Description: It seems like the critical question in this SNF was "Is K' capable of rationality when confronted with a Kyo?" The answer is no, and his inability to get past that seems to hurt him more than it does anybody else present. But undeterred by her 'partner,' Iincyo still puts out a lot of hardcore. (Winner: Kyo)
Why would you have a fight in the middle of a croquet match?! That's just silly.
And yet, here it is, happening live on worldwide television. The croquet, at least, is already underway, with many of England's best and brightest - and stuffiest - hitters of small colourful balls through hoops engaging in what is surely a croquet match that would be talked about for ages by croquet enthusiasts, every move and stratagem analysed down to the finest detail by croquet experts in croquet magazines. Thing of it is, good god is it boring!
At least, Kyo Kusanagi thinks so.
Seated off to one side on a lawn chair, the Kusanagi heir is waiting for the actually /interesting/ match to get started, sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin cradled in his hands as he watches the croquet match in the sort of way a truly bored person will seek out any sort of stimulation whatsoever. His eyelids droop heavily. Ugh, it's so dull, he just wants to go over there and set the balls on fire. Maybe that will liven it up?
So one wonders... Where ARE Kyo's opponents?
All told, there's only about a 5 minute timespan between 'K''s arrival' and 'K''s presence in the delineated fighting ring.' Walking onto the green heedlessly, pushing past the SNF staff, ignoring everything said to him, he's on-set and completely ready before half the people assembled even realize he's finally arrived.
It takes a Kyo to get K' to be this prompt about anything.
Stalking a straight line towards the center of the actual fighting area, he lets his eyes turn to fix on Kyo. He is aware he's supposed to have 'help,' but the fact means absolutely nothing to him. He doesn't need any fucking help, he doesn't need assistance against Kyo, and he's spent the entire flight over completely incensed at the insinuation that he does. Anger obliterates all those gaps where a calmer man might have taken the time to really think over this whole 'rivalry' in a more rational light.
He regards the half-asleep Kyo with barely-disguised contempt. A staffer flutters nervously close, within speaking range, and without taking his eyes off Kusanagi, K' snaps, "Someone wake that asshole up and get him in here."
Not entirely interested in croquet either, a certain Taiyo School girl, Iincyo, had signed up once again for one of the more exciting, varied, and yet dangerous, battles. Such as .. in this case.. SNF.
Arriving slightly late.. after all she wasn't very used to being in England, Iincyo having gotten somewhat lost within the streets. But if Kyo even pays attention to the area.. which is kind of difficult with his current relaxed status... he'd totally see her. Later somewhat, and leaping off the side of the bike, gently putting it down against the ground, and then looking around.
And then there's .. K'.
That's not a sight that Iincyo had wanted. He doesn't look too happy. Perhaps K' would enjoy the fact that his 'help' seems to be a random japanese girl, who wears short gym shorts, a white gym shirt with Taiyo high on it, and a jacket that hangs off her. Heck, she looks more like some kind of placement than actually a warrior!
But even then, she strides towards the ring, taking a position nearby K' .. rather he likes it or not! "I believe we're supposed to be partners in this. Aren't we? That's what I heard." Her hands are crossed, elbows in the holes for the arms in the jacket.
As it happens, someone IS going to wake that asshole up, as another SNF staffer comes up beside the possibly half-asleep Kyo Kusanagi, who seems hypnotised by the sheer overwhelming dullness of the croquet match. At first, Kyo doesn't seem to notice.
"Um, Mister Kusanagi, your opponents are here," the young woman says, a bit nervously... Though not nearly as much so as the staffer speaking with the possibly psychotic leather-clad K'.
"Nn... Jus' five more minutes," Kyo mumbles uncertainly, somewhere between awake and thinking he's in bed asleep. In fact, a nap right about now would be pretty good...
"GET UP, IT'S TIME TO FIGHT!" the young woman suddenly shouts at Kyo with surprising ferocity, and in pure alarm the reigning World Warrior champion jumps right out of his chair onto his feet, turning wide-eyed towards the now rather demure-looking young woman, who flashes a too-sweet smile and scurries off. Kyo, with little else in the way of options, mutters to himself and straightens his gloves.
Turning, he spies both K' and Iincyo, the latter of whom he is at least surprised to see here, 'cause what the hell man, shouldn't she be doing chairperson-y stuff back at Taiyo? But regardless, Kyo stoops down long enough to fish something out of a bag beside his chair, carrying it hidden in the palm of his hand as he strides up to the ring, looking about as smug as a Kusanagi can.
"Whew... I woke up for this, I hope you two don't put me right back to sleep!" Kyo taunts, before turning to K' directly and tossing whatever was in his hand, directly at the genetically altered fighter. "Here, rookie. Thought this might help you with those anger problems of yours!"
It's a squishy stress ball. It's bright yellow and has a big smiley face on it.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has started a fight here.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: K' has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: Iincyo has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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K' 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: K' has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
Head slightly lowered, eyes narrowed to near slits, K' just kind of stands there in immovable silence, looking literally nailed to the earth. The unfortunate tasked with trying to talk to him weighs the successful completion of his job responsibilities against his continued life, and seems to decide he'd rather the latter. He disappears mysteriously just about the same time Iincyo comes walking up.
