Description: Rock has a special guest waiting to welcome him back to Southtown! Your suitcases will be in Luggage Claim: PAIN. (Winner: Rock)
Rock Howard has just returned from a trip to the United States, where he met Pepsi representatives about a potential endorsement deal. They want to use his likeness for a new flavor of Mountain Dew called ROCK AND ROLL. Howard doesn't really care one way or another, but with Geese having cut him off, any bit of random money can help until all of his various trusts have unlocked themselves. Money is just a means to be able to continue his lifestyle of traveling the globe and fighting.
Stepping out of the docking ramp at his gate and into the familiar Southtown Airport, Rock shoulders his carry on duffle bag, adjusts his purple coat, and starts moving through the crowds. He's hoping not to be recognized because he wants to get back to the Y for a training session he promised his friend, Roy Bromwell, and autograph seekers tend to slow him down. Soothing light rock music plays on the airport speakers as he goes down the escalator towards baggage claim.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sakura's still living comfortably with her family -- not exactly a high-class family life, but it means she doesn't have to worry about the mundaneries of real life! Fighting has already provided for most of her college expenses... but she could always use a bit more.
The spirited Taiyo graduate would be fighting even if money weren't involved, though. And she'd even fight Rock Howard without making a big scene of it. ... It's just that it's been hard for the young woman to get a hold of the boy lately, to the point she even needed to tug the ears of some of her friends at the Masters Foundation in order to rig this Neo League battle up.
When Rock makes it down to the baggage claim, he might find it a bit difficult to get to his things... all the other folks on his flight got carousel C, but he gets carousel D, furthest from the escalator.
Oh yeah, and there'll be no chance for him to get through without at least =seeing= some autograph-seekers, considering there's a few dozen of them watching the boy as he comes down the moving stairway.
From the cameras, fight official, and the ring set up between him and the carousel, it should be obvious why. And if it's =not= obvious, loudmouth Kasugano is there with a mic in her hand, grinning up a storm.
"About darn time you got here! Geez, Rocky, you'd be late to your own funeral! Didn't you get the memo that your biggest rival was waitin' here to fight'cha?"
It's doubtful that a memo was actually sent to Rock Howard. The girl's just in a weird mood!
"Sorry, you're gonna have to get through me to get your luggage!" Plans? What're those?
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Rock has joined the fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Rock gets about five steps down the escalator before he stops dead in his tracks. Everyone from his flight is going left, but he knows the the carousel his baggage slip says is to the --
Oh, man.
Eyes lighting up as he finds the circle of people waiting to watch the fight, the infamous Neo League camera crew, and of course the girl with the microphone in the middle of it all. Ambushed?! Breaking into a wry grin, because he -- the king of Neo League ambushes -- enjoys the prospect of a fight no matter the time or the place and can appreciate Sakura's equal enthusiasm. But what he can't abide is her comments. /Biggest/ rival? Who is she kidding?
Stepping forward, the throng of people parting to give him access, Rock stops just at the edge of the quartered off fighting perimeter. He eyeballs the girl down the brim of his red Terry Hat, smirks again, and says, "I really want my luggage."
Ploomp is the noise his duffle bag makes when it hits the smoothly tiled floor a second later.
Well, of course Sakura's the biggest! ... In her own mind. She knows Rock has other people he fights a lot -- Kurow, Yamazaki and all -- but they're not the same as =her!=
"Well, you're gonna have to step inside, then!" Kasugano gestures to the edge of the 'ring' area with her free hand, as she takes a few steps backwards. Not to run away, no, but rather to stand next to the official match announcer. "So're you ready to fight for it, or should I just start eBay-in' your stuff as collectibles of the -former- SNF champ?"
Kasugano smirks rather broadly as she hands the mic back to the announcer... but the more telling gesture is how she clenches her fists afterwards, a brilliant blue whirlwind of energy swirling up around her. She's no longer a Taiyo =student=, but she's still wearing the uniform -- and if the skirt kicking up from the wind of chi is any indication, she does so with her fans in mind! "Hey, c'mon, c'mon!" she chirps, not =quite= sounding like Terry Bogard.
