Description: Having returned to the public fighting circuit, Billy decides to directly challenge the resident top dog of the point circuit to establish his upcoming dominance. (Winner: Billy)
One of the few downsides of being on the top of any public endeavor is that it leads, always, to more obligations to said public endeavor. Admittedly, the social leverage it gives is often one of the most powerful tools a person can have... but at the same time, it makes time management a /lot/ harder. Wasn't this the reason Kurow never actually involved himself in any clubs?
Whatever the case, he's honoring yet another Neo League challenge, this one from someone he hadn't expected to hear from -- Billy Kane, the legendary Brit (and second-in-command of Southsynd, though fewer know of that particular position). Though he doesn't /say/ as much, he's somewhat pleased that his first confrontation with the man is going to happen here on television, in the Metro City subway -- after all, better to learn the ins and outs of the man's style somewhere that it'll ultimately be mostly harmless than at some critical moment, where, save for knowledge gained by watching his other fights, he'd be working blind.
The subway, meanwhile, goes by as it always does; the waiting area, however, has been turned into a makeshift arena, complete with a reasonable amount of seating. And that seating has, indeed, started to fill in -- after all, if nothing else, this looks as though it'll be a spectacular fight. A few die-hard supporters of both Billy and Kurow (with Billy having a far larger fanbase) have taken up the extreme ends, by the exits; the more fair-weather fans, meanwhile, fill in the middle.
This is certainly going to be one of the most anticipated Neo League challenges in the course of the new season; After all, Billy Kane's return to the fighting circuit has been rather well received after his absence, and he's by no means lost any of his skill. It's a perfect example for the reigning champ to truly prove himself against a man who's not merely some wannabe going for the glory – but someone who's trying to climb to the top, and has been quite familiar with such a position for years. Arriving right on time, unsurprisingly, he's opted for a more casual look; A denim blue jacket with similar jeans, and a black AC/DC shirt beneath it. Upon the back, of course, is the standard ‘No Smoking' embroidery he's famous for. Settled in one side of the arena, he tightens the knot upon the back of his white and red bandana, his staff leaning against his shoulder. Finally he turns towards the cameras, spiraling his weapon exuberantly. "Hey hey hey!" is offered. "You're all getting a chance to see the new Neo League champion in action! It'll just take me a few weeks to take my rightful spot!" No small amount of arrogance it would seem, turning his head to glance around. "You ready for the fight of your life?" would be offered to Kurow, as he flows into his loose and bobbing stance, seeming to be impossibly light upon his feet...
COMBATSYS: Billy has started a fight here.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|
'New champion,' eh -- Kurow looks a little skeptical, though that's merely posturing for the crowd. He knows full well that Billy is one of the people who really could readily take whatever position in the Neo League he wants, barring a stroke of bad luck, and for the first time in a while is actually entirely unsure about the outcome of the battle he's about to place himself in.
"I don't need to be ready for the fight of my life," he says, giving Billy a smirk as he drops to his usual stance, hands darting down for a split second to his pockets to retrieve those fierce claws. "After all, you're quite the legend... but the problem with legends is that they're already slipping past their prime." He gives Billy a supercilious little smirk, before taking the initiative and advancing in on Billy.
He knows that the jacketed man's primary strength is raw staying power; he's always had a little trouble dealing with people who fight the way Kane fights, and as such, he takes this early stage of the battle as one of experimentation. Ducking low, Kirishima grabs at one of Kane's legs, then -- if he catches it -- gives it a solid yank before using it to toss Billy over his shoulder. It's a nice, basic maneuver -- when it works.
COMBATSYS: Kurow has joined the fight here.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
COMBATSYS: Billy counters Medium Throw from Kurow with Fire Dragon Pursuit Cane.
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Billy 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kurow
"So you're one of those new young brats who think they are all that?" Billy comments, seeming to be in more good humor then anything else – although the sort that is far from entirely friendly to the person opposite. As the advance begins, blue eyes follow the journey, before he shoots out the base of his weapon and cleanly deflects the grasping hand. "Well... No harm in trying, eh?!" With that, the other end swings down and cracks /hard/ into Kurow's face, in almost the same motion utilized for his defense. The end segment breaks away, adding on a second hit as he whirls around to impact him in the chest in the other side, once more following up another blow by detaching the segment in a ripple of chain. A final twirl is done to send him towards the ground, resuming his own loose stance immediately thereafter. "But you aren't off to a very good start..." Ah, that smirk on his face might not be much appreciated.