The closer she gets, the more visibly K''s back tightens. Perhaps mercifully, he doesn't even bother to look at her. In fact, he largely ignores her, other than to grate a brief and somewhat unpromising reply: "No. We're not. You get in my way, it'll be your fault how badly I hurt you."
That said, Iincyo seems to cease to exist to him. His yellow eyes stay fixed on Kyo. He's angry enough-- his pride hurt enough-- that he's almost already in pain just from all the bottled rage. He seems to pull in on himself as Kyo approaches; though he doesn't physically move, there's a distinct sense from him that he's coiling up and chambering back like a rattled snake.
The resentment he bears Kyo is pretty clear. It gets marginally clearer why that resentment exists at all when Kyo is his typical self-- an ass-- and tries to peg K' with a stress ball and a taunt. K''s eyes flick immediately to Kyo's little present as it flits through the air, and though he sees it coming he doesn't bother moving or reacting appreciably. The thing pings off his chest and rolls sadly to a stop in the grass. Someone may later trip on this, and hurt themselves; K' does not seem to care about this potential hazard he has so negligently created.
K' glances down at it. His expression doesn't alter. He glances back at Kyo. His lack of a sense of humor is practically palpable in the air.
"You," he starts calmly enough, "are such an idiot." And then... K' just kind of loses it. His right hand slams forwards in a wide slash, a sudden burst of Kyo's own fire sent searing towards him. The message sent by his complete ignoring of Iincyo and his suddenly-thrown attack is clear: I don't need any god damn help.
Oh. There he is.
Chairperson spots the 'opponent'.. AND HOW! He's currently over there, asleep in the lawn chair, and only until the young woman yells out does he move. "How lazy..." And it seems they just have their power come to them. She trains when she has spare time, and yet what comes of it? Nothing close to a clone, or a warrior of blood! But that doesn't mean she isn't worthwhile! ... Okay , it does to those of K' and Kyo's calibers.
Still, putting a hand on her hip, Iincyo leans a bit as she watches Kyo get up, smugly striding up to the group and then taunt them. She's unaffected, just shaking her head. "I'll try and make it interesting." She 'promises', looking over to Kyo, somewhat less than excited. And then K's called a rookie. And is tossed a bright yellow squishy ball.
Of course this is just not before she's threatened by him and 'getting in his way'. Well. That's the way to be a team player, that's for sure! That's for real too. And as he stays, angry, she refuses to listen to K', arms still crossed. She doesn't ever let that go for the momenht, at least.
That doesn't mean she doesn't aim to help. Some how.
He does, also, need that stress ball that fell on the ground. As K' slams towards Kyo, she sighs, taking a few steps to the side of the green, to watch.
"If you want to beat him, you'll need to NOT be angry! You need to calm down and focus! Otherwise we're both just going to get beaten up!.. and be careful of a counter attack!" She adds.
He's trying, likely, just to get him to be pissed off so K's an easy picking.. or Kyo is just an ass.
She's not sure which that is yet. Maybe both.
COMBATSYS: Iincyo assists K'.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo just-defends K''s Eins Trigger!
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
You know, Kyo put a lot of thought into that gift. No wonder K' doesn't have any friends.
Still, the Kusanagi heir looks more bemused than anything at K''s reaction - or indeed, lack thereof - at the thrown stress ball, until finally his faint confusion melts away into wry amusement. "See, that's why I got that for you. With an attitude like that, you're just gonna get your ass beat." Seriously, while Kyo might not always be a good team player, he /generally/ stops well short of actually threatening people he's partnered up with. But it's going to take more than just words to get the lesson through K''s thick skull, obviously.
Also, Iincyo, the answer is 'both'.
K''s attack is met with a faint shrug from Kyo, who slips back a little and swings out his right hand, meeting those Kusanagi flames with the supposedly Kusanagi flame-proof glove there. Net effect: Pretty much nothing at all!
"C'mon... Seriously?" Kyo wonders, making an underhanded throw motion with his right hand for the second time... Except /this/ time, what Kyo tosses is a seed of flame, more of that orange-crimson fire that splashes against the grass underfoot and hauls ass directly at K'. It also totally burns the grass it comes into contact with, leaving a nice black line on the carefully tended lawn. Whoops. "BURN!!"
COMBATSYS: K' auto-guards Kyo's Yami Barai!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
Iincyo is, so far, staying out of K''s way. This makes him marginally less cranky at her very existence here, especially since he's not really listening to anything she's trying to tell her and therefore can't get pissed off about her presumptuousness in trying to advise him how to fight. He just shoots a glare at her when she talks, seemingly trying to connote 'piss off' through that look alone.
And he looks back in time to see Kyo totally dismiss his attack. "Che..." This isn't the first time Kyo has had critical words for K''s attitude, and like all those other times, K' is just going to happily ignore them. He's too busy seething over how offhandedly his fire got canceled. For a moment, he seems almost to falter.
