Description: Two tanks. Four fighters. Does anything else really need to be said? (Winners: Batsu and Tenma)
If you spend enough time around Roy Bromwell, it's certain that at some point he's going to talk up the wide open spaces of America (usually in the context of the inferiority of Japan's landscape by comparison). Not exactly a world traveller -- can you imagine asking Raizo for permission to do globe-trotting? -- Batsu isn't terribly familiar with the wide variety of landforms that the United States actually has. Sure, he knows what Metro and LA look like, the images of the US on TV. But he was not prepared for the Mojave one bit. And how is he expressing this?
By standing next to the tank he and Tenma are to share and giving it the :| face at 10,000 watts.
"Damn gimmicky fights. God, it's hot..." Ichimonji mutters. His reasons for signing up for SNF are pretty simplistic: strong fighters = hard fights = good training = getting stronger. It's that simple. His last SNF bout, however, didn't end up so well, interrupted as it was by 'Loy' and his antics (and the subsequent antics of the real Roy). Making a face, Batsu keeps mutting to himself, trying to rationalize his reason for being here. "Maybe it's... good footwork exercise. Yeah. Gotta keep your balance..."
Turning, he wipes a hand across his brow. He's wearing his patched Taiyo uniform, and the dark blue cloth is not exactly the best wear for this hot weather. But he's representing Taiyo Pride(tm) here, so it's required. Leaning back against the tank, Batsu folds his arms over his chest and brings one knee up, waiting for everyone else involved in this brouhaha to show.
You'd think that after spending almost a year intermittently involved in the sort of wackiness Saturday Night Fight presents, not to mention an extended soujourn as a Jinchuu participant and all the awkwardness /there/, like fighting on aircraft carriers and getting shot out of cannons and crap, that there would be few surprises left in the world for a young fighter.
And you would be wrong.
Tenma Kiryuu, working as Batsu's partner today, is seated on the same tank as the Taiyo student stands beside, lounging as best as he can sitting atop a highly expensive piece of military hardware, and he still can't believe what's going on. But, Batsu has a point: It IS hot. It's like fighting in an oven, on top of, well, a TANK. With his bokken held in one hand, Tenma is wearing his 'summer' uniform - uniform slacks, short-sleeved white uniform shirt worn unbuttoned and untucked, with a t-shirt underneath bearing the Gedo High logo - and is still pretty uncomfortable.
"What the hell is wrong with this place?" Tenma wonders aloud, grumbling for everyone's benefit - but most especially his own. "Don't they know it's supposed to be /winter/?" Sure, it isn't exactly frigid over in Southtown either, but this is /ridiculous/. You'd think they were in a /desert wasteland/ or something.
Oh, right.
A SNF veteran at a young age, Hotaru has had the opportunity to fight alongside or against everyone on today's venue. And she's also fought at a lot strange places before - ice bridges, ball pits (over and over), jungles, circuses (over and over...). But this one is definitely a first.
"Hm, too bad Ryo-sensei isn't here," the girl muses idly as she hops up to stand on top of the opposite tank, looking over its surface as she tries to figure out the best places to stand when these things actually get moving. Her teacher has a way with tanks. As in, hurling them. She hasn't quite gotten to that lesson yet though, so the worst these tanks have to fear from the small fighter is an errant chi-ball.
Her partner's fighting style is considered for a moment. Normally the officials have put Nagare in or around water for his matches, but this is pretty much the opposite of that. Hopefully the Taiyo coach's ability to fight isn't too hampered by facing off in a /desert/, the girl muses, hands clasped behind her back.
"Oi, Tenma," the girl offers colloquially, bringing one hand up from behind her back to wave toward the Gedo student before glancing toward his equally unamused partner. A Taiyo fighting star, but not someone she's met herself. Planned or not, this seems to be a meeting of schools, in a sense, with Taiyo, Gedo, and Seijyun all represented. "It's not that bad," the girl states out loud, glancing up at the clear blue sky. "Could be worse. Could be back in Thailand." Now /that/ was a miserable environment.
Nagare has been a lot of places himself during the SNF tour. He's had moderate luck in the events too, clenching many of them by the skin of his teeth. But, that's not what is important. What's important here is that the SNF people had went and done it. They put Nagare in the middle of a desert with Tanks. He doesn't really approve of weapons to begins with, and adding it on with the desert heat, well.
Nagare looks towards the side of him, at least two dozen water bottles ready for anyone or anything that may begin to dehydrate. Nagare may be one of those things that will need water. A cactus he is not. As he arrives though, at least he's wearing what the occasion demands -- nothing! Well, he is wearing his speedo, coat, goggles and gear and most importantly, his fins.
"Hello Batsu!" Nagare states, giving a nod to the Taiyo student. "Doing well in your studies I hope!" Of course he is! Probably A's in everything. Ho ho. Nagare himself hasn't been in any, well, events he hated considerably. He has been in terrible positions, but usually he gets himself into them.
The Gedo student Nagare knows of, but not really heavily or anything. That may change today. Looking towards Hotaru, Nagare begins to climb on top of their tank. "Well, at least it isn't a ball pit. But wow- hah! The metal is hot! Woah!" It's a good thing he brought his flippers!
Although he has great respect for the school swim coach, there is a tiny part of Batsu that sees Nagare and just... wonders what goes on under that skullcap. Of course, in that speedo he's probably the best off of any competitor here in this heat. Not that Batsu will show it, mind you... especially not in front of someone from Gedo. Mind, the sweat on his brow might be the heat... or it might be Nagare's mention of his grades. Batsu rubs the back of his head with a sheepish look, saying in a distracted tone, "I do alright, Sempai..." Well, Raizo hasn't eviscerated him yet, so he can't be FAILING, at least...
The conversation between Hotaru and Tenma catches Batsu a little by surprise; apparently these two know each other? He sort of knows Hotaru, who's a regular in the fighting circuits, but he doesn't know her personally. Maybe a friend of Akira's? "I don't buy that whole dry heat thing," he says nonchalantly to Hotaru, turning to the tank. With a quick hop, he jumps up on the front deck next to the turret.