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Sakura
"I don't remember the last time /you/ were SNF Champion and," Rock says, in a clearly teasing tone, as he starts pulling his fighting gloves on. They're leather and fingerless. "The top ranked Fighter in the Neo League. Beside," he pulls the second one on and tightens it, "The way I've been fighting in the League lately, you wouldn't make any money off that crap anyway. So yeah," ready, Howard takes a defiant step into the ring and gesticulates at the Ring Announcer to get it going officially. "I'm ready."
Needing a win in the league as badly as anyone, Rock isn't going to turn away from the challenge. Plus, it's a chance to lock knuckles with Sakura Kasugano, and she always gives him a good fight. They always walk away from them having learned something new about themselves as warriors. And that's the ultimate goal of Rock Howard's simple existence. Improve or die.
And not needing to hesitate any more, he takes the first action. Cutting a step forward, Howard's right arm slices up through the air, a coiling ripple of golden chi suddenly slicing right off it. There's onlookers so he'll give them the fireworks! "The better question --" he yells, over the sudden roar of the Reppuken. "Are /you/ ready?!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura overcomes Reppuken from Rock with Medium Hadouken.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
"Wow, you raise yourself up then you knock yourself down?" Kasugano seems amused! "Just pick one!" she shouts, shaking her head dismissively! Though... he raises an interesting point: she -was- at the top of the Neo League once, until Kyo knocked her down off the ladder. She just... didn't see a need to bring -that- up.
Especially since he seems to wanna charge in and sweep her legs out from under her with a Reppuken, and that doesn't really lend itself to talking a whole lot more. But since she has all this superfluous chi in her hands, she figures she may as well use it! Spreading her fingers wide, she channels the whirlwind of chi into a crude sphere, swinging it wide. One eyelid shuts for a moment as she gauges the distance of that Reppuken, and then slams her hands forward with a cry of "HADOOOUKEN!" There's some serious spin on her Hadouken, though -- it's just skimming the floor as it rockets by, which puts it low enough to intercept the Reppuken. The spinning Hadouken plows past like corkscrew, gradually shrinking as it loses density in the collision with Rock's attack. When all's said and done, nothing is left in the exchange but a smaller, leaner fireball, one that continues hurtling towards young Howard.
Kasugano sure seems full of herself today, laughing as the exchange unfolds. "Ha ha! See? Who else could pull =that= off, huh?"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Rock with Medium Hadouken.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Rock was somewhat prepared for Sakura to try and fire her own brand of Hadouken at his Reppuken -- simply because she was brandishing that blue chi before he even accepted her challenge. That energy has got to go somewhere, right? But the last time they fought, Rock's chi was more focused, more potent, than the girl. He figured that would remain true.
He figured wrong.
Eyes widening when the hadouken slices through the Reppuken with a blossom of light, he can't get out of its way before it comes plowing into him. Exploding around him in an eclipse of light, Rock's feet lift off the ground and he slams into the smooth floor of the airport. Skidding on his back, he ends up a few yards from where he started, smoke curling off his chest. Rolling over onto his side, Rock pushes himself back up to his feet.
"Okay," he says, touching the burn on his chest and eyeing Sakura like she was a newer person. "You've been training. That much is clear. But man, your Hadouken isn't exactly a /new/ technique. Like twenty different people could have done that!"
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
"Ex=cuse= me?!" retorts Sakura, clearly getting fired up by this round of banter. Sure, it could be a psychological tactic on Rock's part, but she doesn't mind! Especially since she's already running after the young man to take advantage of her initiative. "Who would've thought to =spin= it like that so it'd still be on-course after collision, though, huh? My master would've, and maybe Frei, but it's not like someone like you could've done it!"
Smirking , she sprints into striking range, and slams her fist at Rock's face, hoping to unhinge him just a bit more! "Hyyyaaah!"
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Medium Punch from Sakura with Gedan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Sakura
She should know better. Rock uses the banter to catch his breath and regather his wits. He's was on a cross-pacific flight less then ten minutes ago. He's got jet lag amongst other things; he wasn't able to mentally prepare for a fight. So he needs every spare second he can get here. Thankfully, he knows Sakura loves to talk trash. He can get her going that way and prepare for her next attack.
