foot backwards thrusting it into the girl's breadbasket. There's some slight pain from pulling away from her but all things considered he's not too bad off.
Struck in the gut, Hotaru bends forward a little, staggering back, hands clutching at her stomach, eyes widened slightly. Yeah, she felt that one. Maybe staying in close to him isn't the best idea after all. She thought maybe she could use his longer limbs against him by staying in tight, but that only resulted in her getting her stomach kicked in!
Trying a different approach, Hotaru lunges in low again, this time it isn't for a slide kick though as at the last moment she leans upward hard with her shoulder, aiming to plant it into Roberto's stomach and knock him off balance... so that she can follow up with her right arm, turning into him from the other direction to land a strong palm press to his chin. "HA!"
COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Hotaru's Strong Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto still manages to weave out of the way of the initial shoulder charge and side step as he avoids the palm press to the chin as he temporarily abandons the soccer ball. He just doesn't have the position due to Hotaru's constant pressure to make use of the soccer ball like he wanted. But when one door closes sometimes another door opens.
While he can't use that soccer ball he found that the side step set him up perfectly to deliver a sliding kick of his own with a slight grunt as the only real warning that it was coming. Perhaps Roberto will show Hotaru how it's really done. Of course the problem with slide tackles is that while it's somewhat fast on delivery, he's a bit slow to recover from it.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Roberto's Sliding Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Roberto
The audience has started to hold their breath. At this point, the two fighters almost seem too fast for each other. Neither can seem to connect much at all besides Roberto's decisive strike to Hotaru's stomach a little bit ago. It's hard to decide if she should keep the pressure on him or back off... staying in close means it's harder for him to put his famous soccer projectiles to work for him, but at the risk of getting kicked hard. Hanging back means she better be able to play dodge ball really well, even if kicks are less of a concern...
As Roberto tries to catch her off guard from her shoulder lunge, Hotaru hops over the incoming slide kick, coming down on the other side of him. Trying to strike the swift athlete is starting to seem like a difficult endeavor to pull off, to say the least. Deciding to try and limit his movement even more, the girl spins around to leap at him while he's trying to get up.
Trying to get a grip on his arm, if she pulls it off, she'll pull up on his arm and twist it behind his back while also planting her knee on his back, trying to force him down to the grass in a painful pressure armlock!
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Hotaru's Ten Ranku-Tou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto doesn't try to move out of the way. After attempting a slide tackle he knows going for an out and out evasion is just too risky and so he his arm does get caught by the young Kenpo practitioner however he manages to get up quickly enough that he able to move with the attempt to wrench his arm back causing the two fighters to engage in an intricate dance for control of the grapple. There's still a slight twinge of pain but it's still nothing major.
Roberto still has to figure out a way out of this hold and so he decides to put his experience as a goalie to use once again. Soccer players aren't usually known for their upper body strength but if you consider the fact that Roberto is a field player who occasionally has to take throw ins and a goalie who has to occasionally side-arm a soccer ball or punch away soccer balls aside it's no wonder why he has some good upper body as well. This is why Hotaru might not want to be on the receiving end of the punch that is directed to the arm that is holding on to his own.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Roberto's Strong Punch!
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Roberto
She was mostly paying attention to his legs... until she tried to get his arm in that pressure lock. But Roberto will have none of that, spinning around with the girl in order to keep her from cinching in that grip of hers. He might be surprised to find that she has pretty good positioning all the same, as if she's been studying locks like these in addition to her typically more direct Kenpo style of combat.
When he takes that swing for her arm, the girl has already started to charge up a vibrant aura along her right forearm... She had intended to unleash a point blank Hakki Shou to try and shake up the precarious grapple the two are fighting to control, but with that swing of his, the girl ends up letting go entirely to lean back while still swinging her arm forward to discharge a blue blast of pure energy at very close range. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Hotaru's Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto's punching arm is too far along in the motion to even consider throwing up his hand to intercept the blast of energy. It's fortunate that she decided to let go of his hands when she did. His other hand just barely manages to move in front of the glowing energy. Saving him from the pain that would surely come from it.
The audience looks on in awe as the two seem to go back and forth with their attacks, neither one seeming to be able to gain meaningful advantage over the other. Roberto decides to back off and ponder his options for a bit as he skips backwards to yet another soccer ball. It remains to be seen whether or not Hotaru is going to try to press him or try to take him on from range. He'll try to prepare himself for either situation.
COMBATSYS: Roberto focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Roberto
The young man manages to be quick on the defense, fending off the close range chi blast just in the nick of time. Hotaru had already taken a step backward before launching it and rather than aggressing immediately, had prepared for retaliation, making it all the easier for Roberto to get range on her.
So far the match has required the best in speed the two can bring to bear, but no that Roberto has backed off, the girl is faced with having to reconsider her next course of action. As Roberto studies her, Hotaru studies back. But she doesn't hold back for long. So far, staying in close enough to keep him from being effective with those soccer balls she's been plugged by so often and that seems like a good idea.