Raising an eyebrow, he looks down at Tenma with a flat expression otherwise. "You comin' or not?" Past events aside, Batsu doesn't trust Gedo students. There's good ones -- Daigo, even Gan in a way -- and then there's the real psychopaths like Edge. The problem with any Gedo kid is finding out if they're a Daigo or an Edge... and Tenma's assumed an Edge until proven otherwise. "Longer we wait, the hotter these are gonna get!"
"Yo, Princess," Tenma replies casually to Hotaru, having apparently decided to not drop that moniker for the Seijyun girl after all. Besides, the alternative nicknames are probably worse. Pigtails? Ferret Girl? Nagare, he knows more by reputation than anything else, but it's bound to be an /experience/ fighting against a swim team guy in the middle of a desert, right?
Off of Batsu's flat look and question, Tenma snorts, straightening up and then standing, still on top of the tank where he's been the whole time. "Guess we'll just have to finish them off with a quickness, huh?" he wonders, already lifting his left hand to his mouth. What's he going to do with that?
Well, Tenma bites his thumb, breaking the skin and setting red blood to run into his mouth and down onto his hand, drawing that bloodied digit along the blade of his bokken, forging the chi link that he always uses in a fight. Tenma then sweeps his bokken through the air, lighting it up with a violent red aura of misty red chi and blood.
A decent enough student herself, Hotaru is pleased to fight with the teacher on HER side here! Nagare brings up the ball pit where they last met and Hotaru lifts one hand from behind her back to rest at the back of her neck, "Yeah, yeah. You gave me a good fight there though. I'm sure your style will leave them confused as it did me." Who expects to get beat down with a savage swimming after all??
Tenma calls her Princess again and Hotaru laughs lightly, shaking her head as she lowers her hand down to her side. She's fought against and alongside Tenma to get used to his brash personality by now. The girl can put up with Jiro, so her tolerance for a lot of personalities quite unlike herself /is/ pretty strong. As is custom for the experienced young fighter in team matches, she shares a little information with her partner as Tenma bites his thumb over on the other tank. "He fights with a bokken, but practically all of his strikes are laced with chi as well, so don't expect to deal with just purely physical attacks from him." she states calmly for Nagare's benefit.
There isn't much more time to chat then as the engines of the metal beasts fire up. Looking to the side, the girl sees practically nothing but empty desert expanse. Nothing to slow down these tanks once they get rolling, she muses. Falling off the wrong end of them could be a really bad deal. "As far as the blood? I dunno what that's about," she admits with a faint grin and shrug. All she knows is her outfits tend to be a lost cause after fighting him. Good thing she has closets full of them!
Inhaling then exhaling, the girl does her best to focus on the fight ahead, determined to push her acrobatic, aggressive style as hard as possible. Her concentration is interrupted by a jolt of the tank beneath her feet breaking inertia to start rolling forward. "Here goes," she murmurs.
"Excellent Bastu. I'm sure your father will be proud." Now this might not really be the case, but Nagare thinks that it's the case, and that's all that really matters. After all, Nagare's willing to help whenever. He's not going to prod Batsu on his grades after all. That would be rather annoying, since, well, this is a fight! It would be terribly distracting.
Looking towards Tenma as he bites his finger, Nagare opens his mouth to speak right when Hotaru speaks up. It stops him from saying anything terribly akward here. So he does it to use chi? Well, that's Nagare's first though actually. He doesn't think that hey, maybe it's some sort of dampening or powering technique.
"Oh... well.. It doesn't look healthy. He could get an infection!" Nagare states rather seriously. It's serious business with Nagare there. At least there. He could spread something like that! That's a very unhealthy practice good man!
As the tanks begin to move, Nagare begins to find out where the shade has been the most. Which means almost nowhere. "Ohh... hah. Hot hot hot!" Nagare exclaims, water chi forming on his feet and spreading over the tank to cool it down a little. Watch out Hotaru! It could get a little slippery, "Yeah! But... what's so confusing about my style?" And then Nagare was the confused.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Nagare has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
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Nagare 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Batsu has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Batsu
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Nagare 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Batsu
Oh no! The tank have started to move!
Tenma's little display of blood-infused chi does not do a lot to move him over to the 'Daigo' end of the ledger, in Batsu's eyes. And because he is a reserved person who never ever makes his true feelings about anything known, you can tell what comes next. "Man, that's... kinda gross," Batsu observes, putting a hand to the gun barrel to test the temperature as the tanks get moving. Nagare's comment about his grades is SUMMARILY IGNORED. Yes, let's all laugh at blood sword boy, and not think about the grades of Taiyo's representative to this fighting event. Hohoho.
Once the tanks get underway, though, the Imawano son doesn't waste any time getting things started. Like Hotaru, he's moving his arms and steadying himself a little to keep his balance, but once he gets the hang of it, the young prodigy picks it up with amazing speed. "Alright. I got this down, I think... ready, Sempai?" he tosses out to Nagare, putting both hands on the gun barrel. "'Cause here we go!" Fighting girls... Batsu knows women are just as good as men in that area -- Sakura left the scars to prove it -- but he doesn't like making the first move, regardless. So he heads for Nagare...
...sort of. Shouting an incoherent "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" to focus, Batsu SHOVES at the barrel... and with a whine of straining gears and metal, it suddenly starts swinging toward the other tank, the entire turret moving. Batsu, arms held fast to it, travels *with* it... and when he gets near Nagare, the Burning Fighter swings back, and then forward with both legs, looking to plant his feet in the swim coach's exposed chest. "LET'S GO!"
Fact: Everyone says that.
Well, not /absolutely/ everyone, but a lot of people do tend to remark on the fact that Tenma's power is 'gross'. So when Batsu says so, the Gedo swordsman's response is to snort once, rocking slightly as the tank starts moving. It takes him a few seconds to get adjusted to the movement of the tank, but soon enough the leader of the Guardian Kings has close enough to sure footing by the time Batsu uses a pretty unusual tactic to close the gap between the two tanks for to fight better with the team on the other tank.