And it works, too. The girl comes at Howard fast, but he's able to track her intent, his red eyes slicing thin as he homes in on her fist. By the time she's thrusting it toward his face, he's got his own palm snaking up to intercept the blow. The force behind her strike drives him back, his booted heels skidding a foot against the smooth floor, but by the time the momentum dies -- Rock is applying the counter force.
In the form of a jumping, flipping, kick that sends the heel of his boot right into the back of Sakura's skull. He lands the variation of Terry's Crack Shoot on the opposite side of the girl, and grins at her over one shoulder. "You should spend less time playing fireball bandits and more time in basic striking class, Sakura. That wasn't even hard." He lies.
Thanks to previous fights, Sakura knew better than to strike at Rock any slower than she =did=... but even still, her fast break wasn't fast =enough=.
But his comment? Oh, she can tell he's just talking trash, no different than her own! Rubbing the back of her head, she rolls back to her feet, shaking her head with a smirk. "Basic striking class, huh? Too much of that an' not enough fightin' real people'll rot your brain, y'know?" Beat. "Oh, well, yeah -- you =do= know that now!" Oh, Saku's been keeping tabs on his Neo League record, alright!
But she's not about to let one little boot to the head dissuade her from continuing. Rock's always proven to be a pretty sweet challenge, and that's why she's determined to keep plugging away, trying to find the little gaps in her opponent's defenses. It's true, they both need improvement! So when Kasugano comes at him with another punch, she's not intending this one to hit... no, she bends it at the elbow, charging at him with a knee to the ribcage instead! "Tiii-ger!!!"
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.
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Rock 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
Rock's fought Sagat too. The last time, the man crushed him in a Thai Cage Match during the same Shadaloo incindent that saw Sakura being controlled by Kurow Kirishima -- a guy that Rock has a long and complicated history with. It was frustration over that entire period in his life that saw him rededicating himself to his career as a professional fighter. He felt, in the wake of that terrible time, that he had lost his edge.
And now he's fighting Sakura again, like he did in the weeks before the insurrection, in the airport of his hometown on live global television. And she's sassing him like it never happened. And that's fine with him. The past is the past, and the future is--
That knee coming right towards his gut. Cutting his forearms down and lifting a knee, Rock cradles his body as Sakura's strike slams into his defense. Undeterred, and with girl so close to him, Rock immediately slams his foot down to plant it in the ground and spins his body forward from the waist -- driving one of his elbows towards the girl's jaw. "Less talk more fight!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Rock's Medium Punch.
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Rock 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Sakura
The past few months have been a very dark time for Sakura -- can anyone really -blame- her for not dwelling on it? She has problems, like anyone else, but she's never been one to wear them on her sleeves. If they want to know what she really feels, they can dig it up on the internet, or talk to people she knows -- she doesn't want to insert her personal dramas into a televised match. Nor does she want to drag Rock down with it, either. Just a good, clean fight!
In a way, the challenge itself is her apology to Rock, her unspoken signal that, yes, she =would= like to put the past behind her. She's a fighter, plain and simple, and fighters fight! Even if it means ganking moves off other world-reknowned fighters to try and shake up her opponents. Backing away as her knee gets knocked aside, she stabilizes herself, digging in her heels as she throws her forearms up to block Rock's incoming elbow. Grinning, she smirks, "What, is talkin' makin' you nervous now?" Abruptly, she charges forward again, aiming not to strike this time... but rather to grab for Rock's jacket sleeve, tug him to the side, and then lash her arm about his neck for a chokehold. "Hriii!!" If she manages to catch hold, she'd try choke off his breathing for a few seconds before giving him a firm chop to the back! "Haa!"
COMBATSYS: Rock interrupts Sakura Strangle from Sakura with Rising Tackle.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Rock falls into Sakura's 'loving embrace', her hand starting to constrict his airway almost immediately. The discomfort shoots through his body, his eyes bugging wider, as he's completely surprised by the girl's sudden technique. True, chokeholds are fair game in any fighting event, but he didn't think they were necessarily Sakura's style. And thankfully, her grip isn't perfect.
