Description: Neo League + Ice Cream = Love! Movenpick, a gourmet ice cream shop in London is graciously playing host to this event between the punk princess and the Taiyo High soccer star. It's a small shop, which pretty much guarantees something gets broken (No ice cream was hurt!). But who cares? They've got Rocky Road. ROCKY ROAD! (Winner: Roberto)
Things in Arika's life have been very... well odd... lately. Amidst the changes and confusion, some things seem to stay the same.
This is both good and bad. Good, because it means things might not have changed much at all. Bad, because it seems to lead to more confusion.
Regardless, she's back in London now, and trying to keep busy. She's also decided to take some of the good advice that was offered to her a while back - suffer through it all with ice cream. It is, however, not any fun at all to enjoy ice cream alone. Which is why she sent an invitation out to have a friend join her. It's a long flight, just for a few scoops of the frozen gourmet treat, but as an added bonus, she mentioned the words 'Neo League'.
After a bit of persuasion, the owner of the Movenpick Ice Cream Boutique agreed that the fight could be filmed there. Camera crews have been setting up all day, while the punk princess sits at one of the little bistro tables, just waiting for the match to start and be finished so she can pick up a pint of her favorite flavor. It wouldn't do to buy it -now-, seeing as for one it would likely melt, and for another, there's no telling if the freezers will be left standing when all of this is said and done.
So... she waits.
When Roberto received the invitation, he was sitting with Hinata at the time he was reading it. For about three hours, Roberto had to deal with having telling the Sunshine Girl that she couldn't come with him. After all, Neo Leagues with ice cream were completely up her alley. He had to also deal with a lot of teasing about whether or not Arika was his girlfriend. What lovely friends does the soccer star have.
Fast forward to today, the Taiyo High Soccer star waits outside of the Ice Cream Boutique with a single soccer ball under his arm before he steps inside. "Hey there. What's going on?"
Fingers tapping on the table, she watches the cameramen closely. She's not -really- interested in what it is they're doing, but she is a little curious as to the whole setup and the cabling - at least insofar as making sure that none of it is going to trip her up during the fight. Movenpick isn't all that large.
Upon hearing the voice, Arika's head lifts up and she glances at the door. It takes only seconds for her to bounce up to her feet, and offer a small nod of her head. "Not much at the moment. Cameras just finished ge'tin' set up." She motions for him to come to the small cleared out area. "Figured the scoop could wait until after the foight, 'less you wanted to start off with a sore tummy."
Not that large, and indoor. That right there takes out two of the soccer star's favorite moves right from the beginning. He was actually hoping that it would've taken place outside of the boutique so he'd have more room to work with.
Roberto has to adapt to get through this fight. "I can't help but wonder what the occasion is though I'm pretty sure that can also wait until after the fight as well."
The soccer ball is quickly tossed aside where it won't do harm to anything and then he settles into his stance bouncing on the balls of his feet like a goalie waiting for a penalty shot. "Care to get things going?"
"One needs an occasion to foight in an ice cream parlor?" Arika raises an eyebrow, giving Roberto a quick grin. "Let's just say it's a li'tle be'ter to be fussin' with Neo League than it is to be stiflin' emotions another way." Shoulders lift upward in a shrug, then drop down as she begins to stretch her body.
One of the cameramen looks between the two, and motions with his hand. Three-two-one. Cameras are rolling.
"If you're still interested in this at the end, Oi'll let'cha in on it."
Pop, pop goes her neck as she bops her head from side to side. The punk princess then rushes forward, hoping to take the football player by surprise. Her shoulder drops low in an attempt to nail him in the stomach, lifting him up over her body and landing him on the ceramic tile of the floor.
COMBATSYS: Arika has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Arika 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Roberto has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Arika's Quick Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Roberto
"I see..."
And that's about when the punk princess goes charging at him. While it had him surprised, the soccer star has reflexes and an ability to haul butt when he needs to. He side steps the shoulder charge moving to her rear. "Whoa!"
After that he swings a foot right for the back of her knees. He doesn't intend to let her get away with that take down attempt without giving something in return.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Arika with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Roberto
WHUMP.
Arika sprawls face first on the tiles. It's by sheer luck that she manages to get her hands out in front of her as she falls, to keep her from cracking her nose against the floor. Her knees are not so lucky, and they hit the tile hard enough to cause a sharp intake of breath.
Twisting her body around, the punk princess presses her hands back behind her head and pushes herself up with them. Her body jerks suddenly to the side and she slams the heel of her foot out toward his chin.
COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Arika's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Roberto
As Roberto watched Arika gets up from the kick. The clean kip-up is relatively impressive as is the sudden kick out of the recovery. It ends up forcing the soccer star to duck under the kick. Roberto intends on taking advantage of this to suddenly dart forward and grab the British Star by her hip.
