Description: You might ask yourself: Who holds an April Fool's Day parade, anyway? Apparently, Metro City does! Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura clash atop a series of floats, each more ridiculous than the last, with the interference of Kain Heinlein to add some spice to the affair. A close, hard fought match that only ends when... (Winner: Chizuru)
Welcome to...a parade?
Why the heck is there a parade at the end of March? This isn't a holiday at all. Chizuru thinks to herself that it must, in fact, be some sort of American thing; certainly they would be more sane about this in Japan. (Allow her some time to dream; she hasn't had a lot lately.)
She is already on a float, in fact; the one she is on is brightly coloured and it's hard to tell /what/ it represents except that flowers are involved somehow. Perhaps it represents spring. As the fight has not started, Chizuru is sitting ontop of a rose, feet hanging off the side of the float, and occasionally waving.
Supposedly, it's an April Fool's Day parade... But who has a parade for April Fool's day? Especially in MARCH?
Maybe that's the joke, though.
Anyway, Kyo Kusanagi is on still another float, perhaps ironically sponsored by the Metro City Board of Education, this one about two behind the flowery one Chizuru is seated upon. Waiting for the official fight time, Kyo is conserving his energy by... Oh, no. No, wait. No.
Kyo is in fact sleeping.
He's even got a desk to sleep in, in front of a blackboard with some sort of equations and verb conjugations and stuff written on it, leaning forward with his arms and head resting on top of the desk and snoozing away peacefully. For once, he's actually wearing his Taiyo High uniform, the sleeves of the black jacket rolled up above his elbows, a white cloth headband wound around his forehead.
He looks pretty comfortable there; but then, anything school-related makes him terribly sleepy.
Chizuru knows perfectly well where Kyo is but saw no reason to get him up. Let him sleep in class (as usual). There will be plenty of time during the actual match to educate him.
Standing up as the time approaches, Chizuru drops off the back of her float to stand on the next...or to climb over it, at least, as it appears to be an advertising float for a coffee and donut place (everybody loves coffee and donuts!) and she is currently moving up the round donut itself.
At the peak, she looks down to Kyo again, considers, and then throws an eraser at the desk he's sleeping at/on. It provides a cloud of chalk and a loud /bang/. "Time to get up, isn't it?" she calls, a moment later.
Where /did/ she get the eraser?
COMBATSYS: Chizuru has started a fight here.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
So much for sleeping peacefully, yeah. Kyo was having a nice dream, his mind turning the roar of the crowd watching the parade into, of course, a crowd cheering him on for doing something awesome, when suddenly... A loud BANG wakes him up. "Gah!!" exclaims the World Warrior champion, sitting up straight and then caughing as he inhales a bunch of chalk dust.
God dammit, Chizuru!
"Didn't anyone ever tell you people get grumpy when you wake 'em up?" Kyo wonders of the Yata clan heiress, brushing his hair back out of his face as he regards her over on her own float. There's kind of a gap between the two, which might pose kind of a problem on the whole 'fighting' front... Except, of course, that Kyo has a technique for just such a situation. Oh yes.
Taking a step forward on the Board of Education float, Kyo throws himself into the air, turning himself horizontal and swinging his leg out in a wide arc of a kick, aiming to both cross the distance between his float and Chizuru's, as well as to hit the woman right on the head and drive her facefirst into the ground. "Let's just get this joke over with!!"
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Kyo's RED Kick.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
Chizuru isn't quite /that/ easy to throw to the ground. She steps backwards on the float and begins to slide down the curved side of the donut until she pushes her heel in a little more firmly, which causes her to stop; that and a twist to the side keep her out of the reach of Kyo's nasty boot.
"I thought you'd be used to a wake-up call like that," Chizuru says, quite pleasantly, as she straightens up as much as she can at this angle. "Well! Perhaps we'd best hurry it up, if you're so anxious!"
She jumps up, and high, coming down just behind Kyo. The springy float gives slightly under her l anding, but does not stop her from turning slightly, trying to tangle his legs with her enormous left sleeve and drop him into the 'cup of coffee' standing next to the 'donut'. Probably thankfully, there is no actual coffee in there, just a black strip of fabric.