Wretching himself free with a jerk of his body back and down, Rock ends up half bent over and directly within Sakura's cone of punishment. But more golden energy blitzes off him then, surging down his body as he suddenly launches himself forward, acrobatically driving his foot into the girl while the chi shoots him forward in a spinning corkscrew kick.
As the Rising Tackle finishes, Rock lands back on the ground in a three-point stance, taking a few deep, ragged breathes. He looks out to see the reprecussions of his beloved Bogard technique. "The only thing I'm nervous about," he says, grinning wry once again. "Is that I might accidentally hurt you."
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Sakura
... Well, she didn't expect =that=, and certainly not after she'd already got her arms about his neck! ... Though, yes, it =is= part of her style.
Her limbs flail out to the side as she's driven up into the sky. That hurt like =crazy=, no joke! She's experienced the Rising Tackle before, but never had she started off with so much of an advantage. Still... that's the kind of thrill the young Ansatsuken disciple lives for!
She has a moment to contemplate the injuries as she flies through the air, before landing in a similar three-point stance a good distance away. ... On top of the baggage carousel, actually, that just happens to be an outer boundary of their combat zone. Rising, she coughs into her fist, and announces, "Aww, that's so sweet! You're a real gentleman, Rock Howard!"
She's probably being sarcastic here, considering that, once again, she's gathering enough energy in the palms of her hands to power a small house. Or destroy one, arguably! Cerulean blue commingles with bright white light as the girl sweeps her hands to her right, crackles of electricity loud enough to give the Neo League audio guys fits. "SHINKUU..." (The baggage claim area was not designed with acoustics in mind!) And Rock Howard might just get a reminder of how hard the supposed damsel-in-distress can hit, as she leaps off the carousel, plunging her hands forward, sending all her accumulated energy rushing out towards Rock. "HADOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Rock dodges Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Dear Jesus she is about to fire the --
Rock has a hair's second to prepare for what is coming. It's one of the single greatest techniques in martial arts; the Shinkuu Hadouken has received more attention by fighting enthusiasts than almost any other technique in any other art known to man. And Sakura, through her years of training now, has learned to perform it very, very, well. Rock is thick-headed but he isn't stupid.
The flourescent lights of the terminal shudder from the intake of power, briefly flickering out. Then it comes at Rock; the semi-truck sized ball of power. With a surge of speed, Howard cartwheels to the left, somersaulting out of the path of the blast by mere inches. It explodes into the far wall of the terminal, obliterating a neon cigarette sign in an explosion of light.
Rock lands the cartwheel in a skid, letting his momentum flow through him. When he comes to a stop, he launches himself forward to close the gap between them, jumps, and tries to plow through Sakura's face with his fist while she's hopefully still recovering.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from Rock with Shou'ou Ken EX.
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Rock 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano pants after throwing her Shinkuu Hadouken, landing low to the ground. She may have been trying to hide it before, but she's pretty winded! Her slow return to her feet just shows how tired she'd really gotten -- the sigh escaping her lips as she realizes her Shinkuu Hadouken missed its mark is another sign.
But it's only momentary -- she only feels comfortable showing weakness when she feels Rock isn't actually -watching- her. Clamping her jaw shut, she balls her fists -- now one to agree that less talk, more fight is a good principle to live by. She charges forward to meet his incoming punch, aiming to swing just two feet to his right at the last instant and sock him but =good= in the stomach.
She doesn't manage to pull free in time, though, and gets a knuckle sandwich. See, Rock's good at making sandwiches.
Reeling backwards, Kasugano's shoulders slam into the baggage carousel, her face contorted into a rictus of pain. Oh, that smarted, that's for sure! But just the same, she pushes back to her feet, wobbling unsteadily from one side to the other. "You'd hurt me =more= if you went easy on me, Rock..." she admits, brushing the back of her glove against her mouth. Blood? Just a little. "So I'm glad you're putting your full heart into it!"
