Description: Batsu and Sakura have a knock-down, drag-out fight! The GLORY OF TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (Winner: Batsu)
So many Neo League fights are impromptu things, without a lot of fanfare, probably because the DVDs sell better if you can't just go and see the fight in a big crowd all at once. But sometimes there are really entertaining challenges, really important ones, that even if there's no *official* bulletin, people know to show up.
This is one of 'em.
The Taiyo Dome is filled with students; pretty unusual for the holiday break normally, but now they've got something to do. There's even some Seijyun types here, which is even more unusual, but they've got someone to cheer on now too, don't they? That's right... two of the more famous fighters from each school, Batsu Ichimonji and Sakura Kasugano, are gonna have a little throwdown right here on the Ansatsuken fighter's former home turf.
Batsu, for his part, has shown up pretty early and took the time to work out and warm up. He doesn't know Sakura as well as, say, Hinata or Natsu do, but he still considers the girl a friend... and he knows for a fact she's a damn good fighter. What better way to test if his training was successful than to try it out with her in this newfangled Neo League thing? Plus it gives students from Taiyo and Seijyun a reason to mix and hang out together for a bit under the cover of this 'grudge match', after all. As it stands, the blue clad Burning Fighter is standing impatiently on one of the track greens, waiting for Sakura to show.
Sakura still wishes she were part of the Taiyo team... but the fact remains that Seijyun's university professors had a much stronger teaching program than Taiyo. Going to the less fun, more prestigious university was just one of many concessions the Ansatsuken Angel made to her parents. But... every time she steps into Taiyo, it still feels more like home than that stuffy university! She's been wearing a smile ever since she walked in.
For the record, she =was= on the Taiyo campus early. But she'd gotten caught up in sightseeing, looking at how things had changed for the new semester, seeing which circles had put their posters up and whatnot. ... Which just means she finds herself about five minutes late, and finds that she needs to run into the Taiyo dome!
She's decked out in her old Taiyo track suit, though -- no sense in flaunting the boring Seijyun colors! "Hey, hey everyone!" she shouts, voice carrying loud and clear across the Taiyo Dome as she storms in. She hops, bounds, and then somersaults onto the main fighting area -- though it's quite obvious she's trying to work the crowd, as she lands in a pose reminiscent of one of her idols, one knee hinged, the other limbs outstretched for balance. "Hyaaa!"
Smiling, she turns to Batsu, keeping her eyes on him as she rises. "Hey, long time no see! You takin' good care of the place for me?"
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Showboaty, but hey... that's what TV is for, isn't it? Still, it's in his nature for Batsu to look at Sakura with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whatever, traitor. I bet you're late 'cause you got LOST." You gotta keep up appearances for this sort of thing. Besides, the stoic act is sort of showboaty in its own way too... although it's not exactly far off the mark for him.
Still, it IS at least partly for show, and Batsu grins as he unfolds his arms and gets into fighting stance... or something like it, the self-taught brawler's fighting style being as much a pastiche of random maneuvers as Sakura's can be at times. "Took guts to show up here. Not everybody's happy you ran off to Rich Girl U. You done your sorority rush yet?" He grins, then makes a beckoning motion with one hand. "Hope you haven't gone soft on me, Sakura. Show me whatcha got!"
COMBATSYS: Batsu has joined the fight here.
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Batsu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Got lost?! Pff! "Yeah, I haven't been gone so long I'd miss the giant dome in the middle! Geez..." Kasugano sweeps her hair off to a side, grinning smugly as he runs throug his talk. Finally, someone she can trash-talk with and not have to worry about apologizing for! "Sororities? Naaah... why, are you looking to sign up?"
Scratching the bridge of her nose, she curls her fists up in preparation. "Eh... I dunno, you be the judge!" Kasugano surges forward suddenly, seemingly playing right into Batsu's trash-talk beckoning, but instead of lurching forward with just one uppercut to smash his guard, she balls both hands together like a sledgehammer! "Hyyyyyaaah!"
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Fierce Punch from Sakura with Fierce Punch.
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Batsu 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Trash talk? Yeah, we got that. "Yeah, 'cause I love runnin' around in frilly nightgowns giggling over what boys are cute. Please, do I LOOK like Kyosuke?" There's some gasps about that one... from the TAIYO side. Batsu's gonna pay for that jab later, this much is clear, but hopefully his cousin's at an emotional place where he can take it and not, say, drop on him from the ceiling like the rest of his family.