She has the feeling something is about to happen.
As the fight goes on, the announcers watching the parade continue their commentary. "...And if you're just joining us, it's a lovely day for this end of March April Fool's Day parade. The weather's fine, the floats are looking terrific, and the Saturday Night Fight event seems to be getting off to a rousing start. If you'll look over to the left, you'll see Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura battling one another. Kain Heinlein is also supposed to be involved in this fight, but I don't believe anybody's spotted him yet. Have we heard anything on that front?"
Meanwhile the parade continues on. Behind the float Kyo and Chizuru are fighting on is one of several large balloons on the parade. In this case attached to a float celebrating something about children and diversity or whatever. For safety reasons no actual children are on the float, of course, given the proximity to the fight, but there are numerous dressed up mannequins. The balloon itself has the appearance of a large blimp, with several logos plastered on it. "Well, even without his presence, this fight still shows signs of being quite an exciting ev-" And that's when the blimp erupts into black flame. Great balls of fire fly about, most of them fizzling out before they hit the ground... the ones flying to the sides, at least. The ones flying forward seem to still pack quite a punch as they rain down about Kyo and Chizuru, while Kain comes leaping down from the burning remnants of the balloon, which fall right onto the faux children. "Oh, the humanity!"
COMBATSYS: Kain has joined the fight here.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chizuru's Quick Throw.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo just-defends Kain's Schwarze Flame!
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-------|
Landing a bit awkwardly, Kyo stumbles to the side in the aftermath of his kick, trying to get his footing back... Which is approximately when Chizuru attacks him, trying to entangle him with her goddamn /sleeve/ again. "Ah, hell," mutters the Kusanagi heir, getting yanked off of his feet... But he manages to catch the rim of the 'cup of coffee', using it as a point of leverage to throw himself /over/ the cup, landing on his feet with minimal harm. Oh well.
And then, of course, a balloon explodes. Holy crap.
As fiery leftovers of the exploded balloon rain down on the float, Kyo hops back with his arms upraised, somehow managing to come through the rain of fire unscathed. In fact, he looks... Invigorated by the whole thing, high on his own awesomeness.
"Hey, I thought this was an April Fool's Day parade, not a 'Same Old Crap Day' parade," Kyo muses aloud, seeing Kain himself make his appearance. But, alas, today isn't Kyo's chance to beat the holy hell out of Heinlein like he should've last week; no, this is Kyo's chance to beat up Chizuru.
To that end, the Taiyo High uniformed fighter rushes forward at Chizuru, unleashing his own fire as he closes with her. Swinging his right fist in a hooking punch, flames following after the arc of his fist, the Kusanagi heir tries to power right through whatever guard Ms. Kagura has to offer, stepping in to punch a second time if the first lands, a short fiery uppercut, before whirling around in a heel kick aimed right at the side of Chizuru's head. All while, perhaps, fiery bits of balloon continue to rain from the sky. "Eat this!!"
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Chizuru with Schwarze Flame.
- Power hit! -
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Kyo's Aragami.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-----==|
Chizuru did know something was going to happen. She wasn't entirely sure what it was... and then everything happened at once.
Chizuru has a split second to decide whether jumping into black flame or not jumping and getting smacked around by Kyo is going to be worse, and she decides on the flame and leaps backwards and down, landing on the base of the coffee-and-donut float. That was probably a mistake; it washes over her without her abilities doing very much to attenuate the damage and make it a little less painful, and it seems to settle around her as if burning for a few moments, until it snuffs out.
She glances backward at Kain - she can't see him, the Education float is in the way - but she knows he's there, and she can feel what she can't see. "You're learning," she says to Kyo instead, before leaping back up and at him. Twice, in fact, as an illusion appears at her side, her and her mirror image simultaneously launching horizontal strikes at him with the palms of her hands.
