Description: Luc has fused with the SUN ITSELF to become... Lun?!!? Can Sakura stop Luc's rampaging sunpower?! Why does 'sunpower' sound like a phrase a hippie would use?! Is Schroedinger's solar powers really powered by his pacifist hippie agenda?! All these answers and no others answered here, maybe! (Winner: Sakura)
"Southtown: Where Fighters Are Forged Into Champions." The slogan didn't stick for long, used only a few travel brochures, but it's pretty indicative of how the city views itself. Southtown wasn't really more than a tiny dot on the world map before television broadcasts made it the de-facto center of the fighting world.
There are quite a few fighters who call Southtown home; one such fighter is Sakura Kasugano, now a student at Seijyun University. And, like many other college freshmen, she's spends many a weekend shopping at the mall with her friends. That part of her trip comes to an end tonight, though, as she wanders into the central area of the mall, where cameras and lights have been set up for some kind of performance.
Kasugano hardly seems surprised about the conditions, considering she's one of the performers in question. She's finally agreed to wear the long-sleeved Seijyun uniform this time, rather than the shorter Taiyo outfit... but with her headband and padded fighting gloves in place, she doesn't feel it'll impair her fighting ability in the slightest.
Striding into the spotlight, before all the cameras, and the assembled audience, she pulls out a card, squinting at it. "So, I hear..." she shouts, grandstanding to the audience, "I'm s'posed to be fighting a guy named... Luc? Have any of you heard of him?" Kasugano seems to be making the most of one of the few times she ever shows up -early- for a fight...
"Sakura Kusagano? Who the hell is--"
"Uhm, it's Kasugano, Mr. Schroedin--"
"That's what I said, idiot. Kusagano."
"Err. It's Kasu--"
"What, are you making fun of me?! I said it right the first time, go fuck yourself!"
"... right, sorry, it's just--"
The brief squabble between a short, skinny Neo League technician and a young, black-haired man is ended abruptly as the poor technician is shoved out of the way, leaving him to mutter something unpleasant under his breath as the second fighter of the day makes his way towards center stage. A hotdog in one hand, the other shoved firmly into his pocket, Luc Schroedinger looks all too irritable as he advances. He takes a bite from his hotdog, and frowns distinctly.
"Trying to make me look like a moron. Well I'll show -him- moron."
Indeed.
Making is way to front and center, Schroedinger stops to squint at Sakura as he comes to a rest at the opposite edge of the makeshift arena. He peers. He frowns.
"-You're- Sakura Kusagano? I'm fighting a -girl-? What kind of a girl's name is 'Sakura'?!" It's a perfectly acceptable girl's name, but don't tell Luc that. He probably won't listen.
"Maaaan... this is gonna suck."
As the audience laughs with her, a smirking Sakura turns back to catch the tail end of Luc's discussion with the Neo League official. She doesn't hear most of it, but she does see the rather extreme response from Luc -- which does bring about a mild frown from the dark-uniformed Seijyun student.
His exclamations aren't doing much to improve her impression of the young man, either. She's well aware of the rumors going on about him, and his fight history, but this would be the first time she's ever seen Luc in person, much less fought him. But, even with that in mind, her response is fairly simple.
"It's Japanese," she offers with narrowed eyes, "It means 'cherry blossom.'" That ought to explain the girlishness, hmm?
Since she's studying to be a schoolteacher though, she raises a finger, taking on a demonstrative air -- with a good-natured smile so as to keep the fans happy. "But my last name's pronounced Kasugano, though. Ka-su-ga-no! Don't screw it up again, okay?" Her last name just happens to be a sore point for her, much like calling the tomboy a =boy=.
That said, that finger joins four others in a tightly-wound fist, which she holds aloft, defensively. Smirking, she asks, "So, Luc... you think you can handle fighting a girl like me? Or should I call in a /real/ man?"
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Luc has joined the fight here.
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Luc 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
"'Cherry blossom,'" Luc echoes half-hearted, scratching at his ear with his free hand.
"... Who the hell cares?"
Schroedinger makes this declaration after only a good second or so of pause, green eyes turning fiercely to Sakura. He knows the name, at least, even if vaguely giving his oblivious nature. She's strong. So--
"I didn't come here for stupid, worthless small talk about Kusaganos or cherry blossoms or whatever. Just shut up about that crap, alright?" Luc declares this with an errant wave of his hand through the air, taking another bite of his hotdog as he stares forward almost boredly at Sakura. She speaks again, and his right brow twitches. "Real man? ..."