This calls for a little 'teamwork', of course, as Tenma shifts his chi-emanating bokken to his shoulder, holding it there for just a second to choose his aim, then he sweeps his weapon through the air in a vicious slash... Nowhere near close enough to hit anybody.
...But the real attack is in the wake of that slash; an arc of red energy follows the movement of his bokken, and from that arc springs forth a crescent of roiling blood, held together with chi energy, tearing through the hot air between the two tanks and aiming to strike Nagare even as Batsu's attack comes in. "Dharmapala-!!"
What's confusing about his style? Hotaru looks caught off guard by the question, surprised it never really occured to him how unorthodox it is. Of course she answers with the politest thing that comes to mind, "W-well, you're able to attack from rather unexpected angles." comes the girl's response, spoken just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the tank engines, her mouth curled into a smile. Swimming through the air will enable that, after all.
"Here they come," Hotaru warns, clenching her hands tightly as she starts compensating for the jarring rattling of the tanks moving over the rock laden sand. It looks like both fighters are going for the coach first. He's tough, he can take it. But he's going to need some backup. Batsu's working with that turret though, which makes getting to him in any meaningful way a bit tricky....
But she'll borrow the turret at least, hopping up and onto it as it swings by to zip over to the opposing tank. Leaping off, she bears directly for Tenma, aiming to get inside his striking range as quickly as possible. Her hands together at first, it seems she's aiming for a palm strike to give him a solid, single hit, but as she swings in, the young fighter instead reaches for Tenma's arms, attempting to get a hold of them both to preempt any attempts at defense.
If successful, the girl will convert all that forward momentum into a rapid series of strikes right up the front of the Gedo student before backflipping to land more toward the center of the tank, "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Nagare dodges Tenma's Dharmapala.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Nagare blocks Batsu's Medium Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Batsu
Nagare is used being scrutinized for his work. He is much different than many other people now and then. In his fighting style. He may be told it isn't really one, it's different, but nothing will deter Nagare from his duty! All fighting styles started out small. This is no different! Hah! As Bastu comes straight at him, effectively even, Nagare raises his front hands.
Batsu's impressive feats of actually swinging across with the barrel distracts Nagare only slightly, not enough to limit his options however. "I'm always ready!" Nagare says happily to Batsu as he strikes. The two large feet striking the arms of the coach and pushing him back acros the tank thanks to his water coat.
Maybe Nagare did it to lessen the blows. Maybe Nagare did it to become more slippery himself. Still, the blows leave their mark, Nagare's hands hurting from the assault. But it isn't over. Tenma tried to get his part in the attack too. Nagare only catches it out of unreal perception. Something just clicks in the swim coaches head as he leaps up and over the chi arc. But he doesn't stop there.
No, Nagare climbs, and climb, still at the speed of the tanks, but swimming, water chi slowly dripping down.
But at the height, Nagare stops, and attempts to simply let himself fall directly into Batsu... head first. It was a very good dive, an effective dive, but like always. A Nagare Namikawa dive.
"Really?" Nagare asks as he falls towards Hotaru. "I never thought of it's strategic uses." Yep, still falling.
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Concrete Dive from Nagare with Medium Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
How does he DO that? For all its weirdness, Batsu recognizes the usefulness of Nagare's unique fighting style. Hotaru may just be trying to be polite, or she may be serious, but either way she has a point: Nagare can deliver strikes that no other fighter could really think of doing effectively. Dropping onto the top of Hotaru and Nagare's tank even as Hotaru heads toward Tenma (and the sizzling crescent of bloody chi flies right by him), Batsu prepares for the next assault...
...and doesn't find it at first. Blinking in confusion, he is about to spin toward the other tank when he hears the coach's voice from, of all places... above. Looking up, Batsu fights with the glare of the sun to make out Nagare's falling form, and gets an inkling of how to turn this situation to his advantage. "I don't know how you do that, sempai," he says, cracking his knuckles, "but you're wide open right now!"
True to his words, Nagare drops onto Batsu like a ton of bricks, but the would-be nonsense ninja is ready for him, hands outstretched. Rather than taking the gravity-empowered dive on the chest, Batsu *catches* Nagare. Of course this still leaves a mark; the force of the fall jars Batsu, grinding his teeth together and tightening muscles, but with an inarticulate yell, the Burning Fighter uses Nagare's momentum to his own advantage, turning and all but HURLING Nagare at the other tank, not caring where he lands. "SPECIAL DELIVERY!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
The palm strike hits home, staggering Tenma and leaving him rather unfortunately open... And then his arms are caught, uh oh. What this means is that the Gedo gang member can't defend himself quite as well as he'd probably want to, but he still /does/ manage to stave off the worst of the harm Hotaru's following attacks would cause, twisting his body to take the hits on less vulnerable spots, lifting one leg to guard himself a bit better, and generally doing a pretty ghetto effort of guarding the attack.
But it works, or close enough.
And once Hotaru flips back and away from him, letting him go... Tenma goes /immediately/ on the offensive again, rushing after the kenpo girl and swinging his bokken back behind himself. Wait, what's he doing that for? As he gets closer, he swings with his left hand, the one with that tight bracelet of blood-red prayer beads, in a series of quick, light punches aimed at Hotaru's torso, targeting specific spots to disrupt, however mildly, the flow of chi through her body. And, of course, to herd her back... To force her to an even more awkward position on top of the tank.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Hotaru with Flow Breaker.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
Batsu certainly was studying physics there! Nagare will teach Batsu even if Batsu has the beat him up several times in a row! Perhaps he's helping too effectively, or pushing himself too powerfully, but one thing is certain. Batsu's a good fighter. Even as he comes down, Batsu's already there. Nagare's perfect dive is disruppted by Batsu's grasp.