Then Kyo slings a burst of fire right back at him, and K' instantly reacts. He is familiar with this move, as he is familiar-- via NESTS 'training'-- with all Kyo's various applications of the Kusanagi fire; he mimicks it, poorly and roughly, crashing a burst of his own flames into it and dissipating its momentum through force more than through actual knowledge of how to control the fire.
Recoiling slightly, as surprised as anyone else that that actually worked, he hisses out a breath. Still ignoring Iincyo, poor girl, he abruptly swipes another ring of burning flames, snapping a kick into the gathered fire and sending the mess bolting towards Kusanagi.
Bah. Both means Kyo isn't a friendly person! .. Which is probably not hard to believe, actually. Taking a few steps forwards, she falls into a stance, finally, as if she was truly, truly, ready to fight! And.. Kyo pretty much says everything Iincyo would to K'. There's not much to be said when Kyo is not ONLY denying K' the simple joy of punching him, but also taunting him with his words.
That's harsh.
But then K' prevents anything also. She likes to think, of course, she helped out somehow! .. It might be true. Might. But as the orange-crimson fire splashes against the grass, she winces, looking away.. it looks hot, and painful.
She's sure to feel it soon. Seriously.
But this time, as K' and Kyo clash again .. Iincyo actually moves. Running up towards Kyo's side, Chairperson leaps over a rolling ball, and some of the rungs on the ground, before sending a flying kick towards K'. "WIND STANCE!"
And now, like the wind .. SHE FLIES~!
COMBATSYS: Kyo dodges K''s Second Shoot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
> //////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo counters Wind Stance from Iincyo with Nue Tsumi.
- Power hit! -
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 K'
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Iincyo
That's pretty good, K'! But Kyo doesn't have time to be impressed, he's a bit busy being attacked by two people at once.
K''s return blast of fire is probably the more pressing concern, so naturally Kyo responds by slipping out of the way of the attack, managing to avoid the searing projectile by bare inches. This, unfortunately, brings him quite close to the incoming Iincyo... Which leaves him with very few options in how to deal with her.
Naturally, Kyo being Kyo, he chooses the /awesomest/ one.
The less experienced fighter's outflung foot is caught in Kyo's hand, with a dull SLAP of shoe on gloved flesh, and for a bare heartbeat, the Kusanagi heir regards Iincyo. Maybe he's just going to set her down? Nah that'd be silly. What /actually/ happens is that Kyo suddenly lunges forward with his other fist, punching the chairperson right in the jaw with a ferocious explosion of Kusanagi flames to accompany the strike. "TOO SLOW!!" he taunts as he punches, because he's a jerk.
For a moment, K' almost feels a brief, instinctive flash of sympathy, even for the girl he snarled at so viciously earlier. Why? Because he knows exactly what it is like to be in that kind of situation. But those more altruistic feelings are quick to dissipate, disappearing in his continued indifference to his 'teammate.' The truth is, he would -rather- this be just him and Kyo.
Now, SNF staff had not been unaware of this potential hitch in the match. But any concerns they might have had about what K' might -do- to turn the match into a 1-on-1-- he's hardly known for playing by the rules, after all-- quickly got overruled by the argument, 'It's good for ratings.'
So far, he hasn't done anything terribly unorthodox, which is a surprise; but the fact remains that he wants Kyo to himself, even if it's more for selfish reasons than it is for reasons of distracting Kyo from the more fragile fighter in the mix. And that is what fuels his sudden lunge to seize ahold of Kyo's jacket and yank him off-balance, attempting to drive a harsh blow down right between his shoulderblades: a move that practically has 'PAY ATTENTION TO ME' written all over it.
Of course she's slow. She's still only learning. You say this like she was a trained fighter who's entire job is on the line if she doesn't win this fight.
In the same way though, the foot is caught. Iincyo is stuck in the air for a moment, the other moment, a second later, is when Chairperson gets a BURNING fist into her jaw.
What happens next is simply Chairperson flying away from Kyo, launches from the strike, rolling a bit on the ground, and them smashing her forehead against one of those metal rungs that they use in croquet.
Simply? There's a lot of blood there now. Chairperson is almost certain this will be her last SNF.. if only because they usually involve her bleeding horribly. But she can't think of this for the moment, but her head is nearly cracked open, and her jaw just doesn't feel right. It almost feels like it'll just simply fall off if she speaks.. she with a groan..
She just lays there.
And then pulls herself up to her feet, staggering, before she begins to glow .. light blue. Mainly from the fact she's trying to catch a breath.. as well as just plain /breathe/. She's focusing, hair and somewhat bloodstained jacket whipping gently.. but if anything's been proved, it's simply..
Iincyo isn't really a problem to Kyo.
COMBATSYS: Iincyo gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo auto-guards K''s Spot Pile!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Iincyo
Fact: Kyo talks trash. It's what he does, it's who he is. If he didn't, why, he'd be some boring Ansatsuken guy or something.