Half a hotdog is hefted into the air. "... I don't even know what that -means-. Aren't you supposed to be strong, or something? Stop talking about real men and being one or whatever... and FIGHT ME ALREADY!!" And, with a sudden acceleration of speed, Luc pivots forward on one heel... and LAUNCHES that hotdog forward, intending to bean Sakura right across the head with it.
"C'MON ALREADY!!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Luc's Thrown Object.
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Luc 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano's normally a big fan of trash-talking, but if /Luc/ enjoys it, he sure has a funny way of showing it!
At least Luc tossing a hotdog gives Sakura something to smile about! Casually, she raises an empty palm to accept the tossed food item, which compresses into a squishy mess upon impact. If that had hit her arm instead, she'd =still= have a face full of it. "Yeah, uh... thanks, but I just ate!" she quips, slinging her hand sharply to the side to get the hot dog remains off it.
While doing that, she steps forward with her own sudden boost of acceleration, leaping forward knee-first. "And yeah, about that 'fight' you wanted --" She doesn't bother with her usual theatrics or her mastery of chi, opting instead to get right into brawling with a rushing right cross to the chin! "HERE!"
COMBATSYS: Luc endures Sakura's Fierce Punch.
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Luc 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Sakura
There are things a sane person would do in a situation like this. Option one would be to get the hell away from the vicious right cross that Sakura is slinging out. Option two? Try to defend oneself. Unfortunately...
"... Heh. Well -- LET'S SEE JUST HOW HARD YOU CAN HIT, THEN!!"
... Luc isn't the most sane of individuals.
The hotdog is otherwise guarded against, but Schroedinger doesn't really seem to care. Instead, eyes alight, the German barrels -forward-. Black-blue fire surges beneath his feet as he suddenly -explodes- with activity, muscles straining with his sudden propulsion forward. His hands bend backwards, before -lancing- forward, engulfed in fire... just as that right cross hits him. -Crack-.
Bone seems to almost, -almost- snap beneath the sheer ferocious force behind Sakura's blow as Luc's head snaps to the side. And yet? He still keeps -moving-, seeking to capitalize in the sudden opening as he laughs loudly. "HAHAHAHA!! You really ARE tough!!" The words are roared as Luc, bleeding at the corner of his mouth, attempts to slam burning hands into Sakura's face and just -propel- her forward with him, driving her into a nearby store wall with an explosive plume of black-blue fire. "That's -GREAT-!"
COMBATSYS: Luc successfully hits Sakura with Flammen Schlag.
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Luc 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Sakura
Huh, so he likes violence? Here's some violence! ... Of course, Kasugano expected the young man to either give some -token- effort to defend against it, or go flying from the sheer impact... not reel back with laughter and charge right back into her. Eyes widening as she senses his intent, she holds her arms up defensively... but even those don't save her, as her cheeks contort from the sudden pressure applied to them. "Mmmglpp?!" she exclaims while hurtling backwards ... just before slamming into that wall, flattening just a bit upon impact. The collision causes cracks to form in the mortar, but luckily the structure is able to stay together -- for now!
Kasugano pushes forward, turning to bring herself free from Luc while brushing the flames from her uniform. "Heh," she comments, "So you like that, huh?!" But since this pretty tournament matchup seems to have turned into a grudge match, she has no qualms about rushing forward, trying to snake her arms about the Pacific student's neck to pull him into a stranglehold! If she manages that, she'd try to choke him for a bit, before slamming his head into that wall! "Here, have s'more!!"
COMBATSYS: Luc blocks Sakura's Sakura Strangle.
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Luc 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Sakura
She's strong, there's no doubt about that. Probably a lot stronger than him, judging by how much damage that simple right cross delivered. But does it intimidate Luc? Does it make him cautious? Scared? No. If anything... it's the opposite, as his laughter clearly indicates. Fighting people stronger than him -- well, that's just the bee's knees.
But he's not completely reckless. As soon as he removes himself from Sakura, the girl is already upon him. His muscles ache from the sudden exertion of speed, his recovery is slow -- but not slow enough. Reacting almost on pure instinct, two hands still sparking with chi launch up, interposing them between Sakura's grasping arms. As she constricts, those arms protect him from just being strangled into oblivion, and as he is twisted... his right leg LASHES out, -SLAMMING- his polished shoe into the wall before his head can greet it.
"Is that it?!! C'MON!!" Luc roars as he breaks free of Sakura's hold, simultaneously pushing off that wall to launch through the air and gain some distance. Said distance doesn't last for long, though, before Schroedinger is already bending down... and bursting -FORWARD-, rushing into the air in a sudden, jumping kick. Chi encircles his right leg like a corkscrew as he lashes out, surging forward to drive the sole of his shoe into Sakura's face, before releasing all that pent-up energy in a sudden explosion of raw, furious black-blue fire. "Is that all you've got?! HRAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura full-parries Luc's Tyrant Strike!
