Neo League 601 - #619: Hotaru vs Oswald

Description: On the lawn of the Futaba Mansion, one rampaging Kenpo artist faces off against the enigmatic Oswald. Much to her surprise, it seems he has take a personal interest in her ... predicament. It takes the experienced combination of power - through control - to best the aggressive girl as the veteran fighter seeks to show the confused Hotaru a new path. ( Winner: Oswald ) ( Bonus desc: [OOC] Oswald says, "I feel like goddamn Andrew Ryan from Bioshock going 'A MAN COMMANDS AND A SLAVE OBEYS' while getting my head smashed in with a golf club." )



Up until recent weeks, Hotaru had hardly ever stepped foot on the large, lavish property that is the Futaba estate. Though she is the sole heir of the fortune financing the mansion and surrounding acerage, the girl had taken up residence at the Kyokugen Dojo where she had been undergoing intense training the last half a year or more. Almost embarrassed by the finances she had come into position of by the disappearance of her family, she never spoke of the property to anyone, nor spent much if any time at it.

In recent weeks, however, she has been here more than anywhere else. Not even the peaceful Philanthorpy Chapel church yard has seen much of her attention as of late. No time for flower gardening or peaceful meditation in the antiquated church hall down the road, also owned by the estate; instead she has been lurking behind the high, brick walls surrounding the mansion, never venturing off the property except for necessary school classes and to show up for her scheduled fights. Obessed with her performance in combat, nothing else seems to merit her attention in the least.

It's hard to say how exactly the match came to be scheduled here. Her fight against Roberto was in her family dojo, the girl seeming to think it important to carry on her family's legacy of being undisputedly powerful martial artists by doing a demonstration in the Futaba dojo where she was trained growing up. This time, however, the match is in front of the expensive mansion. Lighting has been set up, cameras placed, crews milling about around the edges of the cordoned off area.

Seated on the stone rim of the water fountain, Hotaru sits quietly, hands resting on her lap, her expression somber. No one else of the estate appears to be outside. Any helpstaff or servants must still be inside the large home. The young fighter is dressed in the same blue and white Chinese styled pants, shirt, and vest her opponent would have seen her in the last time they faced off; the only difference to be found is in how she has left her hair down, the childish pig-tails that used to be a signiture style of hers having been found distasteful as of late by the girl determined to be taken more seriously.

He recognized the photo in the text message on his phone. Hotaru Futaba, he had fought against her in a 3person free for all at the end of the last year. Her and another woman... Whip... perhaps? Memory was a tad foggy.
Strange, it's not often that a fight card is included with a warning tag and a option to decline. Furrowed brow greets the attachment and warning of 'unusually high degree of post-fight wounds' and a general warning about undue lack of concern for participant concern. A slow groan of concern creeps out of him as he pauses, fingers over the keyboard on the little device, a single light blinking as it waits for the response.
With a little 'beep' and press of his thumb, Oswald dismisses the warning and pockets the phone, closing his eyes for a moment and crossing his arms. He's actually not far from the Futaba Estate, leaning up against a utility pole, hat pushed down on his brow as he tries to figure out just what is going on. When he last saw her, she was a flighty thing... like a sparrow... energetic and lively... even pleasant when she wasn't in the process of trying to make you at one with her fists. But now the videos and fight reports show her as some sort of double blind, near-berserker killer. It was unnerving.
Oswald was a hell of an investigator, collecting intelligence for Ireland's sake for over twenty years makes a good researcher out of a man. There was a trail of blood and broken bodies that lead some some event a few months ago...
"He accepted." Someone from the League fight crew speaks up as they finish up the setting, no doubt signalling inadvertantly to Hotaru that the fight indeed was going down. Behind the scenes, Oswald was already on his way, walking into the estate grounds and taking a moment to remove his hat, putting it on top of one of the many statues and such about, placing it atop of perhaps a gargoyle's head before stepping forward further and starting to remove his overjacket, leaving his trademark crimson shirt and amber tie beneath to be visible.
The dress was the same but her face was different. From behind the crimson shades, the Irishman blinks hard, and narrows his eyes, taking a deep breath before pulling his gloves from the back pocket of his pants and slipping them on.
"Hotaru Futaba." He states flatly as he comes to a stop from where the young girl sits upon the stone edge of the fountain, standing straight and square, offering a gentleman's bow in a rather knightly gesture, "It has been a long time. Are you well?" The question was rhetorical really, it wasn't exactly hard for anyone in the know to figure out that something was despreately wrong - and while he couldn't yet pinpoint the source - he knew about when it started. Little more.

"I knew he would." the young fighter speaks up when confirmation of Oswald's participation is given. She remembered him well from the SNF atop a swinging park pendulum some weeks ago. Cool, efficient, very skilled... a man didn't get that way by running away from anything that might be a high risk encounter. The girl remains seated, hands resting folded in her lap as she stares absently toward the driveway or the entrance gate from off the sidewalk, the only two probable ways by which one could approach.

She doesn't have to wait long, however, as Oswald steps within the walls of the Futaba estate. She doesn't move immediately, waiting for him to approach her and offer a very formal European bow. Blue eyes, distant and unkind, regard the veteran fighter coolly. From out of obscurity he had started to make quite the name for himself in fighting circles the last few months. Now it was her chance to see how she compared, without that meddlesome crazy woman interferring.