This is when Arika might sense that there's something familiar about this. It'll get more familiar when he picks her up and attempts to throw her down on her back. If he should get that far, he'll throw a kick right for her hip.
COMBATSYS: Arika blocks Roberto's Mundane Save.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Roberto
Grabbed by the hip, she smirks. There's very few things a person can do to you when they're busy holding you. Which is why she never tries to hold onto a person for too long, unless she's certain she can follow through with something painful. Needless to say, she throws herself into a side-roll as he throws her down, slamming an arm upward to keep his football foot from crashing in against her body.
It hits the bone of her arm instead, causing her to wince a little bit.
Arika pops back up to her feet, not willing to stay down for very long. Bouncing on the heels of her feet for a second, she begins to move her body to a slow, somewhat steady rhythm. Twirling toward him, she chambers her right leg, snapping her foot out quickly in an attempt to catch him on the side of the head.
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Arika's Rhythmic Roundhouse.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Roberto
The soccer star steps back after the foot was deflected. He didn't want to be the recipient of whatever Arika had in mind as a response to his Mundane Save. He watches as the punk rocker begins to bounce and then twirl. And then he returns to the same goalie stance watches as she comes in and then she whips a foot around and he brings two fists together to punch at the foot like it's a soccer ball.
The soccer player then steps forward with a similar punch, this time to her abdomen attempting to pound the Brit away.
COMBATSYS: Arika counters Strong Punch from Roberto with Diva Allegro.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Roberto
Pushed back by the force of his goalie block, the diva growls in irritation. She's determined to make this match as lighthearted as she can, but that doesn't mean she likes being pushed around like a football! Allowing the punch to swing her back around, she crouches down a little in order to wait for the next onslaught.
Arika watches the fist slam it's way toward her abdomen, and she sends a right jab down to send it away from her body. As she draws her arm back toward her, her left hand is slamming out quickly. Both hand and arm are engulfed in a somewhat dark violet energy, tendrils of it wisping off the ends of her fingers as she thrusts the palmheel strike into Roberto's chest.
Roberto is then reminded why he can't afford to take Arika lightly. The energy from the palm heel strike forcing the Taiyo High fighter to stumble backwards as he recovers from the impact. He takes a deep breath as he continues watch the musician.
He steps in and out of range as he circles the other fighter and then suddenly he darts in on the ground as he slides in foot first as he performs a slide tackle right for Arika's ankle in an attempt to take out her balance.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Arika with Sliding Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Roberto
It's not so much that the diva loses her balance, really. She twists about in order to try blocking the foot from slamming into her, and not only finds herself kicked off her feet, but landing hard against the ice cream freezer. The glass remains intact, but it leaves Arika sliding to the floor, giving her head a bit of a shake. Rubbing the back of her skull as she presses her body back against the freezer, she smirks.
"You bloody well 'it a lot 'arder than Oi remember."
Though, that's not saying too much. It's been several months since they've faced one another.
Once she's back on her feet, she wastes no time in launching herself at him. Before actually reaching her opponent, she spins her body to the side and tries to deliver a decent bop to the top of his head.
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Arika's Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto gets up to his feet since the diva's spin and impact gave him more time than he normally would receive to recover from his slide tackle. He even had time to shrug afterwards. "I can't imagine why... I haven't done much fighting lately. Though I still have been training for soccer."
He doesn't have time to say much as Arika goes to bop him on the head as if he was one of little bunny Fufu's field mice. But they didn't have Roberto's gifted hands and he swats the attack aside like a shot on goal.
With the attack suitably dealt with he takes a step forward and then swings a glowing foot forward in an attempt to catch the other fighter under her chin and knock her up into the air before setting his foot down with his back partially turned towards Arika.
COMBATSYS: Arika blocks Roberto's Thrust Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Arika 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Roberto
That's exactly what she was trying to do. Treat him like a little field mouse and bop him on the head! Sadly, her meager little bop is batted aside, and she's left snickering.
Until his foot comes up and tries to catch her under the chin. Were this a normal kick, she'd likely just try to dive under it. As soon as she sees the glow, she changes her strategy and slams her elbows in together so that she can duck her head behind her arms. The kick catches her just under her elbows, still managing to send her up into the air. Arika tucks her body into a ball as she flips across the ice cream shop, diving behind the freezer.
"Would you look at this? They've got Rocky Road!"
And there, slouching against the freezer, she takes a few moments to catch her breath.
COMBATSYS: Arika gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto sees Arika eyeing the ice cream. He just has to say something. "Hey Arika! There will be plenty of time to check out the ice cream after we're done." His tone is playful as he chides him but even in jest, he does express a desire to keep things going.