"I did? Show m-eeeee!" Nagare calls as he's caught, and then hurled towards the other tank. Even before Nagare can escape, move, anything. Nagare's already in for it. The throw sends him knocking powerfully against the other tank. His body sizzling underneath the warm sun. He's sweating. Or is that water chi? No one can tell for sure.
Body beat up and a nice purple mark left on his side, Nagare comes back for more, jumping from tank to tank... but he'll never make it! Half way, water chi begins to drip from him. And Nagare? Nagare begins to swim between both tanks, and right towards Batsu, attempting to batter him with his limbs and flippers. For this, WAS THE ULTIMATE.
Tenma's defenses hold up well and Hotaru doesn't get the foot holds she really wanted, leaving her backflip away from him a little clumsy at best. Not having bought the time she needed by landing strong enough strikes, the girl's landing happens at the exact same time the bokken user catches up with her. There's that instinct to watch for the weapon kicking in, which is what she does even as he rolls it behind his back.
Which leaves her trying to avoid the wrong thing as Tenma snaps out the rapid, quick punches to her front, driving the girl backward before she can even really get her footing. Her right foot comes down dead center on the turret, slipping down the other side of it as she fails to get the traction she was looking for. "Ack!"
Falling straight down as her foot slides off, Hotaru catches herself with her hands gripping the turret itself, holding herself over it for a moment as she exhales. Pushing off with her hands the girl flips up into the air up and over Tenma, driving her foot down toward the young man's shoulder as she tries to push him forward, off balance, while making it possible for her to drop down behind him, trying to feel out how best to use the rumbling surface.
COMBATSYS: Batsu blocks Nagare's Dog Paddling.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
Whoa there. Even though it looks like he had an easy time of it handling Nagare, Batsu's entire body aches from absorbing that kinetic force, and even as he turns around to face the other participants in this battle... to find Nagare airswimming right at him as if nothing had happened. You've got to hand it to Taiyo: it doesn't turn out quitters. Or perhaps less kindly, it turns out people who do not stop going or even pay attention when severe blunt force trauma is applied in large quantities
Whoa there. Even though it looks like he had an easy time of it handling Nagare, Batsu's entire body aches from absorbing that kinetic force, and even as he turns around to face the other participants in this battle... to find Nagare airswimming right at him as if nothing had happened. You've got to hand it to Taiyo: it doesn't turn out quitters. Or perhaps less kindly, it turns out people who do not stop going or even pay attention when severe blunt force trauma is applied in large quantities.
However, there's also the fact that the tanks are gaining speed... and Batsu's grip on the whole balance-on-moving-object thing is not as good as it was when they were still accelerating. Feeling his footing swaying a little, the Burning Fighter doesn't do anything fancy; he brings up his arms and lets Nagare beat against them for a bit, water chi and flailing blow alike splashing against his guard, as it were, and driving him back farther onto the tank. "Agh... nice one, sempai," he admits, getting into ready stance while backed against the turret and wiping a hand across his mouth quickly.
Hotaru and Tenma's little dance on the other tank seems to be going well, but there's the minor fact of Nagare being *in the way* if Batsu wanted to help his teammate out at all... if he did. It's more that he wants to test the strength of Hotaru Futaba, as well as keep an eye on Tenma. So, he improvises: twirling, he launches himself at Nagare in a midair crescent, his leg trailing an arc of his distinctive blue energy behind it as he moves with uncanny speed. "S'cuse me, sempai," he says quickly. If he can actually pull this off? The kick should drive Nagare forward... and let Batsu springboard off his back toward the other tank. If not? Well... let's not dwell on the if not.
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Light Kick from Hotaru with Initial Breaker.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Batsu
For now, at least, it seems like Tenma is stuck fighting Hotaru! ...Which is fine by him, he'd rather fight a cute girl than get stuck being up close and personal with some dude in a speedo. He has to deal with that enough when he has to fight Preston. Hotaru's response to his attack is pretty much exactly what Tenma was hoping for, and as she falls back and tries to flip over him, he's forced to do things a bit differently than he normally would, here.
Sweeping his right hand forward with his bokken, Tenma then pulls it back, holding the weapon horizontally at first, his left hand held near the point of the wooden, energy-emanating blade... And then, quick as a wink, he changes the angle to a more upwards one, so that at the /precise moment/ Hotaru tries to kick off of his shoulder, he stabs. His body moves with it, leaving Hotaru's foot to graze painfully down the back of his shoulder as he thrusts his wooden blade into her gut with sudden force. "Hyaaa-!!"
She isn't fast enough so far it seems like, as Tenma manages to react to her semi forced, clumsy foot stomp with a retaliatory strike with his boken to her stomach, catching her while she's still mid air. Her momentum shot, the girl drops down hard to the top of the tank, landing on a knee with one hand pressed against the hot metal surface for only an instant before she winces and pulls it off. Coughing once, the girl whirls around, turning to face Tenma as she rises back up to standing.
"One of these days I'm going to have to fight you on level ground," the Kenpo artist remarks with a faint grin, no doubt remembering the last catastrophic fight she had against him on windboards during the summer. At least that came with several factors of LESS SWELTERINGLY HOT rolled into it. But her wry smile fades quickly as the girl concentrates harder on actually landing attacks against the armed student.
Staying grounded for now, Hotaru takes a step forward before hopping up into a spin into the air, her arms striking out with two windmilling sweeps attempting to draw Tenma's defenses high. Somewhat a feint though, as the real attack comes the moment the girl lands, her right arm slamming out, attempting to drive the palm of her hand into Tenma's chest, lending arm, torso, and leg strength to the attack. Her left arm jets out in the opposite direction, providing counterbalance to keep her from overcommitting competely.
COMBATSYS: Batsu successfully hits Nagare with Crescent Star Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Batsu
Nagare's able to put a sizable chunck of damage in Batsu's defense, the real damage however, doesn't come until later. And Nagare, well, Nagare is busilly attempting to get out of th way even as Bastu strikes. He isn't as lucky as the man comes down, the blue energy trailing behind Nagare only used to strike him, and then kick Nagare forward, and springboarding off of the Taiyo swimmers back!