Still trailing flame, Kain comes falling out of the sky, crashing down onto the Education float. Thankfully he misses actually hitting anything, as landing on a desk would be quite unpleasant. He lands in a crouch, the flames slowly fading away as he rises to his feet. They also fade away from the burning float behind him, leaving it relatively intact. The balloon, however, is a total loss.
Kain takes a moment to brush a few scraps of balloon material from his clothing, glancing at the two fighters. Kyo handled the assault rather better than Kain was expecting, and there's no rule saying who he has to /start/ focusing his attention on. Of course, as far as the rules go, well, let's just say that Geese would be unlikely to have Kain as a chaos agent in one of his own fights. "A fitting holiday for you to show some real effort, Kyo." Black flames engulf both of Kain's hands as he eyes the Kusanagi heir. Not that he's paying no attention to Chizuru... She'll get hers soon enough.
COMBATSYS: Kain focuses on his next action.
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Kyo counters Shinsoku no Norito from Chizuru with Nue Tsumi.
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-----==|
Meanwhile, Chizuru reminds Kyo that /she's/ his opponent for this little fracas when she comes at him with... Oh man, one of those mirror image things again. Kyo's dark brown eyes narrow faintly as the two Kaguras leap towards him for that palm strike - like, four whole palms, that's harsh - when suddenly the Kusanagi heir lunges /into/ the attack, reaching out and snagging the true Chizuru by the wrist.
A swing and a miss! Kyo stumbles forward a bit as his punch connects with nothing at all, flames flickering out into nonexistence. "Yeah, well," Kyo says to Chizuru, before briefly being distracted by Kain. "Who said I'm putting forth 'real effort', Spanky?" the Kusanagi heir inquires of the wielder of those Ankoku flames. "Don't mistake your own sucking for me actually trying hard."
"You think magic tricks are gonna work on me?!" Kyo demands, sounding legitimately offended as he drives his fist into the underside of Chizuru's jaw in a powerful uppercut, complete with the expected eruption of orange-crimson Kusanagi flames. "Save that weak junk for Vegas!!"
Kyo /is/ getting better if he can reliably tell the illusions apart, Chizuru thinks, although she doesn't exactly have a lot of time to think this before she has her face impacted by an explosion of fire and fist.
She rides the blastwave upward, landing back on her flower float, quite a bit the worse for wear; she ensures her hair is not burning before she does anything else, looking down at Kyo. This is the only time she gets to look down at Kyo. She has to savour the moment.
Chizuru doesn't savour it long. "I'm glad they don't," she says, backing up to the top of the giant lily and avoiding sliding down inside. There she waits, hand held up high and flat, for either Kyo or Kain to take the next move.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru gains composure.
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/-----==|
Kain shrugs. "You might wish to consider it." And then he's suddenly blurring forward, leaving a trail of black flame behind him. Dropping down in front of Kyo, Heinlein suddenly twists his body about, rising with his leg snapping up at a sharp upward angle. More black flame surrounds as his foot as it races toward Kyo's chest, looking to strike Kusanagi with enough force to launch him explosively off the ground. Should that succeed, Kain will follow him up before using another blast to send Kyo flying down into the float, while Kain drops smoothly back to his feet.
COMBATSYS: Kyo dodges Kain's Schwarze Lanze.
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/----===|
With Chizuru electing to hang back after getting her attack reversed like that, Kyo is presented with a good opportunity to deal with Kain directly, instead of having to divide his attention against multiple attacks. Which, knowing /Kain/, is probably a very fortunate thing. "And you might wish to consider--" Ah hell, snappy retort interrupted by fiery kick. Except...
Rather than striking home, Kain's foot passes through nothing at all, as Kyo suddenly slips to the side in a remarkable burst of speed, letting Kain pass him by entirely. "--giving it up before you look like an even BIGGER joke. Go back to your shampoo commerical, blondie!" His work here done, Kyo sets his sights back on Chizuru, rushing directly at the Yata Clan heiress. Leaping up to get to where Chizuru is, Kyo snorts faintly, taking a swing at the woman with his left fist, a speedy punch powered mainly by the elbow, trying to force her into an awkward position atop the float. "Hua-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with Quick Punch.