Heading in quick again, attempting to avoid any soccer ball strikes, the smaller fighter spins into a quick snap kick toward Roberto's chest. "Kya!"
COMBATSYS: Roberto fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Bicycle Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Roberto
The soccer star attempts to charge shoulder first at the snap kick in an attempt to redirect the impact before delivering his own attack. The problem is that his timing isn't quite where he needs it to be and it was only a matter of time before one of the fighters was going to make a mistake.
Unfortunately for Roberto, he was the one. The impact sends the soccer star teetering off balance before managing to right himself back up again.
Perhaps Hotaru sees that as her opening. Her kick has landed, staggering his stance just a little. If she can keep on him after that, then maybe she can finally turn this stalemate of a fight around into something far more decisive. Snapping her leg back down to the ground after having finally connected with a clean hit, the girl pauses for only a split second before trying to get back in close, attempting to restrict his options.
A charge forward into a spinning hope gives her the momentum she needs to begin with, along with two whirlwinding strikes while she's in mid-flight. The attempt is to deflect his attention high for the moment she touches down... for she follows up with a /very/ strong palm press, leaning into it with her torso and legs to make it stronger than she could do with her limited arm strength alone. "HA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Roberto with Soushou Shin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto can see the fight beginning to spiral out of his hands. A misjudgement here followed by a misjudgement there and it causes a situation that would make most fighters start to become desperate. Roberto attempts to weave out of the way of the whirling strikes and just when he thinks it's safe to come back in, he moves right into the palm srike causing breath to be driven from his lips.
Roberto realizes he has to change his strategy a bit if he wants to make a come-back. He lashes out with a quick punch to her chin which isn't so much damaging as attempting to reassert his control of range.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Hotaru with Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Roberto
One rarely gets to land attacks for free. Hotaru's effort in delivering that strike against the taller player left her over extened a little, her arm still out, palm forward, the girl just all around committed to that last attack. But the girl figures she can recover from that by stepping into the lean and pressuring the soccer fighter even further rather than trying to put the effort into retracting...
Unfortunately, this results in her stepping into the punch to her chin, the blow knocking Hotaru's head to the side and stopping her aggression for a moment. Her left hand comes up to press against her chin for a moment, her eyes watering just a little. Not his strongest strike by any means, but the fragile fighter is just no good at taking hits it seems.
While the hit buys him a little bit of time, it isn't going to keep her off him for long. She seems determined to stay close. Gritting her teeth, Hotaru closes the distance quickly and reaches out for him, trying to get both of her hands onto one of his arms. If she can get a tight enough hold, she's going to swing her legs up against his chest in an attempt to knock him down while still holding his arm in an attempt to drop him into the ground into an armbar style armlock, using her legs against his chest and her own torso strength as the means of keeping the hold for a moment.
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Hotaru's Quick Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto's arm is grabbed once again but because of his stable foundation he's able to remain standing however that doesn't completely address the problem of Hotaru maintaining a lock on him. The arm lock does a number on his already somewhat abused arms even though he had been defending against most of them.
With Roberto's free hand he slaps it down on her feet and pushes them off of his chest. In that grapple attempt he sees a tiny bit of opportunity. He plans to whip a glowing foot for her chin before Hotaru can properly plant her feet on the ground sending up into the air and back and away from him.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Thrust Kick from Roberto with Kobi Kyaku EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Roberto
Hotaru seems to be full of tricks this fight. When not flailing uselessly with a golf club, she's definitely a lot more formidable of an opponent. And she has come a ways since Roberto faced off against her in the squared circle in that Saturday Night Fight with the boxers so long ago. A bit tougher, a bit faster, a bit more perceptive at how she times her attacks. And as the chi-laced foot comes swinging her way, the girl decides to test energy against energy.
As he shoves her legs off of his chest the girl releases his arm, no longer having a very good angle from which to grip it. Trying to pull on his arm when she no longer has him in any kind of hold is just asking to get socked... or, well, /kicked/. The girl hops up to her feet which would have lined her up for the brutal strike to her chin... except she retaliates with a similar attack of her own - a reverse kick, from low to high, intercepting Roberto's strike not with her leg but with the swath of blue chi that trails behind her kick. "KYA!"
His energy and hers collide for a moment as Hotaru's precision with chi control is tested... but in the end the energy manages to wash over his own and strike him back, albeit not as hard as it could have been.
Even if Roberto wasn't able to land the strike, he still got atleast part of what he was trying to achieve. He wanted distance and he got it. The feedback from striking the trail of energy sent him flying away.