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Luc 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura knows her hold won't last long, as she wasn't able to get her arms around his neck... but she didn't expect such a wild backlash from Luc! The Ansatsuken Angel flies backwards with Luc as he kicks away from that wall -- she stumbles and almost loses her footing, but by digging her heels in, she's able to vault backwards to a safer distance.
'Safer' being a very relative term with Luc's leaping about; as soon as Sakura's feet hit the courtyard floor, Schroedinger is already up in her face with a kick! Bringing up her hands defensively, she stammers, "Wh-", but her feet are already leaping backwards -again- to put that momentum to good use! Her leap is angled a bit away from Luc, bringing her out of the path of danger of the foot itself. The fires themselves, though, are close enough to taste -- and !
By this point, though, Kasugano's /really/ fired up. There's no danger of her falling asleep in this fight -- the adrenaline's really pumping now! Just the way she likes it! "There's plenty more where that came from!" she shouts in mid-flight, dropping both hands -- now glowing with a bright blue aura -- to her sides. Lest she be all bark and no bite, though, as soon as she hits the ground =again= it will be to reverse direction sharply, knees bending just enough to send all that energy rebounding right back at Luc's jaw for a fearsome uppercut! "SHOOOOOOOOO'OOOU KEN!"
COMBATSYS: Luc endures Sakura's Shou'ou Ken EX.
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Luc 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0 Sakura
If there's anything that Luc loves amongst the myriad of things he hates, it's a good fight. And this is it in spades. His foot lances out, and finds nothing but air as Sakura so deftly outmaneuvers him, bringing the boy to slam, foot-first, into the ground with a sudden -explosion- of black blue fire. In a crouch, the German breathes heavily, green eyes snapping up quick --
--Just in time to see Sakura coming his way. For a minute, Schroedinger actually looks surprised. But not for long. Soon enough, the young man's eyes are narrowing, fingers gripped tightly at his sides. He pulls back, and his lips split into a grin. "Plenty more...?! GOOD! This time... I'M GONNA HIT YOU FOR SURE!"
-WHAM-.
The uppercut hits far harder than anything else Luc's felt today. It strikes his jaw solidly -- almost entirely because he allows it. Luc makes no gesture to try and stop Sakura. Why? Because he's preparing. Even as the blow strikes, his right hand glows brightly in pulsating waves of violet. Blood sprays from Luc's lips at the moment of impact, launching Schroedinger off the earth like a rocket... only to flip through the air, recovering in mid-flight. His eyes blaze. His right fist glows blindingly bright.
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!"
This is roared the second Luc hits the ground, impacting it with a sudden -slam- of his fist against the earth. The ground splinters as four lines of vibrant purple power spread out in a cross section across the ground... and then EXPLODE into massive walls of black, blue and violet chi. Just as soon as they appear, these four formations of power begin to rotate rapidly, attempting to sweep up Sakura within their wrath as they rotate around over and over, creating a violent vortex of chi that, a few seconds later, simply -explodes-, with Luc at its epicentre.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Luc successfully hits Sakura with Demiurge Trigger.
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Luc 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Sakura
Well... Sakura's punch doesn't seem to have been good enough to put Luc down, no! But she's still hanging in the fight pretty well, considering. Her long skirt flares out as she flutters back down to earth, bringing a look of mild consternation to the Seijyun U freshman -- it's not -revealing- per se, it's just causing more wind resistance than she'd like. Maybe this uniform wouldn't be the best for fighting, after all.
She lands soon enough, fists balled in preparation for Luc to get all up in her face again. ... And then he hits the ground instead. What is -with- this guy?! "Ha ha, you miss-"
Then it hits her, figuratively -and- literally: the lines of chi upon the ground. To her credit, she loosens her grip, hands glowing with the blue aura that generally accompanies her Hadoukens. But she realizes it's too late for her to do anything about it when Luc's energy asplodes, ripping across her and blasting the energy clear out of her hands. She's knocked back in agony, dark flames still clinging to her uniform sleeves and skirt as she curls her arms around herself. Staggering back to her feet, she shakes her head with a grin... "Heh... you were right about that, at least!"