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/----===|
Chizuru is already in an awkward position. The punch knocks her into a worse one.
She slides down the inside of the lily, landing inside it, after taking an elbow to the torso. It only holds her about up to the waist, but it's still enough to constrain her movements more than she would like them to be.
And yet she still laughs. "You love to taunt him, don't you? You might want to stop. Some day - well, you never know when it might be to your advantage to be able to work with him." Look at Kyo and Iori. The patter was only half a distraction for her actual attack, which is to rise up in a twisting path rather like one of Kyo's own attacks, arms extended to strike Kyo on the rise. Thankfully, there is only one of her this time.
Well, Kain's instructions for this fight were to try to distribute his attention evenly between the two fighters, regardless of their own progress in the fight. He has little actual obligation to adhere to those rules, but focusing on trying to drop Kyo would make it seem like that punk is actually worth Kain getting riled up about. That punk who has managed to avoid Kain's attacks completely unscathed so far. But that has nothing to do with him turning an attack on Chizuru!
Launching that attack, at least, is easily done. The timing is perhaps not the best, from a public relations standpoint, given Chizuru's attempts at reconciliation... but the audience will understand. Fire wreathes Kain's arms as he charges the priestess, running right by her, just a short distance to her side. The flame extends outwards as he does, creating a wall of black fire to wash over Chizuru as Kain passes by.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chizuru's Tenjin no Kotowari.
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Kyo 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/----===|
Well, hey. They do suggest you 'say it with flowers'. In this case, 'it' is apparently 'I want to punch you in the face'.
As Kyo recovers from his attack on Chizuru, he arches a brow curiously at the woman's laughter, and her following suggestion. "Uh, yeah, I'll pass, thanks," the arrogant young man replies, quite confident in his own ability to not have to depend on other people. Especially looney tunes who shoot black /or/ purple fire.
As Chizuru attacks on her way up, Kyo gets his arms in the way of the twisting flurry, deflecting the brunt of the damage... Though there's enough force left over to send him skidding back... Right as Kain comes in to get at Chizuru. Sagely, Kyo decides to stay out of that; instead, he tenses, holding up his right hand, flames raging in the palm of his hand as his power begins to build. "Don't worry, Kagura. I'll finish this off in just a second."
COMBATSYS: Kyo gathers his will.
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Kyo 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru blocks Kain's Schwarz Cutter.
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Kyo 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
Some things you just can't teach Kyo, apparently.
Chizuru brings up one hand as Kain runs by her. She knows he isn't going to touch her - this time - so it's just a question of dealing with the energy, and that's simple enough; she /pushes/, and some of it fails to touch her. Some of it does, of course, but it isn't enough to actually ignite her and that's a start - even if the impact of it touching a makeshift shield slides her back and almost back into the lily.
The lily is melting under her feet. Her protection has limits.
"I'm sure you will, Kusanagi," Chizuru says, well-predicting the attack he's going to level - a powerful, energy-laced one. Maybe she can press him so hard he doesn't launch it; she leaps towards Kyo without benefit of illusion or chi, simply swinging her legs off to kick him with both simultaneously and then leap off again. If she misses, landing should be 'fun'.
Kyo standing still? Well, that seems like a good opportunity. The speed with which Kain changes directions is impressive; one moment he's starting to slow down after passing Chizuru, the next he's quickly catching up to her from behind as they both race toward Kyo. He makes a point of not catching up with her though, giving Chizuru a moment to launch her own attack. It won't do any good if Kain winds up crashing into her.
While Kyo is dealing with that, though, Kain slips around Chizuru's side, then lunges out toward Kyo. He reaches with one hand for Kusanagi's throat... but doesn't stop coming. If he manages to snare Kyo, Kain will drag him all the way down to the surface of the float by his neck, black energy flaring out from his hand to completely engulf Kyo's head.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Kain's Schwarze Schleife.
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Kyo 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Kyo endures Chizuru's Heavy Kick.
