Description: What happens when the irresistable force meets the immovable object? Can the strength of an Ocean defeat the force of a Mountain? Sergio and Aislinn, arguably the two deadliest fighters in their weight class, battle it out for supremacy here in the Seventh Circle. You ask for brutality? We give it to you. Just when you think all hope is lost? .... Think again.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!"
Marise Satsuko's voice fills the audience sections hidden behind one-way bullet-proof glass above and the deep arena pit of door-less reinforced concrete below. The view monitor dangling above the pit itself fills with the Devil's lovely visage as she continues her announcement, "We are ready to begin the MAIN EVENT of the evening! I hope you've prepared yourself for what you're about to see, my darlings.. For we have a very special arrangement made JUST for you.."
The spotlight flashes then upon the darkly tanned, handsome European standing at one side of the pit, "Our challenger! Not just another pretty face, I assure you. This tall, dark and handsome hails from the old country of Italia with techniques you have to SEE to believe! I give you.. Sergio!"
This time, two spotlights slowly flash in the pit, slowly trailing along the floor and unveiling Blackjack's deadliest combatant, "And now, I present to you the most lethal member of our house stable! You may have seen her in other Leagues, but only here will you see what she is TRULY made of. I certainly would NOT want to be the poor soul fighting her.. Behold, Aislinn!"
And then the lights brighten to reveal the rest of the arena. Slowly illuminating dozens of metal pillars at various locations over the steel-reinforce concrete floor. What their purpose is, likely, to add some extra terrain for the fighters to take advantage of. Or.. perhaps.. something more?
"I guarantee you all, this will be a battle to remember! FIGHTERS! BEGIN!"
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has started a fight here.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sergio has joined the fight here.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
The first spotlight clicks on and Sergio is immediately playing to the crowd, grinning widely and holding his hands above his head. Whether it gets him cheers or boos, he doesn't care. The fact that they respond to him is enough. In his mind there's nothing wrong with crowd interaction, even if this isn't some prime time Direct To DVD event. Hell, it might even be more important! He /especially/ plays it up when his good looks are mentioned, waving to any women in the audience as well as giving a joking wink to Marise herself.
And then his opponent is revealed to him and he knocks it off. She deserves her time in the spotlight, after all. And besides that, he wants to get a nice good look at who it is he'll be fighting. When Aislinn is revealed- well, he's not surprised, really. A foot shorter than him, slim of body? Looks to be a teenager? Nope, he's not falling into the underestimation trap. He knew going into the fighting business that the pint sized fighters can be just as big a threat to him as hulking brutes. That combined with the bold words spoken of Aislinn is enough to let him know this is business.
But still his grin remains, and he's confidant as ever. "Most lethal house fighter, huh?" He makes a fist and slams it into an open palm, "Sounds like this is gonna be fun!" A quick roll of the shoulders later, and Sergio rushes forward, taking the word 'begin' in a most literal fashion, quickly (slowly compared to some fighters!) eating up the distance between himself and his opponent before leaping into the air and extending one foot to try and kick her just below the neck and thrust her backwards. If it lands he'll immediately follow up with three hard punches across her body, finishing up with a palmstrike to the chest that never makes contact, a hard blast of liquid blue chi spraying forward to 'blow her away'. "Hah!"
COMBATSYS: Aislinn dodges Sergio's Breaker.
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Aislinn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
Crowds. Lights. None of this is particularly interesting to Aislinn. Fighting, however, -does- interest her... and this promises to be a fight, for sure. Sergio is someone she's observed in fights--in watching Neo League footage and in other ways. It's safe to say she pretty much keeps an eye on every up and coming fighter. So she's aware of his abilities, at least in part...
Were it up to her, though, her own role in this spectacle would be much quieter. She is the Silent Assassin, after all. Most lethal? Perhaps--perhaps not. But she's as ruthless as Elle, at the least, and much more efficient. She stands, and listens, as Marise goes on... and then the word to fight is given and Sergio lunges to the attack. Fortunately for Aislinn, the distance he's at gives her more than enough time to figure out what's what.
Literally, just before the kick comes in at her neck, Aislinn's rolling her shoulders forward, ducking, and rolling into a quick tumble. She's up and turning just as Sergio lands, reaching out... with a foot, firing a booted foot outwards for Sergio's torso--front or back.
COMBATSYS: Sergio interrupts Medium Kick from Aislinn with Medium Kick.
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Aislinn 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Sergio
Cold and calculating? It definitely looks like that's a very apt descriptor for the leather-clad teenager. Maybe that she doesn't respond to his words at all isn't enough to make that assessment alone, but everything else; the way she holds herself, the cool and efficient way she deals with his attack and immediately retaliates, that certainly does. From the looks of things so far, this is going to be an excellent matchup.