Roberto quickly runs around the freezer and he goes for the other fighter like a freight train attempting to use the momentum from his dash to power a punch to a precise location onto her abdomen. Hopefully Arika didn't have anything to eat before the fight.
COMBATSYS: Arika dodges Roberto's Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Roberto
"But... it's -ROCKY ROAD-!!"
Someone likes her ice cream.
Arika isn't just leaning there all idly. She's catching her breath, but that doesn't mean she isn't paying attention to the fight. Even if she couldn't see Roberto, she can hear the freight train movements. Reaching for the edge of the freezer, she sails up and over the glass, very narrowly avoiding the powerful punch.
This makes things a bit difficult though, seeing as how her opponent is where she once was, and she's where he was. Furrowing her brow, she ponders the situation. After a second, she flings her arms forward in an attempt to catch him about the neck. Any ounce of success in this will see her attempting to draw him over the freezer and tossing him to the tiled floor below.
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Arika's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Roberto
When Arika grabs Roberto about his neck Roberto brings his arms up keeping his forearms between her arms and his neck. He still is pulled up over the counter but he isn't so much tossed as sliding off the freezer before falling unsteadily.
The footballer still has his hands tied up a bit and so he throws a knee at the rocker's side in order to push her away and attempt to control range again. "Hey now you don't see me searching for chocolate chip mint now do you?"
COMBATSYS: Arika blocks Roberto's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
And up swings her knee as she twists sideways, to keep the knee from hitting her in the ribs.
"You ain't gotta look. Oi already looked. They got an unopened container back there, mate!"
Along the same lines as what he was attempting to do, Arika swings her body back to face him. Her foot swings up, then thrusts out in the hopes of pushing him away from her. Whether she manages to strike true or not, she herself begins to back up a few steps so that she can place herself in a defensive position.
COMBATSYS: Roberto interrupts Strong Kick from Arika with Bicycle Kick.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Arika 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
Arika ought to be careful what she wishes for since she achieves her objective. Roberto does get pushed back he side-steps enough that the kick doesn't hit center and he's spun around and has his back towards Arika. He doesn't even give the British Diva time to reset her foot before he flips back and performs a more extreme form of little Bunny Fufu with his foot.
BONK.
At least Arika's attempt at playing Bunny Fufu was just that - a playful attempt. Her opponent's attempt, on the other hand, crashes her down to the floor, hands clutching at her head. It hits so hard that she's quite certain his foot has cracked through her skull, and brain matter is oozing out. Fingers gently prod at her noggin through her hair, and when the diva is satisfied that there's no grey matter about to spill on the floor, she pushes herself back up to her feet, deep breath as she does so.
Again, no time is wasted in trying to turn things around. She races toward Roberto, dancing her way behind him. It is then that she attempts to reach around his body with her right leg, hoping to lock him in position. While she does this, left arm comes up to wrap around his head to further secure him in her grasp. And if the lock-up should happen, the diva forms a claw with her right hand in order to make a grab for his stomach and subsequently attempt to force him down onto the tiles on his side.
COMBATSYS: Roberto just-defends Arika's Dominant Diva!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
Arika doesn't have to do much to dance behind him. His back was already turned as he landed from the Bicycle Kick. In an instant he feels the diva's legs on the back of his coming around to wrap up his legs which he reacts to by spreading his stance out to keep from getting locked up. As Arika's left arm comes around he performs a deflecting palm strike before darting away from her and then skidding to a stop as he turns around to look at the diva.
The space between the two fighters gives the soccer player time to take a deep breath before he approaches like a boxer and snaps a jab at Arika trying to gauge range again.
COMBATSYS: Arika just-defends Roberto's Quick Punch!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
Boxing is something Arika should know fairly well, though her style does differ from the 'norm'. As the jab is snapped toward her, she simply moves her body back with it, bending ever so slightly so as to avoid being hit. It works well, and so she attempts to catch him off guard.
Bridging her body back fully, the punk princess springs up onto her hands. She doesn't commit to flipping fully over, instead, allowing her body to fall toward his, sending a leg out at either shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Arika's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
Roberto watches as the diva rocks backwards from his punch realizing that falling back on boxing tactics won't help him much in this fight so he falls back on more goalie-like fighting style. As her legs fall downwards Roberto steps off to the side before bending his knees.
That slight bend of his knees is the only warning the diva gets before Roberto dives at her like a goalie attempting to grab a soccer ball sliding on the ground until they both crash into one of the chairs.
COMBATSYS: Arika blocks Roberto's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Roberto
There's very little time for the diva to react to being palmed like a soccer ball, and slid along the tiles. The only thing she really -can- do is turn her body in such a way that the side of her arm crashes into the chair more than any other part of her.