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Kyo 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
As Chizuru and Kain close with Kyo, something else happens to the Kusanagi heir: He catches on fire. Shining like the sun, Kyo is enveloped by the orange-crimson flames of the Kusanagi clan, tendrils of fiery energy lifting off of his shoulders as the flame in his right hand intensifies, somehow gleaming even brighter than the rest of him. It's a sharp contrast to the dead black Ankoku flames wielded by Kain; the living brilliance of the ancestral fires that have raged throughout the centuries surrounds Kyo, and when Chizuru kicks him, he just sstands there and takes it.
The Kusanagi heir rocks back a bit, from the force of the kick and from Chizuru kicking off of him, but before Kagura can properly land, Kyo is moving forward. Caught by Kain, Kyo gets dragged back only a few feet before he manages to throw the other man off, with a grunted: "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" And then, well, Chizuru has his undivided attention once more.
Kyo keeps on forward at Chizuru, the fire focusing even more in his right hand, until he gets close enough to sweep his hand across his body and then back /out/, carving a swath through the air in front of him that immediately fills with a hellstorm of Kusanagi flame, a raging explosive wave of destruction that seems to peel the flames off of Kyo's body to feed itself, seeking to devour everything in its path: Mainly, the float. Oh, and Chizuru. "/BURN/!!"
COMBATSYS: Chizuru blocks Kyo's Orochinagi'.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
Chizuru spirals through the air, barely landing on her feet, just in time to see Kyo start running at her. That is, in her experience, a bad sign. She knows what is coming next, and there is little she can do to stop it.
To withstand it, that she can manage. The float ignites around her as the maelstrom advances, but Chizuru stands there, one hand held in front of her with her palm flat against nothing as she speaks under her breath. It sends her hair whipping and scorches her face; she refuses to move, just holding her position as the float burns around her. Smoke and ash hide her from view, not to mention the swirling flames.
The flames, however, seem to be being pulled into her raised hand, which is now shimmering with an orange light. Chizuru rockets out of the flame, running straight at Kyo, attempting to strike him with that hand pulsing with sealing energy! Even if it doesn't last long, it generally gives people a shock if nothing else.
Kain doesn't much care for being shoved aside, but the clash between Kyo and Chizuru is... interesting to watch. Not many people can just stand in the way of Kyo's flames and come out of them relatively unscathed. Still, being impressed with her isn't going to stop Kain from attacking Chizuru. Running at an angle to pass Kyo, Kain then comes racing in toward Chizuru. Once he's closed some distance between them he leaps into the air, coming in with a flying kick wrapped in black flame. Chizuru has shown quite an aptitude for dealing with flames now... but how long will she be able to keep it up?
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chizuru's Reigi no Ishizue.
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
Chizuru's antics? Quite possibly the only reason the float is /still standing/. That's okay, though; Kyo will get his property damage in some other way. It is burned pretty bad, of course, so that kind of counts, right?
With Chizuru launching herself forward out of the last of his flames, Kyo grits his teeth, quite certain something powerful is coming in the aftermath of his own strongest technique; what he gets, though, is /pure unadulterated disappointment/! Nah, not really, that's just mean. But seeing - and feeling - the energy around Chizuru's hand, it's all Kyo can do to deflect it out of the way, only getting grazed by the power of the Yata Mirror. "Tch-!!" he hisses out, before attempting to /maintain/ his hold on Ms. Kagura so he can just up and toss her away onto another float. "Get outta here!!"
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Kain's Schwarzer Stob.
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Kyo's Strong Throw.
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
Chizuru does, in fact, get out of there, but not by Kyo's throw; she does it all on her own.
Twisting aside from the flying kick, Chizuru jumps, springs off the burning wreckage of the float and - perhaps illegally, depending on how strict SNF is about where fighters go - onto a streetlight. It isn't on because of the floats and showing a red or green light would be kind of silly, but that doesn't mean it isn't /there/, and it's a good thing to hang on for a second.
Spinning on it, she throws herself forward, back toward Kain and Kyo, foot-first. This might seem awfully familiar to Kyo, except this time it is only one foot; she bounds off and toward open, unmelted float for her landing.