However, Sakura may find that rather than wrecking the brick wall, her sledgehammer slams into solid metal. Her balled fists smack into Batsu's stomach with a meaty thud as he lunges at her mid-punch, and she might have the satisfaction of hearing his breath burst out sharply... right before he grins at her and says, "Dunno, I think you've gone soft!" and, with slightly greater speed than one might think he could manage, drives his elbow into *her* stomach at point blank range.
"Ugh!" Kasugano finds out reeeeal quick that Batsu can probably take everything she can dish out and more. She =had= been strength training, but that was =probably= not the best angle to take with Ichimonji! Jacknifing from the impact of the blow, she throws her arms to either side for balance, only recovering after stumbling back a half-dozen feet.
"I dunno, you =do= look like you've lost a little weight..." Regaining her footing, she offers a brief grin as she curls her arms about her stomach. "Maybe you =should= join this one sorority I was looking into, after all! Pretty up those nails, put some shine back in those teeth..." Kasugano smirks a bit -- either that hit her harder than she wants to admit, or she's stalling... or both?!
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
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Batsu 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Raising an eyebrow, Batsu cracks his knuckles theatrically, getting into it. The crowd seems to like it, anyway... well, the Taiyo crowd, who are sympathetic to Sakura despite the 'flavor' of the challenge. The Seijyun kids are probably too busy adjusting their opera glasses or something, whatever. "Man, *YOU* telling people how to be girly of all people? That takes the cake. You wouldn't know feminine if it punched you in the jaw."
Punching is not on Batsu's menu today, however. Driving forward (and hopefully keeping Saku from having too much of a chance to rest) he spins and then leaps at his former classmate, bringing one foot with him in a high half-arc, foot trailing Batsu's signature deep blue energy as it looks to impact squarely with Sakura's shoulder. "GOTCHA!" he shouts, because it's obligatory.
COMBATSYS: Batsu successfully hits Sakura with Crescent Star Kick.
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Batsu 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano was hoping to avoid getting nailed by that =particular= attack... mainly because she had something else in mind to punish the bruiser. She'd tried to step to one side and let him whistle harmlessly by, but instead she takes another critical blow to the shoulder, legs crumpling beneath her.
The one saving grace is that she knows how to take a fall -- and does so, rolling onto her other shoulder and tumbling to safety.
The Seijyun crowd might not know when to cheer, but that's okay because the Taiyo crowd has enough spirit for the both of them!
"Nah, really..." continues Sakura, seemingly unperturbed by the comments about her femininity. "I think you'll like it! It's called Alpha Omega Chi!" So what if she mispronounces the damn thing; actions speak louder than words! And her actions center on sweeping her hands back to one side as she rises, gathering a vortex of brilliant cerulean energy into her palms... and thrusting them forward into Batsu's torso! "HADOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Batsu with Large Hadouken.
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Batsu 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
Batsu Ichimonji is not exactly a field tactical genius, here, and Sakura probably knows that too. He gets by on... well, the attack names say it all, don't they? GUTS! That's right. And so when Sakura makes her terrible, terrible pun, he just grins and runs right at her, like a complete idiot. "Sorry, but I have to pass!" he shouts as he breaks into his stride. Sadly, reality and bravado don't quite match up. The attack's punishing spiritual power puts the kibosh on his plan to just plow right through it, the shockwave sending Batsu tumbling through the air backwards to land on his back. "Agh... damn, that hurt," he mutters.
However, you can't keep a good Taiyo student down, and Batsu's no exception. Kippuping back to his feet, he grins and wipes a hand across his jaw, grinning. "Not bad, but you're gonna have to hit harder than that. 'Cause if you want me to show up at Seijyun for tea parties with frilly lace, you're gonna have to aim for..." And then it's *Batsu's* turn to build up a mass of roiling blue chi, which he slings at Sakura like a bullet with both arms, "...total freakin' amnesia!"
COMBATSYS: Batsu successfully hits Sakura with Guts Bullet.
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Batsu 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Sakura
"Aww, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Kasugano grins in reply, recovering her defenses after hurling that fireball.
Of course, that's when Batsu decides to play -her- game, and hurl a fireball -back- at her. It seems less and less like Batsu will be the one with amnesia, though, for while Sakura was ready for an attack... she wasn't ready for -that- one. Blue chi, not unlike her own, sears into her track jacket, forcing her to stumble backwards yet again. This is -not- going well, she realizes.