Anyway, with Iincyo choosing to hang back for the moment, K' is indeed able to get the attention he so craves, just... Not quite in the way he'd probably prefer. His leather jacket is caught by K', and suddenly Kyo is off-balance... But because of that, the Kusanagi heir is already rolling as K''s elbow comes down, timed well enough that the gene-altered fighter doesn't get nearly the impact he was hoping for, as Kyo rolls with a hit that never quite comes.
Catching himself out of the roll, Kyo twists around quickly, with a rueful shake of his head directed at the NESTS-engineered flamewielder. "Hey, that one was pretty close!" Kyo says, patronisingly, as he lunges at K' and swings his right fist in a hooking punch aimed to catch the dark-skinned young man with both fist and raging Kusanagi flames. If the first one hits, then he steps in and swings down with his other fist to attempt to drive K' into the turf, before dropping low as well and sweeping first one leg then the other in a double kick at his hopefully prone opponent.
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits K' with Aragami.
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Iincyo
How do you know this isn't included among the ways he prefers? After all, to such a spiteful and childish mind, any attention is better than no attention. Even if that attention is, as it is now... really quite painful.
K' can feel his attack going wrong the instant Kyo suddenly drops out from under his intended strike. Put off-balance -himself- by Kyo's sudden snakelike worm out of his range, K' takes a stabilizing step, another-- and braces just in time to get Kyo's punch straight in the face. Put down to the grass with a snarl like a rabid dog, K' takes a couple -more- hits before he can get his wits back enough to twist out of the way.
Spitting blood into the grass, a canine left bared in clear frustration, K' is nonetheless finally compelled to actually snark back when Kyo tosses that patronizing comment. It has to be the Kusanagi DNA; you can't resist the impulse to trash-talk forever. Particularly when Kyo is standing -right there-, a constant irritant grating upon his failed copy's nerves. "Tch. Was that supposed to hurt? I've been hit harder by Howard's priss of a kid..."
Pulling himself to his feet, K' sneers slightly as he swipes blood from his face and slings it to the grass. A somewhat unintended side effect of all his bristling, all his insistences that Kyo focus upon him and him alone? Kyo... might just pay a little less attention to that Iincyo over there.
COMBATSYS: K' assists Iincyo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Iincyo
It's not like Iincyo has ever seen Kyo fight before. Infact, K' and Kyo are mostly unknowns to her... for a reason being. She doesn't pay attention to the fighting ring. It's just not what she does.
And now she is still bleeding as K' and Kyo clash again. 'Hang back for a moment' is a misnomer. It's more like 'hang back for as long as K' is K'. If he doesn't want help, Iincyo won't help .. at least. Not until he learns something. Although she assumes he won't learn anything.
Oh well.
It looks painful, but IIncyo doesn't have to imagine it. She still can't really talk. It hurts to clench her mouth still, much less move anything. And she doesn't think, for the moment, that she really wants to.
What K' does, in the end, is apparently set IIncyo up for a perfect time to attack.. and pay less attention to Iincyo. But in the end, she clings, perhaps a bit persistent, on 'giving K' his fight'.
"I'm sure you can do it on your own!" She calls out, smiling. "I believe in you!" As she continues charging up... But what for!? She just keeps going! Her hair and jacket rippling, as blood begins to finally cake.
What is she not doing? Running at Kyo.
COMBATSYS: Iincyo gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 K'
> /////////////////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
"Big talk from somebody who hasn't touched me yet," Kyo replies to K', wagging a finger in the gene-altered fighter's direction. "So far, you're more boring than that croquet match!"
This comment loses Kyo the support of the spectating and playing croquet demographic, who were naturally inclined in his favour because he's clearly the highest-tier fighter present, and they're British: Elitism is how they roll.
Straightening up a bit, shaking his head ruefully, Kyo lifts his right hand halfway, palm up... Where a flame appears, raging and growing more intense by the second as he collects his own strength. "'course, if you two would rather just stand around and give up, I guess I can appreciate you two giving in to the inevitable..." Or at least prompt them into doing /something/ here, gosh.
COMBATSYS: Kyo gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
> /////////////////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
Crossing his arms, K' just simmers there a second in his own irritation and frustration. No. He -hasn't- touched Kyo yet. And though, realistically, it's already pretty good that Kyo has only hit him once so far, considering his ability comparative to the Kusanagi... that is hardly good enough for K'. There shouldn't have BEEN a gap in ability in the first place. He shouldn't have to fight uphill. His failures then, and his failures now, are why he's what he is. A letter-dash.
"Where," he abruptly starts, eyes narrowing fractionally, "do you think I get it from?" And that... somewhat -strange- insult later, he lets his arms unlace. He walks -towards- Kyo steadily, in spite of that rather alarming and threatening display; and instants later, he lunges into a full-on, reckless leap, trying to snap a sharp kick into that hated face. "Haven't you ever -asked- that...?"
...Is he still talking about the same thing Kyo is?
Actually, the croquet match is rather bully, mate! If you've bothered to look at it, the team is winning only because someone had nearly fallen off his horse, but took a daring swing before he broke his neck.
They're in the lead, and this is one of the most important matches don't you know!