"I am." she states in response to his inquiry to her well-being, the words spoken without much feeling behind them - an irrelevant answer to an irrelevant question in the Futaba girl's mind. "I hope you came prepared." she continues, rising to her feet, her arms resting against her side. Over a foot shorter than he, the girl looks up into his face with all the defiance she can muster, eyes fixated on his tinted glasses before skimming of the rest of his features. There's something about him, she ponders. How DOES one get to be like him?

"I admit, I had never heard of you when we last fought, but since then..." Well, let's just say Oswald has been both a regular contender in the NL as well as very popular Agent of Chaos in Howard's broadcast venues. A faint hint of a smile curls the edge of her lip, a clue to some secret amusement that she seems to keep to herself. "Well, I trust this will be worth it for the both of us." Her hands reach up, unclasping an ankle length blue overcoat before shedding the expensive, gold-trimmed garment and tossing it indifferently over her shoulder onto the grass.

Clasping her hands behind her back, Hotaru turns to walk several paces away from Oswald, head bowed in quiet thought. Finally she stops and whirls around, hands coming up in a ready stance, one foot more forward than the other. A quiet inhale and exhale marks the completion of her preparation. When they last fought she was flighty, quick on her feet, even down to the stance she had adopted. This time, however, she seems to show no intentions of going anywhere. "Let us begin then," the girl states.

"I strike from obscurity." Oswald responds flatly, and in a sense the fact she was responding with such an unfeeling tone made her come off as just a little heartless, just a little soulless. What a change for the soulful girl, "I am not surprised you had not heard of me, I wasn't... in the light back then."

As Hotaru states about his preparedness and tosses the jacket aside, Oswald nods quietly, not responding in word - he would answer her question in action instead. By the time she would turn around, Oswald would already be in his unusual fighting stance; profile to Hotaru, closest arm down, furthest arm up and arched above him almost like some sort of scorpion, eyes narrow, focused on the ground as his shoulders rise and fall with a single and deeply cleansing breath.

He seems tense yet at ease, at the ready yet his body is strangely relaxed and fluid. Hands aren't clenched, fingers are lightly splayed. It may even be feasable to say that his heartrate is soldly under control as well. "Well then... " He states low and in a slow, quiet breath, "Ladies first."

COMBATSYS: Oswald has started a fight here on the left meter side.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Hotaru


"Hn," is the only response he gets as he remarks on not having been in the light. A grunt of acknowledgement, little more. Barely a less rude way of muttering 'that's nice' without saying just that. Just like the last time she faced him, she finds his stance a little unnerving, unable to match it up against any particular style she had faced before. In the past she had relied heavily on out guessing her opponents, staying one precarious split second ahead of them in order to scrape by. Now she doesn't quite care so much. She can dish it out well enough that hit and run tactics have not been too important to her as of late.

Her hands become clenched into small fists, a shift in emphasis from the open palmed strikes she focused on in the past. "Very well," comes the recognition of his invitation that she get them started off with something to begin with. A side glance is cast toward one of the cameras before she focuses back on Oswald, "Whatever your pride may say to the contrary, there is no reason to get greviously injured in this match. I won't hold back, but I have no reason to fight beyond the duration of this bout." Perhaps a certain amount of concern for her opponents' well being has worked its way into her psyche recently.

The warning offered, the girl switches to the offense, charging forward, leap at Oswald from a short distance out in an attempt to catch him near the neck with her forearm and spin herself in behind him, bringing her other arm up to clasp her first. She may be shorter than Oswald by a fair amount, but if she manages to get a grip and hang behind his neck, though her feet may not reach the ground, she can still put the squeeze on him!

COMBATSYS: Oswald dodges Hotaru's Quick Throw.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Hotaru


By god she was fast...

Just as the sound of the padding feet take to his ears, his head turns quick in a snap glance toward the blue-haired girl as she charges in and leaps forward with that arm outstretched. It's a grazing step aside as he shifts over to the left as she becomes airborne, and stepping forward, cutting off the expected range for the leap - getting deep into her strike zone.

"You have changed." He states bluntly as his lower arm comes up to aim to palm her face as he shifts his shoulders forward starting to put his weight into the palming and push, "...it is not for the better." He states it in a matter-of-fact kind of way as he tries to get a good, firm grip, aiming to use it to drive her shoulders and head down to the ground from her leap in mid air, wanting to use her own momentum against her in a single, powerful rush of force...

COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Oswald's Medium Throw.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Hotaru


"I have," the girl snaps, spinning around in mid-air as her attempt at hooking his neck with her arm fails. It leaves her facing Oswald as the taller fighter reaches out for her face, giving her a chance to twist out of the way and finish her landing, feet sliding a good yard through the grass before coming to a stop, crouching forward slightly to counterbalance the speed with which she landed, arms out at her sides.

"And how would you know," she continues, responding to the second half of his observation. "You don't even know me. You've never seen me outside of one previous match!"

Immediately she's back on the offense, springing out of the crouch in order to barrel toward him; only to slip into a slide as she draws near, taking advantage of the lack of firm traction the grassy lawn provides. The target is Oswald's shin, though if she connects, she'll finish by spinning into a follow up sweep to try and take his other ankle out from under him.

COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Oswald with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -

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Oswald           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Hotaru


"You think I have to /see/ you to learn about you?" one eyebrow crooks over the other from behind the crimson spectacles as the girl lands and balances herself, giving Oswald the time to let his head slink to the opposite side, giving her a sort of sideways glance, the elder fighter giving a single hop back as the girl rushes forward, to try and give him time to register what was to come.