Wham, Batsu is sent flying towards the other tank. Nagare on the other hand, is struck relatively painfully. He collides with the ground at an effective angle, his strength fading but his will holding. Perhaps he can outlast Batsu, but there are only so many things one can do.
As he comes around, Nagare only has a simple thing on his mind, "Excellent form, Batsu." Nagare squeaks even as his chest heaves from the powerful blow. What he attempts is simply made to send Batsu even farther away. He spins over, onto his chest, before throwing himself forward. Swimming up, he lashes out with his flippers, attempting to send Batsu even farther forward, spinning wildly in a circle. Water chi washes out from each blow, attempting to get a hold of the stupid with the flippers.
You're not the only one with crescents Batsu!
COMBATSYS: Batsu dodges Nagare's Flipper Roundhouse.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Batsu
Once again, Batsu can make a strike... and is put immediately on the defensive by Nagare's ability to recover and *not* have to deal with the moving tanks, something Batsu is suddenly jealous of. After all, someone used to moving through water must find moving through the relatively lighter air pretty easy. Although Batsu's landing on the other tank is... well, not exactly three point... it's enough to get him there safe.
Just in time to see Nagare's chi-trailing foot heading toward him.
His defense is sudden and entirely ungainly; he simply stumbles back and, inadvertently, down. The roundhouse slices through the air mere inches from Batsu, who ends up on his back on the deck of the tank. "Whoa!" he shouts, taken aback. "You're like a freakin' superball..." the Burning Fighter murmurs, struggling to get up on the moving vehicle.
However, looks like he's not ready to continue the assault he's been keeping up. Instead, he... turns to look at what's going on, and raises an eyebrow. "Where's that 'with a quickness'?" he says to Tenma with a raised eyebrow. Of course it's not like Batsu's send Nagare off-screen with a Smash Attack yet, but hey... Tenma seems like the type to be incited, not won over with cake and juice. "You want some help?"
COMBATSYS: Batsu assists Tenma.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Hotaru's Soushou Shin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Batsu
"Y'always seem t' say stuff like that," Tenma says to Hotaru, somewhere between chiding and amused. She's not making excuses, is she? He even waggles his bokken at her, as if it were a giant finger. And not something else, pervs! But then, the kenpo girl is on the attack again, and even as she does so... Batsu is trying to encourage him. "Hey!! Shut up!!" the Gedo swordsman barks back over his shoulder, his masculine pride most grievously offended, and /very nearly/ too distracted to do anything about Hotaru's attack. In fact, this ends up being helpful, because he doesn't even notice her feint. Whoops?
Instead, he half-feels the true attack come at him, swinging his bokken in the way, bracing it with both hands as it eats the bulk of the impact, the remaining force driving him backwards in a skid. Okay then. Lunging forward at Hotaru again, incited in truth by Batsu's words, the leader of the Guardian Kings slashes at her with his chi-emanating bokken, a diagonal slash from low to high across her torso. "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Fierce Strike from Tenma with Kobi Kyaku EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Nagare 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Batsu
She would be rather disappointed to find out that he managed to defend merely by not paying attention. That's, like, the opposite of having any good technique. Jeez! "Maybe I am always saying that," the girl replies, pulling her outstretched palm back, "It's just that I-" she cuts herself off, realizing that the two teammates on the other side are having a bit of a spat.
But while Batsu might get Tenma fired up, Hotaru manages to just hold her ground from the point she landed at, straightening up to face him as he comes back with a powerful slash with his wooden sword. He won't get the chance for by the time he swings, the girl has already retaliated preemptively, spinning into a kick of her own, from low to high, a swath of blue chi forming up between them. "Kya!" comes the cry.
And for just long enough to matter, the barrier solidifies, stopping his swing short. And as the small fighter spins out of the kick, she extends her hand forward, pressing against the chi barrier, giving it just a little more force to finally blast toward Tenma, striking him with what little energy remained in it. "I would ask the same of you," the girl states somberly as her energy dissipates.
Nagare just can't seem to get lucky today. But that's already. It just proves to Nagare that like he always says, the wins don't teach you anything, but your losses teach you everything. And that's basically what he's attempting to do. No, not lose. But to attempt to learn through his moves. Learn, listen, watch and use. But right now, Batsu seems to be throwing Nagare for a loop!
His next strike comes... but Batsu's already gone. Looking towards Batsu, Nagare's not going to wait afterwards. Instead, even as Batsu assists Tenma, Nagare throws himself forward, across one tank and to the next, a tough looking kick being shot towards the tank barrel.
And the barrel spins... swiveling around and throwing itself towards Batsu! "Heads up!" Nagare calls to Batsu, to tell him that something bad this way comes. Tank barrel's can be pretty heavy.
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Random Weapon from Nagare with Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Batsu
This is epic.
Batsu is ready for Nagare to attack him; it seems like the Taiyo coach wants to see Batsu's strength first hand. Well, that's fine with the Imawano scion, who tries not to be arrogant, but is pretty confident in his strength! "I already tried this trick, sempai!" Batsu says to Nagare with a wild grin, as the tank barrel swivels toward him at speed. Not a lot of speed, but some speed. "Same thing's not gonna work on me twice!"
Which is true. As the turret nears him, Batsu shouts and GRABS it, the metal making a meaty-sounding THUD as it slams into his palms, the Burning Fighter's feet digging into the surface of the mobile weapon. However, it doesn't stop there, oh no. The shout turns into a loud, continual "HnnnnnnNNNNNRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!", blue chi flaring around Batsu's body as he pours his all into striking back. Even though his bones are still vibrating from the impact, he's determined to give back as good as he got! He's going to swing the top of the turret back at Nagare ten times as fast a--
The turret COMES OFF.