"It's not good to give up." Iincyo remarks, the wind sort of blowing about, before it stops. "Even if you have us beat." Because honestly, K' can't do anything, from what she saw, and she of course can't hold a candle to such a fighting 'legend'.
"I guess you might just be too good. For me, and especially K'." Because it's been downhill since the start! It's true. They've been locked in battle, but only Kyo actually has made it out. Stepping forwards, she looks like she's going to do something. She really does. BUT WILL SHE?
perhaps asking for pain, Iincyo rushes towards Kyo as well, but as K' goes for a reckless leap, Iincyo aims to grab one of Kyo's arms and twist, first sliding forwards, and then digging it from around him to put the hurt on .. which will be more like a gnat, than not.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks K''s Minutes Spike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Iincyo's Morote Seoi Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
Suddenly, Kyo is once again the focus of attention! Concentrating as he is on drawing out power, there's no chance he can really avoid the two attacks without compromising his position... If he could even manage it right now. Instead, Kyo stands his ground, stopping K''s kick with one forearm despite a resounding and painful thud as booted foot meets jacketed forearm, and while Iincyo does manage to grab and twist his other arm... She doesn't really manage to put the hurt on otherwise, Kyo's strength and expertise stopping it cold.
"See, that's what's wrong with you, K'," Kyo says, despite the awkwardness of his position. "You whine and bleat and moan, and blame all your problems on other people." Mostly on him; people do that a lot to Kyo. "You've got power, and all you can do is complain. Try something else for a change!" Kyo shouts, starting to swing his other, begrappled, arm out. "TRY TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE!"
And that's how Kyo swung Chairperson at K' like a bludgeon.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Kyo's Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 K'
> ////////////////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
K' drops off Kyo the moment he's guarded against, landing heavily and sinking to a slump: not because of tiredness, not because he's wounded, but because the weight of his own rage and Kyo's words combined is just too heavy for his shoulders. Head down, seemingly cowed, staring at the ground, K' just lets Kyo berate him like the older brother Kusanagi practically is to him. For a moment, it doesn't even seem like he'll react when Iincyo gets smashed towards him.
But he does. In the last few moments, he stops the swung Iincyo... and he does it with his metal-gloved hand, not trying to soften his block in the least. In fact, he even defends in a deliberately cruel manner, neither trying to catch her nor protect her from the repercussions of slamming into him so hard.
Yeah, he -heard- that comment from her.
Whether Kyo drops her or not in the wake of that, whether something else happens... he doesn't care. Kyo talks about control, about him having power, and all it really gets is a strangled kind of laugh. He's too busy letting his temper bleed into corporeal shape to really listen, rage blazing to life in the form of flames to match Kyo's own; in short order, all that fire bursts and K' claws blindly at Kyo in a sharp uppercutting blow, twisting hard with a hiss of flames. "Like WHAT? I HAVE no control! You're in a great fucking position to preach to me... but you don't know shit."
Sad thing is, even if Kyo asked K' what he expected him to do about it, K' wouldn't really have an answer. Most of what he does, he does trying to prove something to himself.
As she grabs ahold of Kyo's arm, twisting it .. it's more or less stopped before anything can actually be twisted... did he even feel it? It's unlikely!
But as IIncyo does her best, aiming to twist.. not giving up.. that's when Kyo swings his other arm out. Perhaps you should take a moment to look at this. It's important. Being swung at K', Chairperson doesn't even take a SECOND to relax, continually trying to twist Kyo's arm behind his back. THUD.
That's the sound of Iincyo holding onto Kyo's arm while hitting K' as she's swung. It's not a nice sound, but she grits. The metal gloved hand slams into her striking her, as she's stopped.. she also loses her breathe of air. It's a painful stop. She doesn't wonder why for.. she struggles to get free, and eventually slips out of Kyo's grip.. because Iincyo is tired of just being tossed around. What she aims now .. will either fail incredibly hard, or be something Kyo wouldn't expect.
She dives to the side, out of K''s way as he attracts attention, and then causes a light blue glow to go around her .. before she pushes herself.. and makes it even darker, rushing towards the back of Kyo's calves, slamming a heel deceptively fast towards Kyo.
If it strikes.. it might open him up.
Otherwise? ... She might worsen their situation. "If you only tried fighting WITH me and not against me .. maybe we could co-ordinate! I'm not that strong .. but I'll prove something!" She launches in...
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks K''s Crow Bite.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo endures Iincyo's Lecture Attack!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kyo 1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Iincyo
He's .. not opened up, but at the same time, she flings herself towards Kyo. Completely. "All he's doing .. ALL HE'S DOING!" She cries out, running at Kyo, thrusting a foot against his leg.. and thus opening him up for the next few shots.. while she TALKS.
"All I've been seeing .. is you simply .. AGREEING with what he says about you .. but he's right .. You're unable to be helped!" She strikes towards Kyo, two palm strikes, chi laced, one thrusting towards his back, the other to his side.