A kick... his mind races with the strange calculation of odds.

It's a shift in his stance, and he tries to step inwards again to remove that target from her kick but instead leaves himself prone to the opposite leg- and getting a good, full collision with her foot. There's a deep snarl, and a sharp inhale as he leans to side just a tad, but still is upright, trying his best to stay in motion through the sharp snap of the kick. "Everyone knows you, Hotaru." He shifts hard to the left now, in to where the leg came from and giving a sudden crouch low, drawing a card from a sleeve with a quick, flighty motion as he comes in for a toe-to-crown slash, "Now I'm about to learn more!"

COMBATSYS: Hotaru endures Oswald's Diamond.

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Oswald           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0           Hotaru


"Do they now," the girl remarks, coming out of her sweep but remaining in a crouch for a moment. "They sure don't seem to as of late." Her right fist flares to life, a spiraling red-orange aura entwined around her forearm and coming to a pointed end a little ways out beyond her fist.

In comes the card slash but the girl is already rising up into the deceptively sharp attack, the edge of the weapon slicing at an angle cross her blue and gold vest, ripping through cloth and flesh in the process. But she doens't seem to care, doesn't seem to mind. It's all worth it if she can simply land this, her forbidden technique, her answer to everything as of late.

"Maybe you should learn," she continues slamming her left hand forward to draw Oswald's defenses off to the side just a little, before the real attack comes, her right fist crashing forward with frightful power, "...that you have no idea how much stronger I am now!"

Should she get contact, the discharge of chi will be savage. Unlike the pure force with which she struck in fights past, this energy is piercing, slashing, striking out with intent to skewer directly into the man's chest before exploding with a painful discharge - loaded with the kind of force that could easily knock a fighter clean off his feet if caught unprepared. "HAAAAH!"

COMBATSYS: Oswald fails to reflect Satsujinken EX from Hotaru with Heart.

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Oswald           0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0           Hotaru


One good tear deserves another. As that skyward slash lands, and Hotaru comes into her strike, Oswald was in course of a twist. His fingers flit the card to hold it taut between thumb and middle finger as he moves to place the front end of the thing thing upon the fist of Hotaru as it comes toward him at full force.

But he was not in time, as the energy flares out before he can prime the card's chi and returns the favor of ruined clothing to the Cardshark, sending him indeed careening a good six feet away, and onto his back. And he stays down for a moment.

"Well...spoken." He admits. Well spoken and well timed with her strike at that as he stays prone for a moment, eyes shut as his hands clench around the grass, "You are indeed powerful. There is no doubt in that. But at what cost?"

His head lifts from the ground as he brings himself to his feet but staying low in crouch now, "What part of you was corroded to allow the seal that kept this beast hidden break? What cost did this have, Hotaru." The leather in his gloves creaks as he reaches up to pluck the glasses from his face, tossing them aside liberally, now staring at the 'Soulful' girl with the piercing gaze of his red eyes.

"What part of you died and allowed this monster to take its place?"

Oswald isn't the only one to lose his footing as a result of the powerful blast as Hotaru stumbles backward, her arms out at her sides, her hair blown behind her for a moment before it all comes to rest, the glow in her right arm faded at last. Maybe that demonstration will silence him. Maybe now he'll know the futility of trying to call into question her strength now.

As the taller fighter gets back to his feet, however, his response isn't what she had expected. Acknowledging her power rather than denying it, recognizing the destructive force under her control... or perhaps controlling her instead. But then comes the question - a question asked by others, such as Frei when the two battled in what was supposed to be a peaceful church yard in Southtown Village, a special place to Hotaru's on deceased mother. What cost? What was the price? Nothing is for free.

The glasses are tossed aside and her blue eyes meet his red irises intensely, hands clenched into fists in front of her as she doesn't relax her stance in the slightest. So now her power is a beast, is it? Her strength a monster? Her teeth clenched, Hotaru glares back at Oswald, right forearm trembling slightly, muscles still tense after the release of such a brutal attack. "The WEAK part," she hisses back, her tone full of anger, no effort made to keep it hidden. "The part that was afraid, jealous about how strong others could be but I could not... The part that would have denied me my rightful power as a Futaba... The part that would had shamed my father and brother for years."

She leans forward slightly then begins to charge, picking up her pace, "That's the part that died." She leaps into him from a little ways out, attempting to drive her shoulder into Oswald before twisting into a double palm press toward his stomach. "And good riddance!!"

COMBATSYS: Oswald blocks Hotaru's Strong Punch.

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Oswald           0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Hotaru


"Weak? Look at you. What you gained in power you lost in control!" He sneers openly, chest heaving with a heavy breath as he tries to soldier through the blast he had met last, large part of his shirt singed, tie rather pockmarked by slashes of chi. The man's shoulders square back as he keeps his gaze hard upon Hotaru's as she speaks, and slowly but surely the picture was starting to grow clear. His decisions would probably cause him to lose the match, but maybe, just maybe he could succeed in ulterior ways.
As the double palm press comes in, his arms bunch in and he braces hard, absorbing the hit with a grunting rush of air from his lungs as she strikes in, making his arm buckle just a tad. The strike makes him move a tad, though his foot is well anchored... but almost like she was suddenly punching into thick clay, her fist begins to give as his body briefly goes relaxed and twists aside.
With a full turn three-sixty, he brings an arm up to clinch at her head while the other elbow comes in with the full force of his turn, aiming for her head. "Why do you hunger for that power? Who consumes what in this pairing, Futaba?"

COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Oswald with Hakki Shou.

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Oswald           1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1           Hotaru


Her two strikes fail to leave much of an impact as Oswald reacts to them with flawless skill in mitigating the force of the blows. But Hotaru isn't finished, her right hand drawing back in preparation for another strike, her forearm once again ablaze with chi, this time a less unsightly, calming blue, mirroring the color of her eyes.

But Oswald's timing proves to be just quick enough, his one arm blocking her head from being slipped out of the way as Hotaru starts to slam her head forward. She seems oblivious to the implication until it's far too late, however, his other arm smacking her in the side of the head with his elbow, the jarring impact enough to completely diffuse the next chi blast that was coming in to impact the older fighter.

So rattled by the strike to her head, Hotaru stumbles backward, eyes blinking as she tries to clear her vision and get a fix back on Oswald in order to watch out for what might come next. "I-," she begins to protest, trying to make sense of his words over the ringing in her ears. "I am still mastering it. It's only a matter of time!" she continues, her voice picking up volume as she regains her focus on Oswald.

"I will have all the help I need to-" she continues before stopping short, her mouth clamping shut in the midst of making an admission she had no intention to make. Her promised secret tutor, the monster that has offered to teach her how to drive this power... she can't tell anyone else. No one would understand.

Oswald stayed in the wide stance post-elbow, body still frozen in that twisted state as if to freeze that moment in Hotaru's mind, letting it linger, letting the silence permeate her slip of the tongue. "...made a pact with a devil, Futaba?" He says quietly, just loud enough for her to hear through her ringing ears, nary a whisper from the closed-eyed Irishman.

"Power without control consumes. Where is your center? Where is your balance?" He slowly 'unwinds' back to stand, almost like a clockwork construct as he snaps right back into his strange fighting stance, shoulders raising and giving a slow, controlled breath out, "Your flying free to the four winds, unable to see the sky or ground, lashing out at everything around you as if the world was full of hate. I see what you're learning now. I understand clearly."

There's a flare of darkness in his eyes, a moment of pure black that overtakes the crimson pupils in his eyes as the pulse of darkness then sweeps up and inks his hair before forming a flare and pulse of sight-drenching darkness, almost as if it was hypnosis causing him to vanish from her eye...

"Hotaru Futaba... Power does not come before control... for only CONTROL is true power." It's near impossible to see what is coming... flitted shadows marked with motes of light swirl around her...

"I wil show you TRUE POWER!"

COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Oswald's Fierce Strike.

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Oswald           1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1           Hotaru


It's a leaping attack, and at the last minute the mist parts like vapor brushed aside by a gust of wind as Oswald sails through the air and delivers a single, thrusting stab - intended to be quite deep - toward Hotaru...

Her complexion pales as mention of a pact is made. Bingo. Not just a devil. /THE/ Devil. The creature of Koga, a curse from the past, a spectre of horror that was never supposed to survive into this era. The Dark Lady that had haunted Hotaru's footsteps over the course of the last year told her that the power she had unlocked would be the death of her if she didn't learn how to drive it, force it to her will. That was what she promised the girl - All the power she had now and the will to control it. With that, Hotaru would be nothing like she was before... Other fighters she had always looked up to would pale in comparison. Of this she was certain. But of the thoughts tormenting her mind she says nothing; though she is powerless to keep it from being written on her face.

"I will get those!" she snaps, sounding angry. "Center, balance. I will get those back! It's just a matter of time. I know I haven't mastered it yet, but I WILL!" The fingers of her right hand constrict into a claw at her side as Oswald begins to advance on her. "Is that what you think? You think you understand! What could you possibly know about this? And why do you care!?" And then he's gone - or... it seems that way, the oolder fighter moving into what seems like a blindspot to the girl, Hotaru unable to make out his location for reasons she can't imagine.

Wide eyed, her arms come up in an uncertain attempt to defend herself, feet rooted to the ground. And then she sees him, as if out of no where, the well dressed fighter leaping at her with one of thise cards slashing out toward her. With almost no time to react, the girl gets her arm in the way, intersecting his wrist with her wrist, keeping herself from getting slashed this time. "How did-"

The strength of the impact sends her stumbling backward, not really strong enough in stature to go toe to toe with the man when it comes to absorbing blows. Exhaling with a gasp as she realizes just how hard he's pushing her, the girl digs deep to keep going, clenching her teeth tightly as she catches her balance. "It's none of your concern!" Again she charges forward, relentless in her aggression, offering no quarter as she spins into a kick toward his stomach with her foot, hoping to catch him before he can quite get his stance back after a lunging attack like that.

If she connects, she'll follow up by spinning into three more kicks, for his shin, stomach, and chest, with her other leg, attempting to send him stumbling backward.

COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Oswald with Heavy Kick.

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Oswald           1/-======/=======|=======\===----\1           Hotaru


"What do I know? What do I care?" He thumps his chest a single time with an open palm, bringing forth his sudden bravado, "I've seen enough people around me destroyed by momentary decisions that went wrong. Beautiful things and beautiful people twisted into the stuff of nightmares and brought into war with themselves!
Then that claw appears, and his eyes flit down to peer at it for a second before meeting hers once more. You were lively and wise, Hotaru. I'd say you'd have stepped into your own shadow, but I fear that you've gone further than that." He tenses sharply as she comes in now for what he thought was going to be an open palm punch, angling himself to try and dodge such a thing but ending up meeting side first into a great kick. The force of the first thankfully spares him from two of the other three as he reels back, the shin and chest are avoided but the thrusting shot to his stomach doesn't so much as send him /too/ far back but does bring a choked, almost gurgled sound of pain.