The soccer star needs a few moments to get back up to his feet as he attempts to stall for time and think of a way out of the situation. He reaches down for one of those numerous soccer balls litering the battle ground and then whips his body around as he attempts to side-arm the soccer ball for her chest.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Hotaru with Thrown Object.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Roberto
Snapping her leg down to the ground after having delivered her swift, energy infused kick, Hotaru follows through with the momentum of the attack and spins around once more to face Roberto... Only to find he's gained distance at last in spite her efforts to keep the fight in close. As he hefts up the soccer ball, the girl leans forward and charges at him, clearly thinking to weave her way around whatever he might try to do with it.
But his aim is true and not only that, but he nails her with enough force while she's in the middle of stepping that he completely takes the smaller fighter clean off her feet when the projectile strikes her in the chest. "Ack!" comes the gasp as Hotaru plops to the ground on her back, her arms sprawled out at her sides for a long moment. He got her pretty good there, to say the least. "Ugh... are you sure you don't play softball?" she mutters as she rolls over onto her side and gets back up to her feet.
He's had plenty of time to prepare, but she's determined to close the distance between them. Continuing her forward charge, Hotaru takes to the air with a lateral jump kick, snapping her right leg out forward toward his chest in return. If she connects, she'll follow up with her left leg for a second hit before backflipping away. It's her own version of the Hien Shippu Kyaku that Ryo is so well known for!
COMBATSYS: Roberto fails to interrupt Heavy Kick from Hotaru with Pass and Shoot.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Roberto
"I'm pretty sure I play soccer... futbol. Whichever you want to call it." It's at this point Roberto is pretty sure that he can read the kick. As a matter of fact he knew what he would do halfway through that first kick that he decides to charge in and take her out of the air starting with chest trapping her first kick but he miscalculates.
Roberto runs right for the kick and then he slips on a stick while it does him no good for the first part of the kick it makes him slip and fall before the second one lands causing him to just barely avoid getting knocked out. Roberto doesn't get up right away though. He's staring at the sky in disbelief.
The girl is mid-air when she realizes that he's going to just flat out take her kick head on. Unfortunately, already having left the ground she's pretty much committed to delivering the blow no matter what. Either incredibly bad luck or incredibly good luck, depending on who one asks, factors into what happens next, as Roberto's retaliation is defeated by the stick in the grass.
He falls before she can follow up the right kick with a strong strike with her left, but Hotaru is able to recover her footing well enough in the landing, coming out into a rapid sequence of steps before sliding to a stop. Whew. A strange mixture of luck and bad luck for /both/ of them, really.
Now that they're far apart, Hotaru has a moment to catch her breath... Though she doesn't waste much time, deciding to skip over to the stray soccer ball that struck her so hard earlier. Reeling her foot back, the girl kicks it over toward Roberto with all the force she can muster. She lacks his kicking power and finesse, but a powerfully fast moving soccer ball might hurt all the same. She might just be setting it up as a delay tactic to see what the Taiyo student has left in him, however.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Roberto with Thrown Object.
Glancing Blow
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto has spent some time on the ground staring at the sky and after awhile he decides that he needs to get up to finish the fight. Problem is that he had spent too much time trying to figure out what the hell just happened. As a result, Hotaru had plenty of time to get back to that soccer ball he winged at her.
The moment Roberto starts to sit up is when Hotaru kicks the ball at him. The shot is somewhat off target and glances off of his forehead and really had he not been battered from the rest of the fight he might've even laughed it off. Unfortunately that's was all that was needed to finish him off.
As for the audience, they aren't exactly sure how to react to the ending of the fight. Eventually they settle on confusion. There's no cheers and no booing. Just an overall sense of, 'WTF?'
COMBATSYS: Roberto takes no action.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Roberto can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|
After the intense start of the fight, where the two were clearly struggling to land so much as a single hit on each other, clearly evenly matched in speed and ability to react with precision... the second half of the fight unfortunately spun rapidly out of control for the soccer player. To those who sit on the outside and merely observe, it may have seemed like he was just ridiculously outclassed by the smaller of the two, but Hotaru knows differently.
She's been there before. Where one critical mistake leads to a fight spiraling out of control beyond recovery. Oh yeah, she's definitely been there. The soccer ball wasn't really meant to polish him off. In fact, she was kind of teasing him with it - thinking back on all the times he's knocked her silly with the things. But she didn't have a clear fix on his condition so when he flops back over the girl looks perfectly surprised, pausing to blink with uncertainty.
A quick jog over to the fallen fighter to check on his condition comes next, worried that he might have been suffering from a relapse of the problems he brought back with him from Thailand. But the boy is out, clocked by his own treacherous soccer ball.
"That was pretty intense at first, Roberto," the girl says out loud, whether or not he's in any condition to hear her. "We'll have to fight again sometime... I'm sure I'll see you around." A polite bow is offered in his direction first, then toward the audience at large, before the Kenpo artist takes her leave. Glad to have come out on top, but also knowing she wasn't fighting Roberto at his /top notch/, there's a longing to hope to face him again down the line as she goes.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:22:09 10/02/2007 by Roberto, and last modified on 13:44:44 10/06/2007.