The cane smacks Kurow over and over, each strike knocking him farther and farther away, and the third and final blow sends Billy's opponent back, already busted open from the raw force of the three-section staff. He doesn't even respond to Billy's words, not giving the fighter the satisfaction of getting in his head, instead taking a few quick steps back and reassessing Billy's loose stance. He's starting to piece together the man's strategy, even if he doesn't exactly have a ready counter for it.
The young man's stance drops a little, becoming less his own tall fighting stance and more the loose, low one of Rock Howard, trying to move toward a style he thinks will serve him better against the staff-user. This time, he aims for a higher attack, stepping in and going for a series of quick, forceful kicks to the stomach with his right foot, trying to keep Billy on the defensive rather than let him take advantage of the openings that attacking puts in Kurow's defense.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Billy with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Billy 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Kurow
It seems the force of those was underestimated by the lithe man, who had begun to lean forward only to be impacted with a loud grunt, knocked rather senseless before the final snapkick sends him skidding backwards, doubling forward and bracing himself with his weapon. An expression of pain quickly fades to mute satisfaction, shrugging his shoulders as if the blood is finally moving. "Not bad." is offered; Relenting the offensive of his own accord, to instead begin spiraling his weapon about. The air heats up, air shimmering like a desert as sparks begin to crackle about him, quickly dissipating. By most accounts he's vulnerable; Yet to what degree might be questionable. The crowd is cheering in a somewhat generic manner, given the licks were exchanged – if not quite on even footing. They aren't disappointed yet!
COMBATSYS: Billy gathers his will.
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Billy 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
As Billy starts to draw that energy into himself, a tactic Kurow sees the second Billy begins to spin his weapon, Kurow is once again forced to guess what Kane is up to -- he might be gearing up for any of a few things, and none of them are possibilities Kurow particularly likes. As such, the youth decides that now would be a /spectacular/ time to hit Billy again, in hopes of keeping him off his game a little.
"You're performing fairly well, too," Kirishima offers, as he steps in yet again; this time, he does not attack with his legs but with his arms, putting those fierce claws to good use at last. Coming in toward Billy's torso, Kirishima tries for a two-hit combination strike -- a first attack that digs in deep with those claws, then a second hard swipe that, if Kurow can keep Billy anchored with the first hand, will actually strike his upper body hard enough to rotate him a little around the first claw, destroying his footing and sending him sprawling to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Billy counters Double Slash from Kurow with Ifrit Crisis.
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Billy 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Kurow
"Fairly? Well, I'm just warmin' up, kid!" And right now, his desire is to completely school Kurow. To establish to the world that he's already better then the top dog of the Neo League, which will make his rise to power all the more delicious. In reality, he knows fairly little about the clawed youth; Enough to be impressed despite his posturing, someone who has certainly done much more then he had at his age, if due to greater privilege then the simple streets where the Brit had been born. Yet as Kurow hurtles forward, something insane by most accounts takes place; Billy immediately /hurls/ his staff, which misses the incoming fighter by about a meter, causing a few members of the crowd to step away. Suddenly unarmed, he recoils and shuts his eyes, actually trembling. ...But the moment Kurow touches him, it's obviously a ruse. Quite suddenly he /swipes/ up a second staff, pulled from his jacket; Hitting Kurow in the face, in a dazing manner that sets him up for the rest. Assembling the weapon in a smooth motion, his weapon flares with fire as he begins a combination assault, striking towards every part of his exposed body, a snarl building up in crescendo before he whips back his staff. It extends once more... And seems to sprout countless more in an impossible weapon, before the huge ensemble of segments flashes overhead, gouging the ceiling before pancaking Kurow in a huge geyser of flame that makes everyone recoil and causes one camera to spark out! And only then is it tugged back into a single piece and yanked back together, twirled as the end then impacts the ground. "Hmph!"