"Is... that... you? Truly?" He is flat on his rear, both arms at his belly as he rolls to the side to try and create space before he struggles to get to his feet. "Feasting on the pain of others to make up for your self-imposed thought of weakness?"

"Whoever is doing this to you... has already thrown you to the dogs for their own sake." a struggling breath squeezes out of him as a trickle of blood escapes the corner of his mouth, "I ... may be the next to the hospital bed... but I'll open your eyes."
And with that, his body shifts to the left, sending his arms in a short swing, and then to the right, as first the deck is drawn and then a single card is pulled from somewhere in the middle... turning it face to him, eyes looking over the suit. "It's time..." He taps what wavering force he has of resolve left in him and springs his legs to full strength as its his turn to rush and spring into a crimson and black blur with a wisp of white as he holds a single card in his hand... a deck in the other. "Our beloved mother of fortune...." the card holding hand reaches up to simply tag the card upon the center and top of Hotaru's chest, just below her collarbone, "...HOLD THIS CHILD IN YOUR ARMS!"

COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Oswald's Joker'.

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Oswald           0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1           Hotaru


Her kick delivered, Hotaru pauses again, taking two steps back rather than aggressing as she has most of the fight. Something about Oswald has given her pause. Maybe it's the way a relatively perfect stranger is telling her all the same things her very own friends have been. With them she assumed it was jealousy, fear, or just not understanding what it was she was going through. But to have this gentleman, this old fighter from darker times past, so vested in trying to get her to see his point... well, it's really hard to figure out what to make of that, and the confusion is clearly written on her face.

He asks if it is her and once again the girl isn't sure. Why has she been so miserable? Why has seeing those whom she used to enjoy the company of only brought her anger and frustration, undescribeable anger and aggression driving her actions? "No... she wouldn't do that. She needs me just as I need her. She wouldn't... she has no choice." She doesn't trust Marise, but she is certain the creature needs her. Never had she seen the devilish woman so fragile as when they last met.

Oswald pulls forth his deck of frightening cards and draws the suit that will next determine where this battle is going. Hotaru stares at him, wondering what it is he sees on the face of that not so simple playing card. In comes the attack, the first of an incredible, fight ending assault, but in that instant Hotaru leaps backward, putting distance between her and Oswald, blue eyes wide, expression frozen in a state of not so subtle fear. "W-who are you?" she stammers. The longer she observes him, the less sense she can make of him. Those red eyes, the unnatural way he moves... "How do you know all this?"

The girl exhales softly, closing her eyes for a brief moment, and then she's back on the offense. She can't let her mind be rattled by this unusual individual. When she opens her eyes again, her complexion has restored itself a little, the steely, cool edge to her visage returned. And then she's charging forward, weaving to the side at the last moment as she drops into a low crouch, spinning on her toes, attempting to drive an elbow into his chest!

COMBATSYS: Oswald dodges Hotaru's Quick Punch.

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Oswald           0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1           Hotaru


As the girl hops back, Oswald's rush ends and he stumbles somewhat forward to his knees as his strength begins to fail him, but he gets up quickly enough so that he's not utterly prone and vulnerable as she comes in. Yes... more... A person. Female. Intelligence always came at a price, this time the price, rather than his comrades of old is his body, with each bone crunching hit she revealed more.
"She." He repeats, trying to keep a tone that would seem more like he already knew - trying to keep her off balance mentally though she seems fully in control of herself physically, "She needs you, you say. A person that weak trying to teach you about strength? Surely..." He coughs hard, a wet, rather hard cough at that as he brings a hand up to his mouth, wiping the blood on the back of his glove as she lunges in for the elbow. "...you jest. Evil feeds upon itself and it is luring you in by taking the form of a frightened lonely mouse, isn't it?"
"I know... because I've seen brother and ally, friend and foe fall to great power, thinking that they could harness it by drinking from its cup with full gullet..." As the elbow comes in, he ducks low and rushes forward, going under the thrusting arm and aiming to bull rush Hotaru's midsection, aiming to slam her against the hard rock of the fountain, "...only to drown in their own misery, consumed from the inside out, heart and soul. Mind body and spirit. A tool to darkness."

COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Medium Throw from Oswald with Ten-ren-ge.

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Oswald           1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0           Hotaru


He gets in beneath her elbow strike, but Oswald might be surprised to find the girl is nto so easily driven backward, as she spins around from out of the elbow strike, rising up into a shoulder slam into his chest, meeting his force with her own, lending leg and torso strength to the strike to give her attack enough of an impact to counter his momentum.

And no sooner than her feet touch the ground, the girl begins unleashing a rapid series of windmilling palm strikes, hopping into a second wave of them, smacking Oswald's chest where she had struck him so many times before, no doubt attempting to continue to work a particularly sore spot on the older fighter in order to bring him down.

After the second wave of palm strikes, she finishes with a rising knee kick, following through with the momentum into a forward flip, planting both of her feet against his chest and backflipping away to come to rest a few yards way in a half crouch, arms out at her sides. "You seem to know a lot about evil... or claim to at least," the girl remarks, rising slowly back into a standing position. "Why is that, I wonder... Is it simply experience... or do you have your own angle?"

She inhales then exhales, the rigors of the long fight rapidly catching up with her. She hadn't expected a battle of this magnitude. Neo League matches rarely offer something exactly /like this/.