"Bloody 'ell," she mutters as she swipes the chair to the side in order to draw herself up to her feet, "You should try out for the baseball team."
While she speaks, Arika's hands ball up into tight fists. In a rapid movement, not unlike a hammerfist, the diva attempts to use the football player's head as a set of bongo drums.
COMBATSYS: Arika successfully hits Roberto with Drum Solo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Roberto
Roberto is much slower than Arika to recover from his own attack. He slowly gets back to his feet. "I would but my friend Shoma would make fun of my batting ability." Poor Roberto he doesn't even know what's coming next.
After finally getting back to his feet. The soccer star finds his head assaulted the rocker and he finds himself wondering if he has any brain matter leaking out. He doesn't check for it though. Instead Roberto reaches out for Arika with a glow in his hands before he grabs the rock star and slams/blasts her away with the gathered chi in his palm.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Arika with Shining Save.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Arika 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Roberto
The punk princess can pound away pretty hard on bongo drums, but probably not hard enough to cause brain matter to leak out. Besides, she's not attempting to kill him - it's just a friendly match, right?
Then he's coming at her with glowing hands. Oh, how Arika has begun to loathe the sight of gathering chi. She does make a very valiant effort to skirt out of the way, but the fight has begun to wear on her, slowing her movements. As she's slammed away from Roberto she flies back against the freezer, cracking it open with a surprised yelp.
The glass holds just long enough so that she doesn't become a punk princess sundae.
Coming back toward him, she clasps both her fists together. Her body swings about as she attempts to bat him toward the window.
COMBATSYS: Arika successfully hits Roberto with Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Arika 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Roberto
Roberto is beginning to feel the effects of the fight as well and under normal circumstances he'd be able to move out of the way but he's too tired to weave out of the way of the two fisted hammer he finds himself flying backwards through the window.
As he gets back to his feet and wipes the shards of glass off of him he inwardly wonders why the fight couldn't have taken place outdoors. He's not quite out yet and neither is Arika.
Roberto hops through the window and suddenly charges at the rocker at high speed as he decides to do the logical thing and take the fight outside. He kicks Arika around like a human soccer ball passing back and forth to himself in an impressive display of speed and power before sending her with a final kick out the door. But not before opening the door first. He's not interested in wrecking the place any further.
COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Arika with Pass and Shoot.
[ \\\ < > /////////// ]
Arika 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Roberto
Glass shattering outward onto the street, Arika's eyes just widen. That's going to have to be paid for, and windows aren't exactly cheap! Maybe she should have tried to send him toward the washrooms instead. Most damage he'd do that way would be to crash into the doors.
Next thing she knows, there's a blur and she's being booted back and forth until she finds herself out the door and outside. At this point, the diva is weary. Her energy levels have just dropped to almost nothing, and she's beginning to feel as though she's not going to be able to continue much longer. She hits the lockstone outside of Movenpick, bounces once and just lays there.
But something in her tells her to get back up to her feet and bloody well try her hardest to continue - even if she just winds up falling over onto her face like a jackass. Rushing toward Roberto she twists to scoot behind him and attempt locking him up in a half-nelson hold.
COMBATSYS: Arika can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Roberto 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Arika's Punk Rock Breakdown.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Roberto 0/-------/--=====|
Securing the hold as tightly as she can, she begins to lift Roberto up into the air above her head. Spinning around in slow circles to ensure that every camera in the place (including the small security camera) catches her little act of showboating, she smiles. Her body is aching, she can barely stand up, but she's going to pull this off even if it kills her! Each rotation sees the spinning becoming increasingly rapid, until she hoists him up to the full extension of her arms. Once he reaches that point, the spinning stops abruptly and she shoves him down to the tiled floor using the full force of her body, to drop him onto his head.
After this, however, the punk princess drops to her knees, forcing herself not to sprawl forward. Her head hangs, and she motions that she can no longer continue.
There are numerous things that go wrong for the Diva. First of all, the soccer player had the presence of mind to pull his arms forward as she applies the hold on him making it harder for her to lock his arms in place. Secondly there was the spin. While disorienting, it gave him time to grit his teeth and prepare himself for whatever could happen. The third problem was when she paused to hoist him up into the air it gave him time to get his bearings again.
When you combine those factors with the fact that soccer players are taught tumbling to improve physical awareness you get a soccer player who is able to plant his hands before dropping on his head and converts it into a handstand before falling to his feet.
Needless to say, Roberto feels like puking after that crazy ride. It's a good thing he hasn't had food recently enough that he'd find himself puking. Perhaps he should wait before eating that ice cream.
COMBATSYS: Roberto has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:21:30 02/06/2008 by Arika, and last modified on 01:45:16 02/07/2008.