Well, both he and Kyo missed with their assaults on Chizuru when she took to the refuge of the street light, but Kain intends to be the first one to capitalize on that. While Kyo is preparing his next assault on Chizuru, Kain is watching Kyo. Moving in toward Kusanagi, Kain pivots about on his left foot, bringing his right foot swinging up toward Kyo's head. Raw blue chi energy surrounds Kain foot as it moves in toward Kyo's temple, promising a blow that should cause problems for even the hardest-headed of individuals.
COMBATSYS: Kyo dodges Kain's Medium Kick.
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru successfully hits Kyo with Light Kick.
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
"Heh... Well, at least you're good at running away," Kyo says of Chizuru as she manages to deftly avoid both his and Kain's attacks, escaping to a street light. What comes next, though, proves to be a bit more of a problem... Kain's kick, Kyo sees coming from a mile away, letting out a long-suffering sigh as he simply ducks under Heinlein's kicking leg, letting the energy-charged kick pass harmlessly overhead. "Jeez, you're still here, Spanky?" the World Warrior champion wonders aloud, already starting to move when...
Chizuru bounces off of his head.
"Ow!" Kyo announces, loudly. Apparently, he didn't like that. Such is his displeasure at having been jumped off of that, as the float he and Kain are still on starts crumbling under their feet, he dashes towards the edge and leaps off, directly at Chizuru. Swinging one leg up in a flying kick like something out of the Kim Kaphwan playbook, the Kusanagi heir tries to catch Chizuru before swinging that leg down and his other up in a second kick, hoping to knock her right into the air so he can land on the float. "Hya-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with 75 Shiki Kai.
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
Chizuru goes up, Kyo goes down. It is, perhaps, the great circle of life; the old are ignored to make room for the young.
Chizuru is not content to be thrown aside like that and discarded, though. She twists; the is just barely enough room on this part of intact float for the two of them, if she stands close. Everything is sore; she can't press the attack for much longer, but she can for a few moments more at least.
She comes in so close to Kyo, in fact, that she is about half behind him; she bends down, making an arcing motion with her arm designed to tangle his legs (again) and send him for a tumble (again) to the ground! She needs breathing room. "A retreat is not necessarily a bad thing," she points out, as she does this.
With Chizuru racing back toward Kyo after being sent flying, Kain has to do relatively little to take his assault to her. She runs in and he actually steps aside to let her, providing no obstruction to her assault on Kyo. Once she has actually struck out at him, however, Kain /does/ make his move. Having let her past it's a simple matter for him to extend his arm and turn himself about, bringing a swinging backfist toward the rear of Chizuru's skull. The blue glow around his fist serves to emphasize the degree of the incoming pain. As for Kyo's fondness for nicknames... Oh, he'll get his. Sooner or later. But it will take more than that to make Kain lose his cool.
COMBATSYS: Kyo fails to interrupt Kaiten from Chizuru with Oniyaki.
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
You know, all things considered... By and large Kyo's been making the right choices. Playing it cool, not letting his perhaps inflated self-image lead him into making bad decisions. Of course, good things can't last forever.
When Chizuru comes in close, Kyo doesn't try to avoid getting entangled by her, instead tensing, starting to crouch low. Flames erupt in his hands, but as he tries to go /up/, physics decides to get its long-delayed revenge, rearing its ugly head and forcing Kyo, with his legs entangled, to turn his 'up' motion into 'falling flat on his face' motion.
How embarassing.
But Kyo rolls away, trying to get some room of his own. He's going to have to do something pretty cool and do it soon... With Kain as Chaos Agent, drawing the fight out can only result in Bad Things.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Kain's Medium Punch.
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/---====|
/Now/ is the proper time to press the attack. Chizuru is a master (mistress, technically) of waiting for the proper time for any action. It makes her seem slow. She's not, really, just patient and planning.
When it is the right time, like right now, she can be very fast. Chizuru lunges after Kyo as he moves away from her, flickering as she once again splits into two. The one behind, that isn't as fast, ducks low to have Kain's punch go over her head; by the fact that the image warps as the black flame gets too close to it, that one is probably the illusion (or Chizuru is /very/ good at trickery).