It had been a long time since Oswald had tasted the sharp sting of defeat. That once familiar feeling was creeping up, bringing back long, old memories from a drawn out conflict between his motherland and the British Empire for the longest time. The shoulder check and lift is the catalyst, and each palm strike brings a flash of his past back along with. Nostalgia and regret clench at him.
The rising knee and chest step thrust make the ground meet him with little grace, his body flopping against the ground with a flat, almost lifeless thump. Eyes closed, head reeling, he was down but not yet out. He could barely feel anything anymore - and a part of him couldn't help but think... should he really be bothering to do this? It's none of his business, right? It's rare for Oswald to doubt himself and even show such emotion visibly. But it's obvious to see that there's a wavering in his resolve.

"Breathe." He rasps, lifting a hand up to point two fingers, index and middle at the surprisingly powerful girl, "...deep breath... feel your heart. That pounding in your head... feel that coiled serpent around your spirit... sinking its fangs and poisoning you." He was breathing too, he had no real other recourse at this time as he slowly lifts a shoulder and turns to one side, bringing a leg up and really... really taking his time to rise. Hotaru probably could finish him utterly if she so willed it.

"I know evil. I've seen it in my enemies when I fought... for the liberty and freedom of Ireland. I saw it in the face of my enemy, and in the hearts of my commander. He was my comrade. He was like a brother and I had to end him when..." His statement is punctuated with a hard spit of blood now that he was face down, on all fours, hair a bloody mess, body wrecked.
"...you're right. I have an angle." He sumbles to his knees and sits upright, one hand on ground as he shakily gets up, "Maybe... I'm not making a good show of it." He breathes in deep, even his breath sounds like its hindered by liquid now, "But I could teach you a better way. Power through control. Then maybe... boundaries can be pushed..."

COMBATSYS: Oswald gains composure.

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Oswald           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Hotaru


Oswald may be on the cusp of defeat, but Hotaru has extended herself quite a ways in this match, and it's starting to catch up with her. The girl is winded, breathing hard, perspiration rolling down the temples beneath her hairline, dripping from her cheeks. Trying to get her breathing under control, she holds back as Oswald takes the time to get back up. He just keeps getting back up, is his stamina endless?! "Che," the girl grunts as he begins speaking once more.

She's told him more than she intended to but... maybe he already knew. How could he know, though, of the pact she had made? No one could possibly know, she muses, brow furrowed in thought. He asks her to feel it - that fanged bite that has had a hold on her heart ever since Kataki severed her hope and inhibitions. A poison, choking her to death slowly. She had figured as much. /That/ was why she needed Marise's help after all...

He speaks of evil, the enemies he faced for the sake of his homeland. His commander... his friend. Then he has seen people change before, it sounds like, the girl realizes, his angle is... very compelling. And then he offers her a better way - learning control, learning how to not be a slave to the strength she wishes she could command. His offer is... very tempting and Hotaru stands still for a moment.

But then comes the whisper of doubt in her mind. He doesn't care about her. He wants her power for himself. The control he speaks of is the control he wishes he had over her. Who is HE to teach HER? Her mouth curls into a faint scowl, her right hand flaring to life once again with that violent, red-orange energy. "Power... through control..."

The girl begins to stalk toward the clearly wounded fighter, showing no inclination to hold back, no likelyhood of slowing down. "Then let us see, shall we?" She begins to pick up her pace, closing distance fast, "I will show you my strength - What do you have that can compare?!" She reaches for his right arm, attempting to get a tight grip the instant she's in range. And should she get that hold, her right hand slams forward afterward, ablaze with that energy as she calls once again on the technique that should not be - the Koga's power made manifest in a child not ready for something like that. Feeding the craving to rend flesh with that technique one more time, she'll press her hand to his chest and blast Oswald backward!

COMBATSYS: Oswald reflects Maou Satsujinken from Hotaru with Four Suits.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0           Hotaru


He was basking in that moment of peace a little too much. Eyes closed, head lobbing a bit and barely able to keep his eyes open as he gets brief glimpse after glimpse of Hotaru's approach like some really freaked out strobe effect. His head shakes hard as his vision tunnels, seeing only the fiery chi, the approach... and his body staring to get a rush of tingles from his survival instinct.
Her words barely are heard through the powerful ring in his left ear... the right long since swelled shut and deafened from the fight. He says nothing, not a word as she first approaches and speaks what seems to be her victory candesence. Oswald's body is heaving, lip split, his torso and belly felt like they were puree'd and all he could do was swallow hard and open his mouth to breath through it, body desperately needing oxygen.
As she goes to grab the arm, he tries to fling it free as he steps back, but her fingers prove stronger than the sweat slickened sleeve's escape attempt, and his arm is lifted. Like some wounded animal in a trap he tries to draw away as she positions herself just right....

"God... no..." He groans as she manifests and ... strikes?