She seems intent on continuing to form that fireball though; when her hands uncurl, that same cerulean blue energy from before keeps pouring out again. "Nice tricks there... but you're just about =spent=, aren't you?" she comments with a broad smile, continuing to accumulate more chi between her palms. She sends the blossom of energy racing towards Luc with a cry of "HADOOOOUKEN!" with that faintly bemused expression on her face. This =is= quite fun -- he's already proven how much he can dish out, but now Sakura's eager to see how he handles someone else's power!
COMBATSYS: Luc blocks Sakura's Medium Hadouken.
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Luc 0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Luc is crouched in the midst of his proverbial storm as the last remaining strands of pure chi begin to dissipate around him. The air crackles around the angry German as he slowly comes to a stand, shaking his head and grumbling unpleasantly. He looks up...
... Just in time to see Sakura staggering back up.
Eyes narrowing to slits, Luc calmly cracks his neck in a slow gesture, letting out an irritable mumble. "Just about spent? ... What the hell are you talking about?" Luc's fingers clench tightly into fists. Chi flares around him. And as soon as Sakura let's out that cry...
"I'M NOT EVEN CLOSE TO FINISHED YET, YOU DUMBASS!!"
... Luc rushes forward with that mighty proclamation. It's a bit of a lie, but that's okay. His response to the hadouken is relatively simple: his head rears back, energy flaring briefly around his entire body... and then he just -headbutts- through the mass of chi. The chi-enshrouded headbutt meats with the fireball in a sudden -explosion-, knocking Luc's head -upwards-... but dispersing most of the force of the fabled hadouen with one gutteral cry. The slowdown of his rush is compensated with a sudden forwards burst of momentum, sending Luc powering forward faster than before as he lashes out in an attempt to grip Sakura by the shoulders. Should he succeed, he'll just try to FLING her away, aiding her soar with a sudden and painful discharge of black-blue fire. "AAAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Medium Throw from Luc with Medium Punch.
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Luc 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Sakura
Sakura had figured the guy would be about =out= of the fire, with how much he kept throwing out and all. Really, though, she'd just wanted to call him out to keep the adrenaline flowing -- as if there was any chance of it -ceasing!- And it looks like she's been successful there, as he keeps charging forward!
When he closes in, Kasugano thinks she's ready to handle it, aiming to meet him punch-for-punch -- but again, he surprises her by grabbing her by the shoulders in mid-punch. ... Curse her short reach! Burned in the process, both literally and figuratively, she's hurled off to the side with a rather vicious explosion. Her back impacts with the roof of a kiosk, and she rolls right over the top of it! When she drops down to the other side, it's feet-first -- and as she draws her fist up to her mouth, now dripping blood, it looks like she's quite serious! "Okay, you got some skill, I'll give you that..."
Asking Luc to stop trying to punch someone's face in when he gets going is like asking a storm to stop raining. It's not going to happen -- at least, not while he's still conscious and not beaten into a smear. And Schroedinger proves just that by hurling Sakura through the air with a sudden expulsion of fiery chi, snapping backwards with the exertion, an angry scowl crossing over Luc's features as he tensews. Sakura lands, and then speaks... and Schroedinger just frowns all the more.
"What the hell? Of course I've got some skill. You need to stop talking so much, 'strawberry blossoms.' It's annoying." Completely getting Sakura's name wrong, the German student ignores any potential subsequent protests by driving himself forward with one fist. "I DIDN'T COME HERE TO HAVE YOU TALK ME TO DEATH, GOT IT?!" With that roar, Luc's arm suddenly bends at the elbow, swinging it around to drive it into Sakura's solar plexus with a sudden and painful discharge of black-blue fire, to force her even -further- backwards. "HRAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Luc successfully hits Sakura with Medium Punch.
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Luc 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Sakura
"STFU!" retorts Sakura with a petulant glare -- and yes, she spells out the letters. "You've said tons more than--" She doesn't get to finish, though, as Luc is hammering a punch right into her solar plexus! Wham! A wide-eyed Kasugano staggers backwards, mouth gaping open breathlessly -- it's hard to even -think- after getting bashed there, after all!
Wheezing a cough, she screws her eyelids shut for a moment to stave off the pain. Luc is really giving her a workout!
So... it's decided! No more words, even if Luc /is/ saying as much if not more than Sakura. The Ansatsuken Angel wordlessly spins to the side, skirt flaring as she snaps her heel right at the Pacific student's jaw!
COMBATSYS: Luc blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.
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Luc 0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1 Sakura
Luc is a terrible hypocrite.
It's just part of his charm.