"But at the same time.. you need to watch your mouth!" She cries to Kyo. Twisting around him and slamming a palm up towards his chin, before slamming a final kick towards his stomach .. it's probably not all that much. "You're not helping any either!" .. Then she staggers backwards. Catching her breathe, hands on her knees and everything.
Once again though, K' just can't get past Kyo's guard, as the Kusanagi scion gets his arms in the way of the blow, deflecting the worst of it. This places Kyo in a tricky situation once again though, as he's being sandwiched between two opponents, so when Iincyo kicks him in the back of the leg, he just goes with it.
Staggered by the first hit, he's pretty well open for the rest of the strikes, staggering and then getting twisted around by the Chairperson - all the better - the final kick skidding him back a good foot and a half. 'Not much' maybe, but... It's more than either has managed to accomplish against Kyo previously in this match.
"He needs to wake up and take responsibility for himself," Kyo says, and that's pretty rich coming from him, but whatever. With great power comes what, again? But it's hardly KYO's fault that K''s situation is the way it is. He should go blame some scientist or something.
Meanwhile, Kyo has an opening to exploit, as he suddenly lunges at Iincyo and swings his left fist in a powerful haymaker, laced with his trademark Kusanagi flames; if the first punch hits, then Kyo steps in and swings his other fist up in a fiery arc to backfist Iincyo in the jaw, twisting with his momentum to turn the movement into a rising shoulder block - again with the flames - to take the girl into the air with him and blast her away. "SO BACK OFF!!"
On some level, perhaps K' knows Kyo isn't to blame for anything that has happened to him. No more than K' could stop it from happening to him, Kyo couldn't help being someone with power NESTS wanted. But if K' does know that, it's a thought sealed deep in lines of thought he doesn't even explore: and he's certainly acting completely in spite of it. All he really knows is that he woke up a blank slate, three years ago, and he was the way he was because of Kyo.
He thinks once he was told that he wouldn't even have been woken up at all if he hadn't been close enough to Kusanagi. He would have gotten trashed. Denied entirely. He thinks somebody said that. His memory isn't all that good.
He was made to be like Kyo, and failed for not being close enough. He might have escaped NESTS, but he doesn't know any better than to try and continue validating his existence according to their template. And he's just not coming close to what he was supposed to be. No matter the efforts he expends, he still isn't effective in the least, and he's starting to wonder if this is where he caps off; if this is the limit of what he can achieve given his imperfection.
It's a lot to think about, but it doesn't distract him so much that he doesn't recognize Kyo's total hypocrisy when it happens. "Like you know shit about responsibility," he snaps back, albeit a bit windedly. Coughing a harsh breath, he swipes blood from his face and tries to control his anger: tries to focus it towards some sort of constructive purpose. He might not know how to clear his mind of rage in order to increase efficacy, but he knows how to seize it by the throat and make it work for him to some degree.
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
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Kyo 1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Iincyo with Dokugami.
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 K'
> ////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Iincyo
It might be. It might be. But then Chairperson, breathing heavily, gets a look at Kyo as he rushes in. There's nothing she can do .. nothing .. she can do?
No. There has to be. She forces herself to move. Forces something, but her legs don't move like she does, or wants them too, and her arms don't raise.. and Kyo is lunging towards her, a powerful haymaker that strike's twice, the girl being tossed up, from the force, before the backfist, being raised into the air and then blasted away.
What goes up, comes down. Bleeding rather badly..and her landing was bad as well. She slammed her back into a ball, the pain is immense.. so why does she stand up again? Unlike the others.. she has nothing she can easily do to change it .. but she'll try to. "Hah... If he . doesn't want help .. I'll still at least help him .. Unless he just makes me .. unable to anymore.... nothing you can do will make me back off now.." Except jab punch her.
And then she falls back into a stance, hair, and jacket, billowing.
She hits that mark one more time.
COMBATSYS: Iincyo gathers her will.
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 K'
> /////// ]
|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Iincyo
In a way, you know, Kyo admires Iincyo's resolve. He knows that not everybody is as naturally gifted with strength and talent and pure awesome sauce as he is - indeed he likes to point this out whenever possible - but if there's anything that he WILL respect in mere mortals, it's balls. Uh... Not the literal kind though. Moxy. Gumption! And if Iincyo has nothing else, she has those in spades.
However, as Kyo is a professional fighter and this is a /fight/, 'respect' translates to 'hitting them hard'.
So Kyo lets out a faint chuckling laugh at Iincyo's declaration, choosing to ignore K' for the moment as he rushes at the girl and ducks low, twisting to drive his shoulder at the Chairperson in a brutal short-range tackle, trying to take Iincyo off of her feet... And out of the fight. "HUAA-!!"
K' watches Kyo go after Iincyo. There's a kind of eerie stillness to him now, a kind of blank dispassion. It's as if all his anger had just burnt completely out. The truth? That rage hasn't gone anywhere. He's just sharpened it hair-thin, and turned it edge-forwards until it disappeared entirely.