"You know me well enough by now," Rock says, pulling his Terry Bogard hat off and wiping his other hand through his blond hair. "You shouldn't expect anything less than my best. That wouldn't be fair to you or to me." Satisfied, Rock waits until Sakura is back on her feet to follow up with his next attack. His intention is simple; he wants to ratchet up this fight and end it here and now.
Fingers flexing and unflexing, Rock's eyes harden as he aligns them across the baggage claim area at the girl. They come from competing, opposing, schools. People argue across the planet about which of the ancient techniques is superior, but in the end, it always comes down to the man (or woman!) wielding them. Their discipline, their focus, their spirit.
And here, Rock doesn't use one of those famous Hakyokusaken attacks. He uses one his father invented. He trusts in the lessons he learned from the man he hates. Two steps forward, a willing of chi, and then a twisting and slicing of both arms forward. And with it, two thundering Reppukkens roar forward, golden and shining as they tear across the white floor of the airport.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Rock's Double Reppuken.
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Rock 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Listing first to one side, then the other, Kasugano nods back to Rock. "Sure do..." she agrees. Really... she sees Rock as a benchmark, a sign to know just how far she can push herself. Sometimes she wins, usually she doesn't, but she always sees that as a reason to keep trying, to keep pushing herself. So... it's good, then, that they have such mutual respect for one another!
But she's not dumb either. When energy comes, you either do something with it, or you get the heck out of the way. Much like Rock, she chooses the latter option, throwing herself into a roll off to the side. Leaping over the two blasts would've been difficult, especially if he varied the timing, and moreso considering how exhausted she's become, so that was really her =only= option.
But Sakura is also willing to bet she's not the only one tired, here. Her roll placed her a little bit closer to Rock... and when she leaps back to her feet, she'll rush forward into a rapid charge. No, she won't be striking with her fists... but rather, she'll be twisting into a rather vicious leaping kick to the stomach, relying on her momentum to carry the blow into the young man. "Hrrrraaaa!" Maybe the flapping of her skirt will distract Rock just like it did in the good ol' days, who knows?
COMBATSYS: Rock endures Sakura's Strong Kick.
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Rock 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
Flapping skirts do their work well. Face whitening, Rock feels that wash of teenaged uncertainty as the girl comes at him, but instinct does the rest. He's learned in his years fighting how to take a punch. And a kick. Foot slamming into his chest, it drives Rock back on his heels, his face contorting into a symphony of pain. But he doesn't get knocked on his ass, and that's the important part.
Well, when in Rome. Rock decides to lay it all on the table now. He knows how Sakura fights and he knows he can't win a sustained match of fireballs or fists. She gets stronger the longer things go. She gets up when she should stay down. All of those cliches you hear about great fighters are true in the girl. There's no quit. The way to win is to hit her so hard so fast that she doesn't know what happened.
And the best way Rock Howard knows to hit someone is with the ultimate technique his father taught him. It only has one name in the common language. Deadly Rave Neo.
Breaking into a run forward, Rock consumes Sakura with his speed. He comes right at her like some sort of demon. His fists fly, kicks crack, and the entire thing is like a blitzkrieg of random attacks. But the truth is there is a harmony to the movements, a combination, a sequence, to unlock the glorious climax. After a right and then a left cross, Rock's feet plant and his two hands come together by his side. Thrusting them forward, chi explodes around Howard and then from him as a chasming beam of solid golden energy shoots straight down the length of his forearms and towards Sakura's core.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Sakura with Deadly Rave Neo.
Glancing Blow
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Rock 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Hopping back from her kick, Kasugano realizes her kick probably landed only because he =wanted= it to. Other folks might think this makes him either a masochist or a pervert, but Sakura doesn't know what to make of it. C'est la vie! If he wants to take a hit, so be it!
But... even still, she's a =bit= cautious. Edging backwards helps her prepare... but it doesn't bring her totally out of harm's way. Once she sees him approach, she hops backwards -- narrowly missing the right, but getting tagged in the shoulder by the cross that follows. The energy, though... =that's= what hurts, and when it lands she's already doubled over from the first strike. The blast knocks her back with such force that she breaks contact, spared from the rest of the brutal charge by a sudden muscle spasm, and a freak accident of physics. Apparently, Sakura wasn't meant to keel over just yet!