Both of them go after Kyo, though. One, the one in front, stays high, while the one behind that ducked stays low, swings to the side slightly and goes after him there, all with arcing strikes aimed at his body in an oddly dance-like pattern.
One flickers and fades, eventually, leaving only the real one, breathing hard now as she holds the pose for several seconds. That ought to keep him confused for a few moments.
%It would seem that repeatedly shifting the focus of his attention from one target to another is having a detrimental effect on Kain's ability to cause serious injury. Not unexpected, but worth noting for future consideration on his part. One other thing that he's noted is the whole "Spanky" thing. Kain may not be flying into a rage, but he's also certainly not forgetting that. Oh no.
After Kain's fist swings harmlessly through an image of Chizuru, Kain reorients himself toward the other two fighters. Whipping both hands forward, he sends a pair of fireballs shooting along the path Chizuru's images are taking toward Kyo. They travel well around her, however, arcing in such a way that the point at which they'll meet up again is centered right on Kyo.
COMBATSYS: Kyo just-defends Kain's Schwarze Flame!
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru successfully hits Kyo with Sanrai no Fujin.
- Power hit! -
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Kyo 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|
This time, though, it seems like Chizuru's 'magic tricks' /do/ fool the Kusanagi heir. Once again with both Kain and Chizuru bearing down on him, Kyo has to make some tough decisions; he tries to stand his ground against the combined assault, with Kain's Ankoku flames whirling around the Yata Clan heiress, the two fireballs meeting up and then attempting to collide directly with Kyo, but... Kyo's guard is simply too strong?!
As the black flames strike Kyo, there's a simultaneous eruption of orange-crimson flames, Kyo sliding back a bit as his impromptu 'shield' defeats the incoming Ankoku attack, a confident smirk on his face. "That was /pathetic/, Heinlein! I'll have to send you a consolation card after this!"
And then, Kyo eats Chizuru's combination attack. He falls for the trick, figuring he's got the right Chizuru when in fact he tries to block the fake, leaving himself open for the barrage of 'dancing' strikes, leaving Kyo to fall to his knees, catching himself with one hand. But before he's done entirely...
"Keh... Just one last thing," he says to Chizuru, as a massive column of Kusanagi flames erupts from INSIDE the float, ensuring its destruction and perhaps also Chizuru's, since it's aimed to start right underneath her. Kyo throws himself willy-nilly into it, setting himself aflame again as he seeks to batter Chizuru with a series of flame-empowered punches, finally driving the other Sacred Treasure out of the column of flames with a last, thunderous punch.
And /then/ he falls flat on his face. Oogh.
COMBATSYS: Kyo can no longer fight.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with Mu Shiki.
Glancing Blow
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Chizuru 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Kain
Chizuru does something rather illadvised when the flame erupts; she rides it.
This is not something she can reliably do, but she learned to do it once and sees no reason to discard it wh en it is the only option available to her; she jumps, and lets the upward blast of the flame push her up even further. It hurts - but it does let her get out of reach of the punches, except for one that cracks against her ankle with an unpleasant sound.
Chizuru lands several yards away, smoking and with a rather poor landing due to her now-bruised ankle. She teeters on it for a moment, looking like she's about to go down, but she stays up - barely - with both arms stretched out to the side.
Kain eyes Kyo for a long moment, keeping flame burning in his hand with occasional glances at Chizuru. If Kyo gets back up, she's probably going to regret it for multiple reasons. But... it looks like Kusanagi is down for the count. With a flick of his wrist, Kain extinguishes his flames. He waits on the float for a moment until he spots an opening in the crowd, then turns to Chizuru and gives her a quick nod. With nothing more to be said he leaps down, sliding into the opening in the crowd. No way he was going to ride the parade all the way until the end... there will be an even /larger/ audience then, and Kain is generally not fond of mingling with fans.
COMBATSYS: Kain has left the fight here.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-----==|
Log created on 20:11:07 03/28/2008 by Kyo, and last modified on 16:11:13 04/01/2008.