The blow to the face comes as a complete surprise, and it all goes downhill from there. The sudden forceful slam of that impossible-looking weapon rips through Kurow, shattering bones and busting skin open with pure blunt force trauma -- and the flaming geyser that erupts forces Kurow back into the wall with the raw power of Billy's chi. It looks like, for all his posturing, Kirishima can't back it up -- indeed, it seems as though he might be over and done with right there.
However, the youth's tenacity brings him back to his feet yet again, in spite of the massive blows he's just endured thanks to Billy's sneaky, seemingly completely-open defenses that were in truth anything but. "... well well, I'm glad to see..." he forces out, turning to the side and spitting a little blood out of his mouth, "... that the lapdog... still has as much bite as bark." His lips turn up in a wide smile, and in that instant, he runs at Billy full-speed.
What he's hoping to do is bait the man into trying that first trick with the staff again -- because what comes is anything but a quick physical attack that Billy can just preempt. Instead, Kirishima raises his hands above his head in the split-second before he gets to Billy, then swings them down at high speed into the ground, one placed over the other. And even if the particulars may vary, just slightly...
... Billy should no doubt see, at the very least, the similarities between the golden whirlwind of chi that rips up from the ground in front of Kurow and the fury of his employer's own devastating chi technique.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Billy with Kirishima Shinkuu Yamiarashi.
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Billy 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Kurow
At that statement, all humor utterly leaves Billy, his eyes becoming hard and dangerous as a scowl ripples across his face. "...What did you say?" There's a danger in his tone now that few have been privy to in his life, slowly narrowing his brows while gripping his staff tighter. He's not a lapdog; Geese would be the first to say that, if inclined. But if he wished to insult the other man regardless, it seems to have worked. Is that a good thing? Doubtfully, since it really only makes the man all the more dangerous! He does heft up his weapon at the approach, but the detour to the ground causes more curiosity then surprise. The latter is reserved for the eruption of golden energy, flashing across him in a grunt and sending him flying backwards, clothing neatly scorched. But he manages to land unsteadily upon his feet, shaking his head a moment as his free hand braces on the ground. "You little..." With that, Billy suddenly shoots forward, and snaps around his weapon; Sheer, blind speed trying to crack him across the face with the heavy end, simple but thoroughly devastating were it to impact!
COMBATSYS: Kurow parries Billy's Weapon Jab!
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Billy 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
And with that, Billy learns what Kurow's real strength is, beyond any tactic, beyond the battlefield entirely. It's his ability to get in people's heads, throw them off their game not with raw tactics but with simple words. With a low chuckle, Kirishima says to his opponent, "Why does it bother you so much?" with that same supercilious grin, as Kane comes in with that quick cane strike at the face.
Kirishima's claws extend just slightly, and he takes a quick sidestep while at the same time pushing the staff a little in the opposite direction; the result leaves Billy slightly unbalanced and Kurow with a great deal of momentum, and he intends to use that to its fullest extent. "After all, there are men that would kill to have a second like yourself. Loyal, powerful..." Dashing past Billy with a quick sidestep, Kirishima seemingly does nothing to actually strike back at Billy -- but Howard's second is likely to find out almost instantly that with Kurow, what one sees is not always what one gets. His dash leaves a floating slash of chi in the air, one which may rip through Billy's defenses while he's not expecting it.
COMBATSYS: Billy blocks Kurow's Kuukan Saki EX.
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Billy 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Hrrmph. Kurow might believe he got a psychological advantage, but Billy merely believes the other boy got lucky. There's no reply given; He's not about to make any allusions to his true ties with Geese Howard on public television, even if the majority of the population knows him as nothing more then a world class entrepreneur. Really, it's the lap dog part that still grates. Billy works for no man. He CHOOSES to. A rebel against even implied authority. Yet he merely swipes his staff violently, hitting the flash of chi and dissipating most of it before it impacts. "Alright... I think I'm gonna finish you off now." he muses, turning to face Kurow once more and merely narrowing his eyes, smoothly cradling his weapon beneath an arm and hovering the tip scantly an inch above the ground. Coiled like a viper ready to pounce, and waiting for Kurow to make the next move. Going berserk won't do much; But making him eat pavement, that'll do just fine...
COMBATSYS: Billy focuses on his next action.