He doesn't understand the girl enough to bear quite the respect for her that Kyo has grudgingly given. He has the sense of humor of a turnip, and almost no awareness of the existence of altruism or kindness in the hearts of men (or Chairpersons). It's not like he's felt much of either in his life, and there never was a lot to laugh about. As for her resolve in the face of adversity? That's been so totally and completely K''s life in its entirety-- a constant uphill struggle-- that he doesn't really recognize this as any kind of extraordinary showing.
This entire fight tastes bitter in the back of his throat, every expenditure of energy made with the knowledge that there's a third person present skewing his perceptions of his performance. But K' has nothing else but his pride and his word, and as such he usually tends to finish-- for better or worse-- that which he begins.
Besides, at the moment, he isn't wasting much time on philosophical thought. He's waiting-- and the moment for which he was waiting comes soon enough. The instant Kyo leaves any kind of perceptible opening K' attacks abruptly, closing the distance, attempting to break Kyo in half over a sharp ram of the knee: choosing moments with the precision of a crow picking out an eye.
COMBATSYS: Iincyo interrupts Strong Punch from Kyo with Lecture Attack.
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 K'
> / ]
|=====--\-------\0 Iincyo
COMBATSYS: Iincyo can no longer fight.
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 K'
As Kyo laughs, Iincyo gets up, readying herself. She knows she wouldn't have a chance. But then. She wants him to think she's a target.
It'll make her next assaults all the better.
She knows it's all she can do. If anything .. this will make it hurt less. The second Kyo rushes towards the girl, ducking low and aiming to drive his shoulder into Kyo.. that blue aura bursts up again, surrounding her, thick as it can get.
But this time, it's up to her to decide how it goes. The shoulder slams into her, but she rolls over him, sweeping him off his feet, slamming a heel into him, and then slamming her palms over and over into him as hard as she can, while she talks.
"Hah.. Even if you're stronger... if I'm not fast enough .. I'll have to make up for it! And even if he's not as good as you..... Well then .. I'll only give him .. One last push! He might not need this help .. but if he does, at least maybe you're .. you're... "
Her attacks slow .. and finally her will cracks.
She just falls over, laying on the ground, bleeding. The attacks had stopped slowly, and her speech as well.
It wasn't much of a lecture.. but she's been knocked around alot.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks K''s Knee Strike.
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Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 K'
Fact: Kyo totally walked into that one.
Sure, he takes out Iincyo and thus, theoretically, makes the rest of the fight easier on himself... But the girl manages to dole out some harshness in the process, battering him again with a series of blows and hurtful words. Well, maybe not so much hurtful words. But he gets knocked around, knocked down and stomped on and stuff, but the assault from Iincyo dies off just in time for Kyo to roll over to a crouching position, his expression a bit bewildered... And /then/ turn to stop K''s knee with the palm of one hand.
"Sup," Kyo says to his 'copy', before proceeding to burst into flame. Except, instead of what everyone is probably expecting to happen in this situation, a column of orange-crimson Kusanagi flames erupts from the ground, possibly engulfing K' as well, as Kyo begins to execute another punching combination, while /on fire/, battering at the gene-altered fighter with fearsome blows. "This is... THE FIST OF THE KUSANAGI!!" Kyo bellows as he attacks, his voice oddly distorted inside the fiery inferno.
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits K' with Mu Shiki.
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Kyo 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 K'
Totally walking into things appears to be part of the Kusanagi DNA. Case in point...
K' gets completely stopped again by Kyo. There is a moment in which the stark astonishment is clear in his eyes, the look almost wounded, but he isn't surprised for long. The look soon dissolves, K' wrenching out of Kyo's grasp and backing slowly away. It's stupid to be surprised. This is to be expected. Kyo might have made some cursory effort to talk some sort of sense into K', but all he really succeeds in doing is reminding K' why he was too much of a mistake to deserve a name.
Too rattled to defend himself, whatever K' might have done to protect himself from Kyo's prompt rebuttal gets quickly and decisively torn through. The pain of the fire is a familiar sort of pain, the landed strikes not really the absolute -worst- he's felt; but the fact they come from Kyo makes them hurt about ten times more than anything else he's experienced. He folds like a bad poker hand, letting go a long, hitched, and soaked breath. Stepping back, he retreats awkwardly, trailing blood like a bird with a wing half-ripped off.
He sobs a couple breaths, shoulders sloped, head dipped. It's anyone's guess what's going through his mind, but the reality of it is... not much. This is proven handily enough in the next instant, when he suddenly convulses back into a movement as instinctive as a beheaded wolf snapping its dead jaws shut.
K' has almost no native chi of his own, his original self never born to fight, but what chi he -does- have he long since learned to use to achieve crushing speed. He forces it into action now to close the distance and blur a stunning strike at the center of Kyo's chest; any meaningful connection of the blow with the Kusanagi heir, and K' sinks into that familiar, maddened sequence Kyo has felt before, a ripping assault of punishing attacks that concludes in a blast of focused fire.
COMBATSYS: Kyo counters Chain Drive from K' with Nue Tsumi.