She still has the presence of mind to quip a quick insult though! Rising to her feet, she smirks, "Eh... it'd definitely be an improvement for your grades!" And, the furious exchange of chi continues, as more and more energy swirls into Kasugano's hands. Her small frame shudders from the power she normally wields so casually, thanks to the copious amounts of pain Batsu's brought to her... but just the same, she's going to give her all for this fight! "Shinkuuuuu..." If Batsu liked the last blast, he's sure to like this super-sized one even more! "HADOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Batsu slows Shinkuu Hadouken from Sakura with Maximum Guts Bullet.
Glancing Hit
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Batsu 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
"Hey!" Batsu shouts, grinning. "I get enough from the old man about my grades, you lay off!" He briefly flashes back to Raizo's way of saying 'study more', which involved slamming his son face-first into a concrete sidewalk. Yeah... he gets enough about that responsibility thing at home, thanks. Of course, that's not the wittiest rejoinder tossed in this fight. Sakura's winning the trash talk war.
And the projectile war too, looks like. He knows that Hadouken all too well... he just took one in the face, after all. And he has no plans to take another. Blue energy starts blazing around HIS body too, though it's nowhere near as well controlled as Sakura's is. Batsu knows exactly one way to make his chi do what he wants: get good and angry and scream a lot. Which is precisely what he does. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! TAKE THIS!" Even as Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken screams across the green at him, Batsu flings out both arms and fires off his own super-sized Guts Bullet, blue energy meeting blue energy in a crackling display of power!
Kinda.
The truth is Batsu's AIM is off, and the two projectiles do meet and clash for a moment... but not long enough to do more than shave some power off Sakura's supremely painful projectile, which still slams the Taiyo classmate full in the chest, driving him back across the grass but not quite knocking him over. "Agh... geez, what do you put in those things, anyway..." he mutters, a little dazed.
He gets it from his dad? "Not -enough-, apparently!" Kasugano can't help but snicker after her own little jab. Really, she didn't mean to harangue him =too= much, but she knows she can do better in the trash-talk department than this!
But... when her Shinkuu Hadouken catches the better of Batsu, she has a little less to worry about. "It's not like I =don't= like Taiyo, really... I just got tired of beating you guys up!" It's too early for her to rest on her laurels though, which is why she rushes forward and tries to take advantage of this turn of events. She launches herself into what can best be described as a dropkick -- if it weren't aimed =way= past Batsu. No, her true intent is to slam her arm into Batsu's windpipe for a flying lariat, and to bring him crashing down into the ground! She knows she can't hurt much just -punching- the guy... but the bigger they are, the harder they fall!
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Strong Throw from Sakura with Guts Upper.
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Batsu 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Sakura
Hey! A LITTLE bit of Taiyo pride is hurt there, when Sakura throws that out, and Batsu hmphs loudly, running a hand across his mouth again. "So you ran off to Seijyun to beat up little girls, huh? That's not very responsible!" The Seijyun crowd, predictably, does not take this insult lying down. You can add Zaki to the list of people who are gonna show up and strangle Batsu in his sleep now. Perhaps Akira, too.
But that dropkick is a little weird, and while Batsu may be light on technique, he's heavy on intuition and inventiveness. He doesn't know the lariat is coming, but he DOES know enough to prepare himself to take advantage of whatever attack is coming after it. As Sakura's arm slams into his upper torso, he suddenly grips it and *pulls*, pushing off from her and keeping the takedown from being... well, more take and less down. But at the same time, one fist begins glowing not blue, but red hot with orange-red fire as Batsu lets his fighting fury hit its peak. "YOU AIN'T BEATEN ANYBODY HERE YET, SAKURA!" he shouts, before simply taking that fist and slamming it into her chin from below at *incredible* velocity. It should be a clean hit, but Sakura's known to be a tenacious fighter when the chips are down...
Sakura really didn't think Batsu would be =that= quick-witted... though really, he's got the same kind of natural insight into fighting that she does -- less wits, more GUTS. As seen on TV!
But when someone's skull gets rocked like -that-, well... they're bound to be just a little loopy afterwards! Saku's no exception, as she's blasted backwards in yet another massive hit that should put any other of Taiyo's or Seijyun's students down for the count! "Nnngh..." she moans, flying backwards... and landing hard on her back in the green.