With a weary grin, Kasugano defiantly picks herself up off the airport floor again, trying not to pay attention when the motor of the baggage carousel pops and crackles. ... Wait, what? It'd taken a while for the motor to actually =stop= from when those two Reppuken had slammed into it, the fighters were just too busy to notice! (okay shut up it was lazy typing)
Instead of just staying put like a good little girl, the young woman rushes forward again, =determined= to put Rock down for the count despite the obvious disparity in their stamina! She chambers her hand back for a punch, but when it rockets forward -- it's not a fist, but an open palm! She slams her hand forward, unleashing a torrent of concussive blue chi at the Howard boy at point-blank range! "HADOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Sakura's Large Hadouken EX.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Rock breathes deep and hard in the aftermath of the Deadly Rave Neo, his arms wrists still locked and extended in front of his body. It is the hardest technique he's ever had to master; performing it in the heat of a fight takes tremendous concentration and energy. It's like ripping a little piece of his soul out, shaking it around, and then letting it fly away. You're tired after all of that. You wouldn't be human is you weren't.
When it doesn't destroy Sakura, Howard's eyes widen. He sucks a dark, deep, breath into his lungs and prepares for the hell that's to come. Sakura doesn't mix or mire her intentions; she doesn't do anything unusual or unexpected. Sometimes things are what you're known for, they're your signature move, because they're what you're best at. The universe melts on Rock's peripheral as his eyes barrel into the sudden explosion of chi.
There's really nothing he can do to avoid it. All he can do is brace his body, shield his face with his forearms and endure through the wall of fiery pain. It hurts like hell, his booted heels grinding against the airport floor, but then it's over. He's still alive. The skin isn't ripped from his bone. Smoke coils off his partially blasted coat as he chi blossoms and fades behind him.
"Damn," he says, forced into a sort of rueful grin. He rubs a hand through his hair and squints at Sakura a little crookedly.
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
So... he withstood that. Kasugano frowns slightly, pulling her palm back and springing to a safer distance -- because let's face it, with these two, -no- distance is truly safe! Panting heavily, the Taiyo grad rests her palms on her knees, keeping her coffee-brown eyes focused intently upon her opponent. Rock always =did= give her trouble, and today's no exception.
But at least Rock's realizing how much power she -can- pack, if he'd only let it hit him. She's pleased about -that- much, really. "Hee. Don't think you've won just yet, Rock!" She hops back to her full height, brandishing her fist at the young man... but it's not just a threat, it's a show of determination. Wind kicks up in a whirlwind about her, skirt and headband alike stirring in the breeze. Maybe, just maybe, there's more where that Hadouken came from. "Haaaaaaaa...!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Sakura
"Heh," Rock says, dropping his arms back into his usual Hakyokusaken fighting stance. "I won't believe I've beaten you until your eyes can't open." And, realizing that Sakura is centering herself for another round of horrible destruction, he decides he needs to adhere to his earlier strategy. Hit her so hard she can't see straight before she has the chance to get back up. Again, and again, and again. Don't ever slow down.
Breaking into a burst forward, Rock's black boots tear across the damaged baggage claim area to bring him surging towards the teenaged girl. He jumps at the last second, his momentum carrying him as his right arm cock diesel's back and then explodes forward to try and literally flying punch her back to Pluto.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Rock's Medium Punch.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Sakura
"Wow, that's pretty brutal, Rock! You sweet-talk all the girls like that?" Despite her obvious disadvantage, Kasugano still finds the sauciness to smirk in reply to her opponent. And if he's going to be charging in... well, Kasugano will just have to hold her ground and prove herself! She can take much more of a beating than most people expect from a 5'2" Japanese girl, that's for sure.
Cast in point: she's able to raise her fists up, to catch Rock's fist in doubled handguards. Sure, she skids -backwards- a good three feet, her sneakers squeaking across the floor in the process, but she still manages to remain standing just the same. Her stance may be shaky, but her resolve, and her smirk, are unmatched!