With his blow driving cleanly into Sakura's torso, Schroedinger is quick to snap backwards, energy still flaring like a surplus around his fists. He grits his teeth as Sakura finally stops talking, leveling a glare at her. "That's better," he remarks simply. "Stupid girls--"
But Luc doesn't even get a chance to finish his own thought before Sakura is suddenly at him with the flare of skirt and swing of leg. Green eyes snap wide as he launches his left arm up, intercepting the blow against his forearm with a crack of force that sends him momentarily staggering. "... Hah."
And just a second later, Luc is surging forward with a pivot to his right, his right hand swinging out in a wide arc to grasp Sakura by the head and unleash a sudden gout of flames at point-blank, to engulf her head and blast her back. "HAHAHA! THAT'S WORTHLESS -CRAP-!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Luc's Wutend Stob.
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Luc 0/-------/--=====|=======\=======\1 Sakura
Kasugano narrows her eyes back at Luc. He's kind of endearing in a way -- she =likes= it when guys just shut up and fight, most of the times. It's just that... man, he's /really/ abrasive!
As to whether her kick is crap or not, though... Kasugano isn't really concerned with his opinion in that regard. She was testing him, yet again... seeing how much more he could take. The Ansatsuken disciple has been been holding back in many regards: having power does not mean one has to use all of it for every fight. (Right, Hotaru?) And... she's rather curious to see what Luc can dish out, even when he ought to have passed out by now, by her own reckoning. So when he lunges forward to grab her by the head, she knocks Luc's arm away with her left arm. Her right arm curls close to her face, shielding her from the eruption of flames even as she withdraws a couple steps.
So yeah. 'Worthless crap.' Kasugano smirks back at the German, dropping low to the ground for what looks like an ordinary sweep kick... if not for the fact that she's perfectly balanced to keep going forward to kick his shins several more times, oh, and if she weren't glowing a really bright blue. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" It's not black-and-blue flames, but her chi gives her strikes an added 'oomph' just the same! Should she manage to land these kicks she'd be standing to deliver a final roundhouse to the solar plexus, hoping to send Luc flying into the back wall! "Haaa!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Luc with Haru Ichiban.
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Luc 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0 Sakura
And this is exactly what Luc wanted.
A challenge. And, you know. To get hit really, really, really hard.
Not that he's not going to try to get out of the way of it, of course. That's part of the challenge. But Sakura is upon Luc before he even knows what to do. Before he can even register her movement, Sakura is bludgeoning him with a sweeping kick, before kicking him in the shins over and over. The final blow strikes Luc straight in the solar plexus with enough force that the German coughs up blood as he -EXPLODES- backward like a ragdoll caught in a cannonblast. But as he blazes backwards, he lifts an arm sluggishly, flings it...
... and a small lance of crackling black chi impacts the ground beneath Sakura's feet.
It comes out sluggishly, powered only by instinct. But the moment the lance hits the ground, it seems almost absorbed by the earth... before exploding -outward- in one tremendous gout of black-blue fire, roaring to life to engulf Sakura and send her blasting backwards. One last exertion of effort that takes place just as Luc strikes the ground, shoulder-first, skidding across the earth in a bloody mess. His lips peel into a reddened smile.
"... heh. Awesome."
And then he's out.
COMBATSYS: Luc can no longer fight.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Luc's Uberlastung Lanze.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Over the years, Sakura's become rather taken with the idea of holding the pose of her last roundhouse kick out as long as she can. It's something of an homage to Chun-Li, really: Sakura didn't start fighting with the same kind of control and discipline that her idols have had, so being able to keep her leg extended for a while is kinda cool!
It would also prove to be a disadvantage if her opponent is sending parting shots her way. Like Luc just did. Sure, it's just a little spark of black chi... but Kasugano can read the surge of chi that's contained within the innocent-seeming facade.
Being that she's thinking of Chun-Li at the moment, the combat copycat immediately channels her, twisting into a sideways barrel-roll to the side. Before, she never realized why someone would -want- to do this, but now she knows why: with her leg extended, she doesn't have the sheer -strength- to do her normal leaps. It just makes good combat sense at the moment, considering she's a good few feet clear of the tremendous =explosion= that /would have/ engulfed her whole.
She kicks out of the spin, landing in an appropriately wushu stance, balancing her weight on the toes of one foot, the other foot extended, hands out to either side. Panting heavily, she looks back over at the remnants of the explosion before returning to her feet, looking over at Luc. 'Awesome,' he said. From her warm smile, she seems pleased that he noticed. "Now -that's- how a fight should be..." she comments -- sure, she's violating his request to shut up and fight, but who's he to argue =now?=
COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:48:35 04/13/2008 by Luc, and last modified on 21:34:53 04/14/2008.