- Power hit! -
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Kyo 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
As the column of flame dissipates, a circle of black seared into the turf of the croquet field, Kyo stands tall even while K' folds, the last vestiges of flame slowly fading on his form. "You /really/ need to practice more," Kyo taunts as he stands there, but insensate as he is, K' probably doesn't notice... Especially since by that point, the NESTS-created flamewielder is already closing on the natural model with terrifying speed. Indeed, Kyo's been on the bad end of this once before.
But that day and today... They're very different days.
That initial, stunning strike is suddenly deflected as Kyo turns a bit and thrusts his hand down across his body, at which point the Kusanagi heir reverses his own momentum, and applies K''s against himself, by twisting the other way and throwing his second hand up in a vicious uppercut at the side of K''s neck and jaw, an eruption of Kusanagi flames accompanying the thunderous impact as he tries to end the fight with something of an exclamation point. "YOU THINK THE SAME THING WILL WORK TWICE ON ME?!"
K' tastes blood. Not for the first time today. He's hit so hard by Kyo's abrupt reversal that for a few moments the white noise is knocked out of his mind and there's nothing but an empty, buzzing clarity left, and in that timeframe he rewinds trying to find the point where he went wrong. He stepped too far into it. He waited too long. He threw it carelessly, committed to it too much, and now he was paying for whatever misjudgment he made (of course, there was one). He skids to one side, stumbling blankly, tries to stabilize himself and ends up folded, barely braced upright, in pain and exhaustion alike.
He was so angry the physical pain of his complete fury had long since supplanted the hurt of Kyo's abuse, the damage he had taken long since faded to a distant hum. The taste of his own defect and inadequacy was a sharper agony than anything any outside influence could inflict. He might be an amnesiac, but he still has three years' worth of bad memories of which this can remind him. Three years of being a mistake, a nuisance, somebody with a letter instead of a name and an empty cell instead of parents. Somebody who got shuffled from place to place, alternately kept locked up for lack of anything to use him for, and let out for trivial throwaway tasks they told him 'were within the scope of his limited ability.'
K' doesn't have a response to Kyo's question nor his taunt. Not at first, anyway. He just stands there, his breathing regular and ragged with blood. He looks quiet, kind of beaten, like he couldn't move anymore if he tried. In reality, he's just ticking.
When he goes off, it's suddenly. K' breaks and breaks hard, the only thing keeping him from even wilder abandon the dim consciousness of countless eyes. "Shut up and GO!" The snarl is punctuated by a forward lunges at Kyo-- a hitched, blindly malevolent movement-- K' unable in his state to do much more than emit a blast of flames in a blind expression of violent hatred, and voice his frustration in agonized threats. "Go home, Kusanagi. Go home to your family and your life. Get out of my sight."
K' crumbles. He hisses out a long breath, his voice subdued to a grate if only because the alternative is letting it come out a howl. "You presence makes me sick."
COMBATSYS: K' can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kyo fails to interrupt Eins Trigger from K' with 182 Shiki.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/-----==|
When the burst of flames is sent his way again, Kyo unfortunately tries to get fancy. He pulls back for a moment, and there's a sudden surge of invisible chi energy, but in the end his attempt to punch /through/ K''s flames just ends with his getting burned. He staggers back, recoiling, but... He stays up, not quite hurt enough to fall down, even though he /really/ walked into that one.
Well, lunged into. But that's not the point!
"You're an idiot, K'." Kyo says finally, his tone colder than usual, straightening himself up and brushing his dark brown bangs out of his face. "You wanna blame all your problems on me? Fine. Get in line, chump. Lots of people want to take a crack at big mean ol' Kyo Kusanagi 'cause he made their lives a living hell by the grave sin of being born. But you know what?" At this, he extends his right fist towards K', and turns it thumb-down, extending that digit. "If you're a loser, that's your own fault. Blaming me won't make you suck less. Try putting your sad mix tapes away for a week or two and /doing something about it/ instead of pissing and moaning, and hey, maybe you'll notice a difference."
But, indeed, Kyo does turn and start to walk away. After all, he's already won, decisively. "Thing is," he adds, over his shoulder. "I don't think it's /my/ presence that you've got such a problem with."
COMBATSYS: Kyo has ended the fight here.
K' just stares narrowly through Kyo's berating words, and when Kusanagi is done and turns to leave, he watches him go. He doesn't say anything back, and it's really debatable how much of it got through. He got what he wanted; Kyo is leaving.
But still, it seems Kyo won in more than one way here. He already guessed at K''s problems even more thoroughly than K' himself. It's not really Kyo that K' is angry with, though the guy is a convenient proxy for that uncontrollable and overwhelming dissatisfaction he feels: especially for such an immature, uninformed, and young mind as K''s. And it doesn't take all that much thought to figure out who the real target is.
And who knows, maybe K' might actually take a minute to -think- over things. Or maybe he'll run into somebody who can beat this lesson in more effectively than Kyo-- the focal point of his confused, aimless anger-- can. However...
"It's not all my own fault," he tells himself tiredly, under his breath. That much, at the least, he isn't letting go of.
Log created on 16:09:31 03/01/2008 by K', and last modified on 14:17:50 03/06/2008.