... She sure as heck isn't stayin around for a follow-up though, shaking her hands out as she hops to the side. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow that stung..." she laments, bunny-hopping to the side so she's not trapped between Rock and the machinery. Getting boxed-in sucks! ... But rather than charge forward again, she points at her forehead. "I can still see straight! Guess you'll just have to hit harder!" She says this while shaking her hands out from the =last= heavy strike she's trying so hard to downplay, and slowly circling to the sides. But not once do her eyes leave Howard -- no sneak attacks this time!
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Rock shakes his own gloved fist out after connecting with Sakura's bracers. Those things are not as soft as a soft glass jaw or a stubborn skull; you know, the things he's used to punching a hole in. "So they are," he says, trying to downplay his mutual amusement and respect for Sakura's ability to take that punch with a dry comment.
"But not for much longer!" he adds, breaking into a charge at the girl again. He mirrors his jumping punch from a moment before again, only this time, he doesn't fire his fist straight forward. Instead, he fires it foreward early enough that his elbow is curling around in a haymaker path for the side of Sakura's head by the time his flying body crosses Sakura's personal space halo.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from Rock with Shou'ou Ken.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|
No, not for much longer! Sakura figures it shouldn't take -too- much longer for this fight to be resolved one way or the other though. All she has to do is give herself the precious few moments she needs to get her energy back. When she sees Rock come flying up this time, she weaves sideways, a skeptical and disapproving look on her face. "Not =again!=" she whines -- on the surface. Deep down she knows he'd never be so lame to do the same thing twice! And she's right about that, as she's already moving out of the way and preparing her retaliation.
Sluggish from fatigue, though, she's not quite quick enough to get out of the way entirely. While she's chambering a fist to send exploding upwards into Rock's chin, Rock's elbow is already making its pass into her own chin! She'd intended a to turn a little pirouette for the start of her vicious uppercut, but that one clipping blow from Rock is enough to send her spinning in the =opposite= direction ... to the point that her now-imbalanced legs buckly out from under her, and she twirls to the floor with a galump-lump-WHUMP.
And no, her eyes aren't swollen shut. She can still see... but with her arm twisted behind her back, and her forehead wrinkled from considerable pain, it seems she's pretty much out. "Nngh... okay. Okay, I'm done -now-." Wincing, she rolls sideways a bit so she can pull her arm free, smiling back up at Rock. "Aside from me gimping out, that was a good fight! As always!" She laughs, more to make the pain go away than anything else. "Guess I gotta get some more training in, huh?"
Rock feels satisfaction ring in the sound of his beloved elbow strike hitting home on Sakura's chin. He pulls his arm back to watch the results, ready for anything until precisely the moment she crashes into the ground. Then, and only then, does he exhale a long held breath. Fighting this girl is agonizing for numerous reasons. "Nah," he says after she's recovered a little, dropping his own guard and adjusting his coat to look cooler.
"I just got--" He frowns, looking for the right word. "You know, a few lucky shots in. Here," he takes a step towards her. "Let me help you up."
And now it's Kasugano's turn to wince again. Snickering, she reaches up for the young man's hand, tightening her grip upon it and pulling herself back to her feet. Nodding back to him, she adds, "I guess it was something like that, sure!" Kasugano just can't see herself being a sore loser for a fight that was so intense, after all!
"... course... we might have a bit of cleanup here..." she admits, wobbling a bit as she stands on her own two feet again. "Hope your bags didn't get lost in the shuffle!" Wasn't he just arriving from a trip...?
Rock slowly pans his gaze over to the destroyed luggage carousels, dubiously. He squints for a few seconds at the wreckage, digs into his pocket, and pulls out his American Express card. "This should cover it," he says, looking impressed with himself for his ultimately cool moment. His duffle bag is the only bag visible, sitting heroically on top of a pile of twisted steel. He scoops it up.
Log created on 20:08:10 11/11/2007 by Sakura, and last modified on 21:14:06 12/18/2007.