Irritably, she kips back onto her feet, rushing at Batsu with her shoulder. Yes, the same one he tenderized at the start of the fight. "Don't count me out just yet!!!" she cries, aiming to bowl the brawler over with nothing but unleashed adrenaline! ... Well, and the fist that follows, as she intends to return the favor to Batsu's chin! "SHOOOU'OU KEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
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Batsu 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Shou'ou Ken EX from Sakura with Light Kick.
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Batsu 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Sakura
...oh, snap, she's back up. "Gah! Well I know you're from Taiyo, 'cause you don't know when to stay the hell down!" Batsu says with a grin as Sakura gets back up again. She's tenacious... but so is Batsu, thank you very much. Look at his family. He's the only sane one, and that's saying something! What isn't exactly clear, but it IS saying something.
Thankfully he's a versatile fighter, but sometimes -- especially with attacks like Sakura's Shou'ou Ken -- it could go either way. Do you run? Do you try to deflect? Or do you wade in and hope you don't end off the worst of it? In this case, the Burning Fighter opts to go with his gut... just like Sakura almost does. Her own uppercut sends both fighters airborne for a moment... but just before the two would break apart, Batsu's able to control his momentum *just* enough to turn his body and lash out with a quick midair kick, turning *backwards* and intending to *knock* Sakura into the ground rather than letting her land clean.
Batsu himself lands ungracefully and it takes a second for him to get back up, wobbling a bit as he does so, but he's not out just yet either. "Ha... ha... got any more?! I'm just gettin' warmed up!"
Batsu's mother is plenty sane! And he grew up with her, so what's his excuse?
... Sakura's excuse at the moment is that her uppercut just got kicked to the curb in the middle of her execution, so... well, what DO you say to that? She hits the ground rolling, twisting all up in ways which elicit gasps of horror from the Seijyun folks! They should watch more fights like this, though, really, because that's nothing! Y-yeah...
Kasugano shakes her head, smirking. "You're totally lying through your teeth! C'mon, a stiff wind would blow you over now!" And just to prove it... Sakura demonstrates, yet again, that she's brave enough to try the same thing twice in a row! "SHOOOOU'OOOU KEN!" Three times, actually: should her rushing, defy-all-odds uppercut actually connect, she'd land from her uppercut and =blast him again!= "DOUBLE!"
Or she could just, y'know, flop over. Guts doesn't account for everything!
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
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Batsu 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Batsu blocks Sakura's Midare Zakura.
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Batsu 1/----===/=======|
No, it doesn't account for everything, but it might just count for enough. Batsu knows for a fact that Sakura might be exaggerating a little bit, but she's right: he ain't got a lot of fight left in him either. But damned if he's gonna show it! The uppercuts connect, but they're not solid blows; the forceful punches rebound a bit off Batsu's crossed arms as he weathers the storm, hoping that Sakura has finally expended her energy... and it looks like she has.
Beaten bruised and bloodied, but still standing, Batsu gives it a moment, then nods and walks... alright, maybe hobbles a little... over to Sakura to give her a hand up. "If all it took was a stiff breeze, what's that say about you?" he says with a grin, and then winces, putting a hand to his side before laughing sheepishly. "Hehe... I guess I deserved that for that crack."
COMBATSYS: Batsu takes no action.
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Batsu 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Batsu has ended the fight here.
Sakura, expectedly... doesn't have much left. Each time, her uppercut scrapes past Batsu's guard... the second time, her leap results in her just sailing off at a tangent, and falling onto her side from exhaustion. She's =more= than exhausted now, really.
For all of Sakura's bluff and bluster, she really was just pumping herself up with adrenaline, and little more -- just as Batsu expected. "... Heh... I just hoped I'd last longer than =that=..." she gasps, breathlessly, from the ground.
Closing her eyes, she shakes her head with a friendly smile. "Good fights like that don't come often though, that was pretty sweet! Thanks, Batsu..."
It's time for the medics to roll out, right? Right!
Oh good, she's cool.
"Sure thing," he says, smiling back. "Hard to stay sharp without strong people like you around," Batsu admits, and it's true. You need strong opponents to stay sharp, and trash talk or no, Sakura's a strong opponent.
A stiff breeze blows through the dome. As prophecy has foretold, Batsu goes over backwards on his backside, then flumps down on the grass and looks up at the hint of sky through the dome ceiling. Just 'cause you were the last man standing doesn't mean you didn't suffer to get there!
Log created on 13:50:19 12/31/2007 by Sakura, and last modified on 11:56:13 01/01/2008.