Sergio is given little time to react to the retaliatory kick that's sent his way. Despite the fact that he's not a fast runner, he's still quick on the draw. His head turns to keep an eye on Aislinn as he sails past, pivoting the moment he lands in order to twist around, his other leg lifting from the ground, water forming along it and leaving a flowing trail along it's path. Aislinn's foot connects, but rather than hold solid Sergio allows it to push him back, if only a bit, shoes screeching on the reinforced concrete for the tiniest of moments before his own leg connects with hers, knocking it away before it can deal any significant damage as well as giving a laying on a weak strike of it's own. The landed kick isn't likely to do too much damage, but the energy packed along for the ride is another story.
Bringing his foot back down to the ground, the Italian adopts a brawling stance and grins towards Aislinn. "Almost got me. Almost, but not quite."
Actually, neither the energy nor the kick rock Aislinn too hard. She spins, recovering from the strike to her leg, and lifts it; tensing muscles, testing damage. It isn't bad at all, at least, not yet. And his mocking tone of voice...
...is met with an almost-blank stare. If he's trying to rile her up then he'll need something better than that, to be sure. Noting the brawler's stance, Aislinn begins moving in a slow sidestep, to her right... her own stance shifting every few steps. Boxing, tae kwon do, kung fu, Shotokan karate, Snake style kung fu...
It's her own method of 'demonstrating', and true to her nickname, she doesn't need to run her mouth to do it. But she doesn't advance, that's for sure... she just starts pacing around him.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn focuses on her next action.
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Aislinn 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Sergio
Perhaps not! But one as astute as Aislinn would surely notice that the majority of any force that is applied is via the energy. For Sergio it was nothing more than getting 'first blood' while simultaneously mitigating the damage done to himself. Not a bad trade off, in his mind. So Aislinn wants to circle? Sergio can circle, though he isn't going to shift styles as he goes. He seems to be either unimpressed or unwilling to give any ideas on what he thinks of her little display. She doesn't seem to want to talk, anyway.
He's aware he's being carefully watched, but Sergio... well, he doesn't think normally, when other people are careful. Many fighters, maybe even most fighters, try to be at least a little cautious. But him? Let his stance be the example: aggressive and reckless. So when she watches him carefully he throws caution to the wind, lowering his shoulder and charging forward, attempting to ram her in the stomach with his shoulder and then plow her backwards- right into one of those pillars if he times it right, an 'explosion' of water erupting upon the moment of impact, if there is one.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Sergio with Brutal Hammer.
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Aislinn 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Sergio
Unfortunately, recklessness beats out caution several times. Case in point, right here. Aislinn is set, and ready--intent on delivering pain to Sergio as he comes in. But she misses. It's pure luck, either bad on her part, or good on his; the end result is that Aislinn gets power-tackled, and blasted with chi. The impact throws her against a pillar, hard, forcing a gasp from her lungs--pure physical reaction to the impact forcing the air out of her lungs.
Then she drops from the pillar, and lands on her feet. She stumbles once, but pulls herself upright... and sets herself once more. Because, see, she isn't -interested- in winning, or losing. She has no stakes here; this is her job. The only thing she is remotely interested in at this point is delivering a package of pain to Sergio, and there's still time yet for that.
That right there is a display of a major reason for Sergio being as 'good' a fighter as he is- incredible, tangible luck. It doesn't always come through for him, but similar feats can be witnessed in many of his fights- lumbering, powerful attacks breaking through defenses, catching speedy dodgemonkies, and bypassing counterattacks when they have no right to do so.
It was a powerful blow he landed on her, but the ease with which she drops back into a combat stance shows that he's still got a long way to go if he intends to win- large leads turned into devastating losses is something else that can be seen in many of his fights.
Intent not to let this become one of those Sergio backs off after the impact, allowing the force of the chi to begin his retreat for him and continuing to back away. A hand reaching inside of his silk shirt might get a confused look or narrowed eyes from those watching, but someone who's seen him fight before will know what's up. Quickly produced is a six foot length of rope, which he spends no time toying with, instead immediately throwing it forward towards Aislinn. As it moves a vortex of water forms around it and accelerates it's spin, carrying it along towards the Silent Assassin at neck height in order to try and strangle her amidst a whirlpool of chi.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Aislinn with Whirlpool.
- Power hit! -
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Aislinn 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Sergio
Aislinn's job may be in danger--or maybe Blackjack is. Because if she's their most lethal house fighter, Blackjack is staffed by a bunch of kittens. But if anything, the beating she's receiving is unrelenting. Attempting to duck out of the way of the chi-powered rope, instead it finds its mark and Aislinn is forced to choke. It's some time--feels like ages--before she can rip the rope away, and though she remains silent... her eyes are burning.