Apparently in his GUTS-driven attempt to not be shown up he amped up his own power through a combination of WAGE and CHI far higher than he expected. The metal groans, twists, and then snaps OFF. He still gets his counter strike; in fact, the turret is headed toward Nagare at a speed that a simple twist of the mechanism could NEVER produce. On the other hand, the tank he's on is now down a turret... and the turret-less top section is swiveling around aimlessly, even as Batsu scratches his head and looks on in confusion. "Uh..."
"Gah!" Tenma exclaims, as he gets hit by the residual backblast of energy off of Hotaru's attack, which sends him reeling. Luckily, this allows him to avoid being anywhere in the area as Batsu wrenches the freakin' GUN off of the tank and hits Nagare with it! That... Is quite the feat. Holy crap. Getting to his feet again in the aftermath, he looks over at Hotaru with a faint huff of air. "Like I'm dumb enough to do /that/," he mutters. Just because he's amazingly arrogant, it doesn't mean he doesn't understand that some people are /stupid powerful/! Jeez.
Rather than just attack headlong again like some sort of schmuck, Tenma straightens up, slanting his bokken against his shoulder as he regards Hotaru, a more intense look than before on his face. Batsu has totally upped the bar over there, and now they're going to have to show they can be just as awesome... But to do that, Tenma needs a second to catch his breath!
COMBATSYS: Tenma gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Batsu
Tenma's reply brings a faint smile to Hotaru's face. Well, at least he begrudingly is willing to admit she can fight! But right now her attention is shifting over to the tank destroying mayhem going on between Batsu and his school's swim coach. Okay... that was kind of insane. The blue eyed girl spares a second to check on Tenma but he seems to be holding back for a moment which leaves her open to try and bail out her partner who is woefully in need of help at this point.
Turning her back to Tenma, the girl quietly makes a blitz for the Taiyo boy, aiming to catch him off guard after that incredible retaliation. A two handed grip on his nearest arm will be converted into a simple, traditional judo slam to the surface of the metal behemoth, all in an attempt to buy Nagare a moment's reprieve. "Ya!"
Nagare's slammed by the assault. The turret comes off, powering into the swimmer even as he's still in the air. It doesn't matter any longer, it's already too late. It comes for him, the turret ripped off, and slams him, knocking him backwards and sending him into the other tank. He barely hangs on, right at the side of the treads. He hovers there, his hands barely holding on as he pulls himself up.
And he's able, body bruised and strength depleted. But he doesn't give up yet. Presumably eaten by the treads of the tank, Nagare lays down, like Tenma, and doesn't move. Spitting out blood off the side, Nagare can't do anything but sit down for the moment. He needs time to think. Time to heal. His hands begin to move by themselves as they start pumping his chest.
The strength of the man is trying to set the bones back in order, the water chi attempts to flood and heal his own body. Nagare... is attempting the first thing all lifegaurds know.
The first aid technique.
COMBATSYS: Batsu interrupts Quick Throw from Hotaru with Maximum Guts Upper.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Nagare 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Batsu
Careful: Batsu is high voltage right now.
Case in point: he doesn't check to see if Nagare's okay, which is highly out of character for him considering what he just did. That's certainly clue number one. Clue number two is that his continued confused blink carries over to Hotaru's grab on his shoulder. But the sudden resurgence of chi in Batsu's body probably owes more to... well, basic fighting instinct. Batsu's not a berserker like, say, Shenwoo, who really knows how to draw out the WAGE, but even by self-admission, part of Batsu's strength comes from his ability to just... lose control, let it all out. Go full bore. That's GUTS, people.
He takes after this dad, but it's not wise to tell him this.
There's a slight *clang* as Hotaru's shove sends Batsu against the wall... and then his voice, almost with a weird echo effect, rings out "BAD... IDEA!" right before he spins and, alight now not with his distinctive blue chi, but with a wreath of red flame, uppercuts Hotaru off of him before she can finish her throw, his fist accompanied by a rocket-blast of fiery energy from the ground at the fighters' feet. Fueled by fury, that is... one hell of an uppercut.
It may make Hotaru feel slightly better to know that afterwards the Imawano son is leaning against the top of the tank turret for support, feeling sort of dizzy. "Agh... damn..." Part of the deck plate in front of him is dented; part of it is *melted*.
Seriously, how is Tenma even supposed to keep up with this stuff? It's insane! His eyes widen as Batsu uppercuts the holy hell out of Hotaru, and meanwhile Nagare is off... Doing something he doesn't really want to think about. What's a Guardian King left to do? The answer is, as it happens, pretty simple. If Batsu and Hotaru are going to duke it out, then Tenma might as well bite the bullet and go see if he can't take out a swimmer. So he takes two steps, and then leaps off of the tank he's been on all the while, forcing chi into his feet.
He jumps clear through the air with hardly any trouble at all, and as he arcs down towards Nagare the Gedo swordsman holds his bokken point-down towards the swimming coach, bracing the hilt with the palm of his other hand, apparently aiming to run the poor guy through while he's down. "HEY, DON'T JUST LIE THERE!!"
The slam worked but left herself open for an attack that more than made it hardly worth the effort. She may have gotten attention off of Nagare for a bit, but it's at great personal expense as the girl is sent clean off her feet by the concussive force of fiery chi and one hell of a punch.
The impact is jarring, the smaller fighter sent up in a loose, uncontrolled arc before dropping down, her trajectory taking her toward the front of the tank where she lands just shy of following off into the path of the rumbling beast. Hell that guy can punch, the girl muses, rolling over onto her side after she lands, propping herself up with one hand as she coughs a mouthfull of blood onto the hot surface. There's definitely not much more she can take after that kind of abuse, but she isn't quite finished yet.
Panting, Hotaru rises to her feet, whirling around to face toward the rest of the fighters. Tenma is off to encourage Nagare to start moving again and there's not much she can do about that... The swim coach will have to fend for himself for a bit. Batsu looks a lot better off than she does, but maybe she can catch him before he recovers, she muses, finally moving into action as she leaps up and over the spinning, turretless top of the tank to come down at Batsu from his other side this time, her foot swinging to catch him in the back of the head. If he hasn't gotten his wits about him yet, that might help!