It's a quick move, involuntary, reflexive, pure twitch factor that both his body and Hotaru's body move at the same time, his unheld arm going into a muscle memory flick drawing out card after card, one-two-three-four like an illusionist preparing for a crowd pleasing trick, and the four cards flare out evenly spaced... Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, each card is the same except for two pairs red, two paris black, each a different suit and somehow this just about changes everything.
"Maybe... you will understand... " Just as the hand drives forward to spear him with that flare of pure fury, it litearlly impacts against a glassy wall of force, as the four cards shine with a single pulse and simply do not move to the strike. As if a spigot was driven into her that flare of the Maou Satsujinken drains out and fills the four cards, setting them ablaze with that energy of pure hate, and his fingers draw them in with a whip like motion, placing them upon her chest just as he intended to do with Joker... "WHEN YOU FEEL THE PAIN YOU BRING TO OTHERS!"
A single index finger keeps the four-stack of cards pressed to her, and then with a flick of his middle finger the energy rips free and purges from the disintigrating cards - consumed by the presence of the hateful chi, flowing in full force through Hotaru's body and driving like a spike into her form.
"That... is /nothing/. Flesh is weak. Can you see now? This is just the pain you bring with your FIST." He is the one aiming to grab her arm now, aiming to keep her up as the torrent tears through, "What pain do you bring to their HEARTS?"

Power, through control.

The smaller fighter's right hand slams forawrd, intending to deliver the strike to end this match decisively. She saw his condition, she knew he couldn't take another hit like that. If anything, it was savage overkill. He was nearly beaten, and yet she saw no reason not to unload her most fierce attack and crush him. Prove her power, her gift from Maou, was suprior to anything Oswald could mount in his defense. It was over. She would claim her empty victory and cast aside all his words as meaningless rubbish, walk away hurt but unbowed. As she expected. As it should be.

But then up comes the cards, a last ditch effort, possibly his very survival on the line as the girl seems to show no need to hold back. But all the discharged energy meets a barrier, her assault stopped short with a show of force far more impressive than she had seen from Oswald thus far. Even the risidual flaring taint along her arm is drained out, sucked into the cards as the girl stares wide-eyed at the perfect defense as each card ignites with the energy absorbed.

The cards pressed against her chest, the girl gasps, eyes widened further, mouth agape as her back arches. Speared by her own hateful chi, for the first time Hotaru finds out just how it feels. To be struck with so much uncontrolled anger. She knew the technique was powerful, the chi unlike anything she had ever used before, but... there's a whole knew level of comprehension reached when one feels it for oneself. The cry comes out moments later as she begins to crumple, her vest shreaded by the lacerating energy, the center of her white blouse marred by the blood seeping up from beneath.

She would have fallen had he not caught her, would have dropped to the ground completely, but his support keeps her upright. One last surge comes as she leans back, acting less on skill and more on dazed instinct as she sweeps her foot out, attempting to take advantage of his grip on her arm to smash him with one final blast of chi, the trail of it a wake behind the motion of her leg.

COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.

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Oswald           0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Oswald interrupts Kobi Kyaku EX from Hotaru with King.

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Oswald           0/-------/-----==|


"I will not see another beautiful sprit get tained by such a putrid can...cer...What?" He gasps as his arm trembles under her slumping weight, eyes going wide and face turning into a look of pure shock "What are you doing? ARE YOU MAD?"
The chi builds and the leg comes up to deal its damage. He had no time to react, he couldn't dodge with that mangled arm, and his body wouldn't be able to accept the strike in full. He turns with the girl, buying himself a splitsecond more of time to reach into his pocket and produce the deck he dishes his so favoured punishment with but does not draw any cards from it at all, instead, he tests lady luck's patience in full and simply puts the front card, back first, into the path of the incoming kick.
There's a brief pulse of light as the Gambler's chi ignites in a hemisphere of glassy light in front of him to do much like a boulder in a stream, the kick-blast of chi flowing mostly about him, though the defense is far from perfect. He buckles back with the blast, fifty-two and one joker worth of cards spray about from the final impact of the kick, but he does not fall backwards. To one... then two knees and still holding on to Hotaru's arm, keeping her dignity intact rather than letting her fall upon her face in the tousled dirt beneath their shoes, he does the gentleman's role to a fine 'T', keeping her up even as he is hunched forward. His arms and legs tremble with the effort of keeping him up. His body mobile and animated by sheer will only.

"What the hell... the hell is wrong with you, lass?" He groans hard, almost whining, "Do you really hate everything that much? Who... are you trying to convince when you say you have power? The world, or yourself?" A bit of composing and he draws himself up a bit, keeping his hands on the sides of her shoulders as he gives her a little shake, "...willing to tear your body apart... tear the bodies of others apart? Just for a bit of respect? You're better than that, Futaba. You were better than this when I fought you last. This is just... grotesque."

Her chi laced kick lands her final blow for the fight, the girl burned every last ounce of strength she had to try and take Oswald down. It wasn't even about the Neo League match anymore. She had long since forgotten about that in this final exchange of blows. All that mattered was proving herself suprior to him at all costs. Whatever it took. But that final blast of energy from the girl is the last she can give.

But for Oswald's hold she would most definitely have fallen. Instead he keeps her in place, his grip firm in spite all she put him through. Her other hand comes up, resting against her chest, pressing against the blood marred center where she at last felt Maou's 'gift' for herself. Glassy, blue eyes stare back into the red eyes of the elder fighter, the girl wobbling where she stands, ready to fall as he shifts his grip onto her shoulders, keeping her up even still.

Who is she trying to prove something to, he asks, and for once she is silent. A certain monk at a certain match interrupted... he knew that the one who had called her weak was herself, the ringing truth cutting like a knife the moment he had said it. And now Oswald asks who she's trying to prove this to. A question Frei had forced into her consciousness throughout their two encounters.