Perhaps not literally, though emotion is fueling her now, despite her best efforts, and so maybe her eyes -are- alight... no, wait. It's her body that's alight, surging with power, red lightning creeping up from the flooring along her legs and her body, snapping tendrils launching out of her and carrying the smell of ozone with them.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn gathers her will.
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Aislinn 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Sergio
There's not much to say about the rope and water trick other than that it seems to work like whoa. It's done it's job before, but never quite like it just did against Aislinn. At this point, Sergio can't help but feel confidence to the point of being cocky. He's gotten in so many unanswered hits that he's thinking there's no way she'll be able to turn the fight around. Of course he can't possibly know she cares less about 'winning' and more about putting him through as much pain as possible.
When the power begins crackling up around her, it's finally time for Sergio to break the silence, and not in any kind way. He... laughs. "Haha! You just made a /HUGE/ mistake! I've got something up my sleeve for tricks like that." But that's only half of it, "And lightning! I hate to break it to you, but my water trumps lightning any day!" Well- except against Elle, but she's an entirely different story.
After these overconfident words are spoken he drops down into a power stance, an imitation of a karate horse stance to be exact, and draws his right hand back. Those that can sense energy would feel a sharp build up of it before the palm thrusts forward. "HAAH!" For a short time there's nothing save a bit of rumbling, but a moment later cracks appear in the concrete between Aislinn and himself. Immediately afterwards the reinforced floor rends, a massive rush of water tearing forward as if an underground river had been diverted to the surface, chunks of concrete half a foot wide lifting from the ground and dragged along for the ride as the whole massive torrent tears towards the lavender haired fighter.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn endures Sergio's Whitewater.
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Aislinn 1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0 Sergio
Cocky. And maybe he has a right to be; he's dismantled Aislinn with extreme efficiency. Probably this is the shortest fight on record even for the short history of the Circle. But Aislinn is not going to let Sergio walk away unscathed. Likely he'll be charged for the damage to the arena; Aislinn doesn't move a muscle as he rips the floor open and water starts blasting out of the cracks at her.
Instead, she lunges forward, not even bothering to cover up with her arms as she lunges, pushing forward despite the impact of the water. If he thought to defeat her with that--then he's wrong, as she bursts through the torrent, her hands grasping for his shoulders...
COMBATSYS: Sergio fails to interrupt Momentum Overdrive from Aislinn with Old Faithful.
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Aislinn 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Sergio
... contact. Sergio might be bigger than Aislinn but right now that doesn't seem to matter; she grabs him by the shoulders and -thrusts- backwards. Her boots don't even touch the wrecked floor before she's slamming him into the steel wall.
That impact alone is probably fairly painful; but what comes next should be far more so, as she literally pounds his body. Left fist and right fist alternate a series of body blows to Sergio's ribs and stomach--her fists landing with the impact of a cannon and the speed of a machinegun burst. The relentless attack continues for fifteen seconds--fifteen seconds of pure, unmitigated pain. Then it stops--for a moment, as Aislinn kicks off on her heels, drifting back five yards... and reversing momentum, adding the coup de grace--a final, doubled-up fist striking right into Sergio's sternum.
What is Sergio's answer to an emotionally charged and angry Aislinn charging right through his massive wall of water and concrete? Throw more water at it! His right hand thrusts upwards, to try and spray her with a blast of water coming up from the floor- enough to remove her from the ground, but it's not to be. She slams into him before he can complete the gesture, and a savage, brutal beating ensues. Punches impact him constantly, and no amount of tightened muscles is going to completely mitigate the damage done. And right when he thinks it's over and relaxes, a double fisted whammy crushes into him again, doubling him over and taking him to his knees, coughing.
After a seconds long coughing fit he stumbles back to his feet, backing away and trying with partial success to resume his combat stance. Things just got interesting!
But Aislinn's got her blood up; she's not willing to let up now. Even as Sergio is backing away, and trying to resume his stance, Aislinn is advancing forward, pain and hurt banished for the moment, snapping her hands out and seeking a grip on Sergio's head...
It isn't complex, and it isn't pretty. But it's direct, and that's what Aislinn does best. See, if she gets her grip, she'll simply hold Sergio's head in place, fingers splayed over the sides of his skull...
And she'll attempt to crush his nose, and possibly his teeth, with a single headbutt. No energy, no fancy tricks, just pure violence in the finest tradition of a brawler.
While she can display elegance and skill, the time for both is long past.