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Billy 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Kurow
Whenever someone tells Kurow that they're going to finish him off, it gives him a certain amount of irrational joy; after all, it makes stopping their attempts all the sweeter. Grinning at Billy, he says, "You're welcome to try, certainly," stepping back and suddenly adopting yet another different stance. This one is a seemingly wide-open stance, arms out to either side, standing tall and firm at the other end of the subway platform, where moments ago he'd been slammed into the wall so forcefully by the full extent of Billy's power. He doesn't move an inch, just standing there and studying Billy just as Billy studies him -- perhaps he intends to deny his opponent that sweet, sweet opportunity he's waiting so very patiently for.
COMBATSYS: Kurow focuses on his next action.
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Billy 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Kurow
"...Hah." Billy smoothly comments, as there's no ensuing attempt to finish him off. "You just made a mistake, kid..." He smoothly twirls his staff a single time, calculating, feeling, and then deciding the best manner of assault is to throw such scheming out the window. He's a beast of instinct, and right now the best way to hit the other man is simply to launch an assault that's quicker then he can possibly evade. Which is exactly what he attempts; Quite suddenly he snaps his weapon forward, and it collapses into three pieces connected by the shimmering chain. In less then an eyeblink it travels the intervening distance, trying to plow into Kurow's stomach like a freight train. If it succeeds, he will twist and yank his weapon back with a cackle, causing it to ignite in napalm-like fire which would consume Kurow for a few moments, and make his own unassisted flight backwards all the more painful as he flicks the weapon back, assembling it anew in a snap!
COMBATSYS: Billy successfully hits Kurow with Blazing Cane Thrust.
- Power hit! -
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Billy 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurow
Whatever Kurow was hoping for, he doesn't get it -- he reacts too slowly, and the full-speed weapon strikes him in the stomach, slamming him into that wall a second time. His back cracks in several places, and he goes sprawling down to the ground, only able to glare at Billy at first -- he's pretty sure that took all of him in one clean blow, allowing Billy to claim that victory he so desires.
... at least, that's what it looks like, until Kirishima slowly pulls himself back off the ground one last time, only getting as far as his knees. "... well," he hisses, unable to manage much more at first. "You did... well." It seems as though he's about to collapse forward a second time, completely spent -- at least, until Billy no doubt sees the sudden twitch in Kirishima's legs that could make all the difference.
Putting his bruised shoulder forward (it can't get much /worse/, he reasons), Kurow tries for a full-speed rush that might bowl Billy over...
COMBATSYS: Kurow can no longer fight.
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Billy 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Billy counters Kirishima Kyoujuu Reppa from Kurow with Water Dragon Pursuit Cane.
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Billy 1/------=/=======|
"Well?" is asked, as if the mere prospect is laughable to the second in command of the Syndicate, and a former King of Fighter. As the sudden rush forward is attempted, once more he flicks around his weapon and catches Kurow; Snapping him backwards with a snarl, unhinging the weapon to strike him cleanly in the face before twirling it about, assembling while attempting a downward thrust to catch him upon the shoulder and drive him bodily into the ground right before him. "I did a hell of a lot better then ‘well'. You are pretty damn good... But I'm gonna be takin' your place. Enjoy your points while you got them." Resting his staff upon a shoulder, Billy turns away from Kurow and raises his fist to his own section of the audience, having managed a much more substantial win then against Maxima; Although by no means easier, even if his shifty tactics managed a decisive blow the young ninja never recovered from. "Hey hey hey!" is repeated once more, content to now leave. His threat has been done, after all.. What Kurow will do about it is another matter.
If Kurow was going down before, now it's no contest. After the first hit to his face, he isn't even conscious -- the second is just butter. Sent sprawling, Kirishima doesn't hear Billy's words -- or do anything about his leaving. His own segment of the crowd seems disappointed, but only slightly.
Eventually, Masters Production Team medical personnel come and collect the unconscious Kirishima, once his opponent has surely gone; he's going to be in need of some pretty serious care after this particular scrap. It's rare that Kurow /accepts/ care, but right now he isn't exactly in the best position to refuse.
COMBATSYS: Billy has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:44:12 10/05/2007 by Billy, and last modified on 13:42:57 10/06/2007.