COMBATSYS: Nagare successfully hits Nagare with CPR.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
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Nagare 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Nagare interrupts Deep Strike from Tenma with Super Splash Kick.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Nagare 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Batsu
Nagare was down... but was he out? Certainly not! Taiyo spirit and all wouldn't really like Nagare to give up so easily! Even as he's finished pumping himself full of water chi, Nagare's just laying there. And then Tenma comes after him with the bokken. Nagare can barely see straight as he looks up at Tenma. What to do, what to do. Choices, choices.
Instead of rolling out of there, Nagare accepts the bokken a it comes down. "But I'm not!" Nagare states as the weapon comes in to meet his chest. Oh, it hurts something terribly! But you have to accept this Tenma, because you had brought the fish to life. Or something like that. Squished the fish?
Well, the fish squished you instead. As the boken moves into Nagare's chest, his fins come to both side, attempting to prevent the damage as much as possible as he forces it up. Down below however, is where Tenma should be keeping track of. No further.
The feet of Nagare begin to kick wildly. So wildly that chi flows off of them without a second thought. Chi laden kicks begin to power Tenma as Nagare holds his bokken still. Like water, Nagare attempts to take a chunk out of the Gedo high student, and does!
Oh, he lets go of the bokken. But at least now, Tenma, you won't get infected.
COMBATSYS: Batsu dodges Hotaru's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Nagare 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Batsu
Please, Hotaru. Any more head trauma in his lifetime and Hinata will be wheeling him around the halls of Taiyo while he babbles about what a good driver he is and counting cards.
As it stands, the *sound* of the wallop he delivers unto Miss Futaba snaps Batsu out of his stupor, and his actual concern to make sure he hasn't hurt a fighter any more than a normal fight demands kicks in... which is good for him, because it means he's watching the pigtailed fighter as she recovers adroitly from that uppercut and rebounds with her kicking attack. If you've got the presence of mind to kick, you're probably okay for walking and talking, Batsu surmises... yet another way in which he is clearly Raizo's child. Unfortunately.
Still a little bit woozy from expending so much of his personal energy all in one go, Batsu tumbles off to the side as Hotaru drives at him, diving shoulder first onto the tank's deckplate and rolling to a stop JUST shy of the edge; as he gets up, his arms pinwheel a bit for balance. He gives Hotaru a sheepish look and actually apologizes: "I didn't mean to go so, uh, all out there... sorry about that."
But this is still a fight, and there's still fighters on their feet; Tenma and Nagare's conflict, which he sees out of the corner of his eye, gets a raised eyebrow, but Hotaru is demanding most of Batsu's attention. "Hope you're still read to go, though!" he says with a faint grin, before ducking forward toward Miss Futaba and looking to drive his elbow into her tummy. It's quick and no-nonsense, but maybe that's best after he just tried to Mortal Kombat her onto the stage above this one.
Sweet breakdancing Buddha, what just happened?
Now, to be fair, the relationship between most fighters and the laws of physics is rocky at best... But Nagare? Nagare is /mind-blowing/. Tenma gets totally rocked by those chi-powered kicks, finally flung away to land on his back on Nagare's tank, looking pretty dazed. At least, until he hops back up to his feet, wobbling slightly, and whirls around to face the swimming coach. But now he's got what he needs.
Tenma's right arm is thrown back behind himself, holding his bokken horizontally, perpendicular to his body; its arc is visible behind him, the red energy around it building, becoming darker and more violent, more intense... And he pushes his left hand forward, fingers lightly contorted in a mudra position. Focus, he tells himself. Focus on a single point. The bloody chi around his sword building to a fever pitch, Tenma suddenly lunges forward, rushing at Nagare full-tilt, until he's close enough to swing his bokken in a mighty single-handed slash. And, if he hits the strange, strange man, then not only does the expected hurt of a hard piece of wood being swung full-armed and ensconced in searing chi follow, but also something... /Strange/... As Tenma's chi actually moves /through/ Nagare, disrupting the flow of life through his body wholesale, stealing his vitality and leaving behind it only a cold numbness... "--THIS IS THE FINISH!"
COMBATSYS: Batsu successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Punch.
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Hotaru 1/--=====/=======|-------\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Nagare 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
"Nn," Hotaru grunts as her feet touch down following Batsu's evasion. His concern is well meant, but she isn't faring to well, if the palor in her cheeks is any indication. Nagare is left to his own it would seem as Hotaru struggles to deal with Batsu stepping in to hit her stomach with his elbow, aggravating a bruise already forming from Tenma's boken strike earlier. Not much has really gone well for the girl this match. Maybe it's having the terrain zip bit that's throwing her off. Having it oscillate when she fought on a giant pendulum last week didn't seem to do her any favors either. Maybe some week she'll get to fight on level ground for a change!
Stepping back doesn't get her out of the way in time and the elbow strike crumples the girl forward over his arm a little as Hotaru gasps, her arms coming up to grab hold of his bicep with a loose grip. In close like that, it's all she can do to try and give herself the leverage she needs for one last attack - a final surge of chi building up around her as she uses his arm as a fulcrum to launch into a backward flip kick...
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Nagare 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Tenma
> ///////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Batsu with Ten-shou Ranki EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Nagare 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Nagare dodges Tenma's The Sealing Sword.
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Nagare 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
Her grip proves to be just enough to give Hotaru the strength she needs in order to launch the two fighters up into the air, a large swath of chi trailing behind her body, lending strength beyond that which she can manage on muscle power alone. "Ten-shou..." Their ascent slows and at the apex, the determined girl flips forward, adjusting her trajectory into a forward dive that intercepts the Taiyo student on his way back down, the angle taking them across the gap between the two tanks to land back on the one that has managed to scrape by without, say, having its TURRET ripped clean off. "Ranki!"