COMBATSYS: Sergio endures Aislinn's Brutal Hammer.
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Aislinn 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Sergio
There are times when you want to mitigate damage, and then there are times when you just want to take the pain and wreck things. It's that time, for Sergio, and likely for his opponent as well. Sergio's head is grabbed just fine, and before long the top of Aislinn's head is suddenly smashed into his face, blood spraying from his nose as it's crushed in a completely unpleasant manner.
Pure violence against him can be used as an asset just as much as the careful strategy was. His face is crushed, that is a fact, but equally a fact is that almost as soon as it happens an unimaginable amount of water releases from him. What was once a pit is now a pond as he simply unleashes the massive power her draws upon. There's no form or function to it, because there doesn't need to be. All there is to it is massive amounts of water flowing out from him and inundating the battlefield, and then all of it evaporating away just as quickly as it came a few moments later.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn Toughs Out Sergio's Forty Days and Forty Nights!
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Aislinn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sergio
Water, again--and this time, even more than the last, there's just nowhere to go. Aislinn faces her fate with equinamity. The place is wrecked already--but Elle knows good construction crews. So she feels no compunction about a repeat showing...
Even as Sergio is powering up, Aislinn -lunges- forward. That wall spreads faster than it has any right to, but Aislinn just narrows her profile... and thrusts herself through it. Already, the damage is scaling past her zero-point; she's operating on instinct, pattern, and backup computers... as she lunges once more for Sergio...
COMBATSYS: Aislinn can no longer fight.
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Sergio 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Sergio with Momentum Overdrive.
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Sergio 1/-------/=======|
... and just like network TV right now, we, folks, are in reruns. Once again the Silent Assassin finds her mark; she finds Sergio's shoulders, grabs, and thrusts him forward. This time, however, he's met with the wall -and- Aislinn's shoulder crushing into it a moment later.
She doesn't rebound; she just starts slamming her fists into his body again, shotgunning her clenched fists into his body with an almost mindless viciousness... and then she bounces backwards.
But not to slam her fists forward. No, the touch this time is far more personal... as she simply introduces her right foot, and its steel-toed boot, to Sergio's twig and berries. It is, quite possibly, the most crushing application of her strength that she can think of, right now...
And as she fades from consciousness, falling backwards into the swirling water, she contents herself in the thought that she's at least proved that Blackjack's house fighters are capable of -damage-.
This time... this time Sergio isn't going to be trying to throw water in Aislinn's way. No, that didn't work against her crazy charge before so he doesn't figure it'll work this time either. Instead he crosses his arms in front of himself and tries to stave her off and shove her away after he's forced to the wall. Failure. Complete and total failure. His arms are crushed against himself, and then simply fail to matter as she continues to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. He readies himself for a double punch to the gut... that never comes. Instead a steel-toed boot crashes into the family jewels, and he topples him over as if her were a child, curling up into a ball from the ridiculously overpowering pain it produces.
And as Aislinn slumps over Sergio, with a face showing nothing but pure pain, begins to stand back up. When his legs begin to straighten his right leg gives out on him and he falls back to the ground, landing face first. He's not going to be trying that again- not for a few minutes, anyway.
COMBATSYS: Sergio takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Sergio can no longer fight.
And thus, Sergio topples to the ground only moments after Aislinn herself collapses amidst the ruined concrete floor!
"Ooooooooo.." Marise's visage appears upon the view monitor, plush lips contorted in a small 'o', "..Even I have to admit, that looked like it hurt.."
And then her cackle fills the air as she announces, "And we have a -DRAW-! Simply unbelievable!" Shaking her head as the Devil looks over the shattered battlefield in a measure of sincere astonishment, "Sergio's hydraulic antics took an early lead and punished our house champion the whole fight! The beating the girl took was completely without mercy.. But just when the outcome seemed completely certain.." The Devil giggles as her frighteningly sharp grin spreads, "She showed us precisely why she's sometimes called.. Assassin."
Outwardly it could seem that draws are the least thrilling outcomes to bet on. But, in fact, they can be among the most technical with a great deal of emphasis on performance. Who struck the hardest, the fastest, the most. Sergio's early lead gave him a considerable number of winning numbers, but Aislinn's last-second catch up likewise broke considerable odds. And made more than a little serious coin. If anything, proving that no outcome is predictable.. The betting only becomes higher and higher.
"Will our house champion manage to recover from this setback and become more deadly than ever before? Will.. Kyaha.. Our Italian Stallion manage to walk straight again anytime this month? Return to us soon, my pretties! We have much more in store for you.."
Log created on 21:06:13 11/29/2007 by Marise, and last modified on 01:09:53 11/30/2007.