Trembling, barely staying standing as she is shaken by the white haired Oswald, the girl is speechless for a long moment. He is the second to offer to teach her a better way in a very short period of time. The devil's whispered pact in a dark locker room echos in her mind. Marise must be able to teach her how to control this power of hers, but... at what cost? What about him? What is he offering? Unlike the Devil of Koga, whom Hotaru has long since found she can handle, this old man bested her, twisting her savage chi right back on her, the searing agony of it still coursing through her chest as she stands, staring back at him.

Her eyes shimmer and the girl bows her head in the end, no longer able to meet his red-eyed gaze. Her posture stabilizes a little, her mind reeling with everything she was just forced to contend with, to endure and suffer, all because of her own furious aggression. "I do not know," comes the whispered admission, a lost voice from the supported fighter as she closes her eyes. Images of her friends, Mizuki being hit by a truck for Hotaru's sake, Frei skewered by Katana's swords just so that she wouldn't get injured any further in that match... he wasn't even supposed to /be/ there, and but for her own behavior he wouldn't have been. Damn he was pissed off.

"I-... I don't know."

"You're ready to maim and almost kill others for an uncertainty?" He grumbles the words, hands tightening on her shoulders as he ducks his head down a bit to try and match eyes again, "Don't you avert your gaze to me, little girl, you can't run from this one."

"Why would you kill over 'I don't know?'. This... 'she' you talk ... you talk about is turning you into a weapon that can kill over 'I don't know'?" He stops a moment, having to turn his head to his foreharm, to wipe the trickle of blood and sweat away, "What kind of a horrible thing is this 'she' that guides your hand? Such manipulation I've not seen for so... very long."
He has no choice but to leave go now, forced to place his hands on the ground as his body begins to fail him, breathing hard and ragged, eyes shut as the remainder of his breath creaks out of him in a long groan. Yes, he probably had a good few busted ribs and a ruptured organ in abdomen. Despite his best attempts, he needed some serious medical attention.
"I may be 'nobody' to you. Hell I am a nobody. A name and face, and really that's what you are to me." He admits out loud that he indeed was meddling in affairs he really had no business sticking his nose into, for a man that usually minds his own business unless paid to do otherwise, it's rather unseemly, "But... that doesn't give me the conviction to simply stand and watch. A gentleman comes to the aid of those that need it." A hand reaches up to tug hard at his own collar, popping the top open to the first button, feeling like it was choking him as he searches for more breath,

"I'm noone to you, Futaba. But my offer stands."

Iincyo resolves and uses it a fourth time to unmake Ninon

She tries to look away but Oswald crouches down, his wiser, more experienced visage once again in her view as she opens her eyes once more. Swallowing, the girl finds herself feeling strangely helpless. Only moments ago she thought she was untouchable. So vastly more powerful than this hapless fool that thought he stood a chance against her. And now she can barely stand, kept upright by the grace of his grip on her.

Her expression sources as he drills into the uncertainty, digging through the uncertainty to expose what lies below - hopeless, desperation, excuses for the inexuseable. He lets go, dropping to his hands and knees and Hotaru wobbles before finally collapsing to her own knees, her hands pressed against the grass at her sides, her head bowed once again, her hair hanging down over her shoulders.

He questions the nature of this supposed mentor she has, some evil thing that rejoices in the corruption of the child. She seeths as he calls her a little girl, cheeks tinged red with frustration. If only she had... no, no... she can't think of it now. She fought with power uncontrolled - it's no wonder this older, more experienced fighter was able to best her. He has had decades to master his art whereas she has been learning for but one.

Slowly she lifts her head, mouth open and closing as she continues to catch her breath, her clothing dirty and bloodstained, her vest shreaded in the center to reveal her bloodsoaked blouse where she was speared by her own chi. He has power. She wants it. He carries with him a presence like none other she has ever seen in person. "You... you can teach me," she manages between panting breaths. "Teach me to control it." Her right hand clenches, digging into the grass, her mouth curling into a faint trace of a smile. Yes... if she can control the Satsujinken she can do so much more with it. NO one could best her then. He offers her power through control, and right now there's nothing she desires more.

"That is what I want."

His head raises a bit as she speaks once more. There's a hard blink from him as his vision starts to blur again, eyes squinting hard to catch that look... those words. Those words only had context if he could see her face, and he didn't quite like what he was seeing.

There would be time to correct those types of things some other time. For now he just gives a disdained shake of his head and slowly, clumsily moves to stand. From elbow to wrist, he draws his arm across his lips and nose to try and dry what was there, giving a heavy, endeepened sigh along with.

"Let that thought go this instant." He states plainly as the sound of something thinly metallic tinkles at her side - a single one of his cards signed with a number and an address, "Stop chasing that carrot they put out in front of you. Rest. Center yourself. And..." He groans hard as he tries to walk a second step, wincing sharply and gripping his side, "... seek me out when you heal up." A hissed inhale of breath through his clenched teeth is almost inhuman sounding.

"And don't you dare come see me if you still lend an ear to that 'she'. If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both, Hotaru. You cannot have that power and have your friends, just as 'She' and 'I' cannot coexist." He starts to step away once more, slow... even as the Neo League staff are scrambling to bring stretchers for the pair - he waves them away in favor of walking out of this estate on his own two legs.

"Choose wisely... and if you choose to come see me... bring me back my hat." A gloved finger points at the black fedora making one of the statues look rather stylish as his feet drag along the ground, taking the barely-victorious gambler away from the match...

COMBATSYS: Oswald has ended the fight here.

Log created on 20:19:16 03/15/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 03:46:28 03/16/2008.