The two slide to a stop with the smaller fighter straddling Batsu, both of her hands pressed hard against his chest as she grits her teeth, gathering chi in from the world around them, drawing on the arid environemnt and even from the young man beneath her. "aaaaaaAAAAAAH!" The build up manifests in a visible sphere of blue, swirling energy that centers on the young martial artist. But there comes a point where she can't control it any further and it becomes necessary to send it home, as it were.
Allowing the sphere to collapse back on herself, the girl funnels the entirety of it into Batsu's chest. "KYA!!" The result is a final, invisible shockwave of concussive force that explodes outward from the two, crumpling the metal and crushing some of it beneath Batsu. And then merely a quiet sigh as exhausted Hotaru crumples forward, eyes closing, lying on the young man. Scandalous!!
Nagare is surprisingly quick. Surprisingly powerful. And most importantly, surprisingly able to get out of positions he's not supposed to. Like with Tenma, he was still on the ground, bleeding now through a wound in his check that he had given him with his bokken. Usually, that would simply destroy a man like Nagare. He has no chance, but still, he will continue to fight.
As Tenma lunges full tilt, Nagare fires himself out of the way. And not just out of the way, but away from it as well. With the bokken in the tank, Nagare attempts to roll towards the side... and behindTenma, almost off the tank once more. But then Nagare moves between Tenma's leg, swimming through and coming up infront of him. Almost like a stead.
And then the water chi he used to swim disappears, and Nagare attempts to harshly come down with Tenma, crushing him against the tank. "Not... yet!" It must be the Taiyo Spirit.
Oh heck.
Batsu 'felt' the attack coming a split second too late; not with highly tuned chi senses, just a natural intuition for fighting. But Hotaru is *quick*, and the power she pours into that final strike quickly overpowers Batsu's hasty and ill-prepared attempt to weather the storm somehow. There's no need to rehash, of course: Hotaru delivers an unholy beatdown onto the Burning Fighter, and then delivers herself onto him as well. Blinking, he emerges from the grogginess of hitstun to find... Hotaru lying on top of him.
What. The. French. Toast! (Raizo reads these logs)
"Oi, OI!" Batsu says in a panic, attempting to roll Hotaru off to the side with mixed success... the entire affair means he's not exactly in the best of positions to thwart any sort of assault on his or anybody's person. "Get... raaaaaaagh!"
It's girl rage! Take that, Luc.
Flinging both arms out -- the most he can do from this position -- Batsu fires off a bright blue bolt of pure chi at Nagare even as he dives for Tenma, hoping to just knock him out of the way. However, instead of his normal yell of 'Kiaidan!', we're treated to an altogether different shout of anguish:
"GET THIS CHICK OFF ME!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Nagare's Strong Throw.
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Nagare 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
> //////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Batsu
If there's anything Tenma /does not/ like, aside from Luc Schroedinger's mere existence and whenever Marisol O'Connell talks, it's when his ultimate attack - his greatest of techniques - gets so... Handily avoided. That mighty slash amounts to nothing, a hellacious amount of chi bleeding off into the air, and then what the hell is Nagare doing?! Tenma has exactly enough time to say: "Oh sh--" before he gets slammed into the tank powerfully, not even trying to avoid it or mitigate the damage. Instead, he does what comes naturally to him, possibly the only thing he can do in this position.
Tenma headbutts Nagare so hard. So. Freaking. Hard!
COMBATSYS: Nagare blocks Batsu's Guts Bullet.
[ \\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Nagare 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Tenma
> //////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Nagare with Head Breaker.
[ \\\ < > //// ]
Nagare 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
> //////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
Nagare was ready for the Guts Bullet! But it seems that his guts blew it! Batsu proves to be a very powerful combatant, and take on the entire room one after another. Nagare gets ready for it! And blam, it's there. He absorbs quick a powerful blow by the bolt of energy. It sends him to the edge of the tank.
And then Tenma is there. He didn't even think the kid would still be there! Wuh oh, his bad! And then Tenma head butts him while he's on his back. Owch! Nagare couldn't get up in time, and it finally defeats the Taiyo Swimming Star!
But not before Nagare, turns about, and attempts to save Tenma's life!
By crushing his chest. Just to give Tenma a run for his money.
And right after, Nagare falls backwards, passing out, breathing heavily. Wow, Batsu cleaned their clocks!
And Tenma, of course. And Tenma. We can't forget Tenma. He put some pretty good licks in their too.
COMBATSYS: Nagare can no longer fight.
> //// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Tenma
> //////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Nagare's Artificial Respiration.
> ]
|=======\-------\1 Tenma
> //////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Batsu
WHAT THE HELL, TENMA DOESN'T NEED LIFESAVING.
With little time to do anything about Nagare trying to grab him, the nearly-unconscious Gedo High student has no choice but to go with it, getting grabbed and crushed, which actually hurts a lot. Incidentally, this is perhaps part of why Tenma is so ill-tempered; the only time he ever gets hugged by anybody, they're trying to crush the life out of him.
Just imagine what his home life was like!
Finally fighting free of Nagare with a shout of: "LEGGO, YOU FREAK!" the leader of the Guardian Kings staggers back, and ends up flat on his back on the remaining tank, his bokken falling out of his grasp with a clatter, a sound like a slowly exhaled breath accompanying the dissipation of the red aura around the wooden weapon. "Ugh," he says. He's gonna just... Lie there for a little while.
Tanks are more comfortable than you think.
By the time Batsu finally, gently gets Hotaru on to the top of the tank and gets to his feet... everything's pretty much over. The tanks are slowing to a stop, while everyone around him lays unconscious. Batsu, through braining other people with a proverbial rock, has become the victor on a tank in a desert clime! It's the American way!
And like the American he is not, Batsu just scratches his cheek in confusion. One tank is turretless thanks to him; the other's top deck is crushed to hell thanks to Hotaru.
"...okay then."
COMBATSYS: Batsu has left the fight here.
> ]
|=======\-------\1 Tenma
Log created on 18:17:21 01/12/2008 by Tenma, and last modified on 18:52:47 01/15/2008.