Description: Sakura and Blanka toss melons at one another until one falls over! ... Kinda... (Winner: Sakura)
So there's this 'Neo League' thing that organizes people to go fight each other and stuff, right? And today's fight pits Blanka against Sakura Kasugano in the middle of a large clearing just outside Southtown city limits. A half-dozen cameras are stationed around the perimeter of the clearing, with a few more cameramen toting steadicams just in case. There's no need for any special light rigs, as the early afternoon sun's plenty bright enough.
Sakura herself is rather glad that the fight coordinators could set up this fight, actually! She'd been pretty busy with schoolwork, and... they probably know how to get in touch with her bestial opponent a bunch better than she does. She =did= want to get some face-to-face time with him, even though it will probably be more like fist-to-face or foot-to-face, or maybe even feet-to-face. From the Seijyun University student's broad smile, though, she's pretty confident it'll be a friendly encounter!
The few fans of hers that found out about this match beforehand are gathered about, though they're treated to the Seijyun U track and field outfit: a dark blue track jacket, hanging unzipped over top of a white pocket-tee shirt and midnight blue biker shorts. The tomboy's known for moving quickly, and she felt the long skirt of the normal Seijyun outfit just wasn't cutting it!
When Blanka arrives, it's in a method that is ... standard for him, but perhaps a bit odd for most. From the upper reaches of the forest, Blanka drops down from above into the clearing, landing with a large crashing thud. Feet clad in giant shoes stir up dust, the green giant clad in 'street' clothes, thick denim pants and a black shirt with the words 'SAIKYO-RYUles!' in hot pink. It doesn't really match his skin tone or hair color, but he really doesn't care all that much. Anything to make Dan happy, right?
He gives Sakura a fangy, polite smile, and holds out a giant hand as if to shake. "Is.. good to see you again, Sakarooa. Fight hard, ok? Blanka do his best, too." He's chipper, excited - he knows just how good Sakura is. A chance to prove himself against her, always excellent. A chance to work out some kinks after his latest beating by Mister Billy Kane? Even better!
COMBATSYS: Blanka has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Blanka 0/-------/-------|
Kasugano grins back as Blanka bounds into the area! Sure, she flinches as much as anyone else from the loud thud, but she doesn't see a need to flee like some of her fans had. No, just waving away the dust with her hand, she returns Blanka's cheerful expression with her own. And, of course, she reaches up to shake the beastman's hand, reminded again just how -tiny- she is in comparison. "Hehe, of course! Been gearin' up for this fight for a while, now!" She halfway expected to run into Blanka on her last trip to the Saikyo-ryuu dojo, really...
As she steps back to a safer distance, curling her hands into light fists, she cocks her head to the side. "Hey, does it still hurt from where you an' Hotaru... y'know?" She makes a light thrust with her palm, indicating she doesn't really want to get into specifics of the Satsujinken... but that she's curious just the same. "I'm just curious, really!"
Widening her stance, she raises her fists up, giving a nod to the fight officials. She's ready to brawl!
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
"Blanka glad... Always good to fight Sakarooa." He lets go her hand, steps back and eases into a relaxed stance. He's almost ready to move into action, when she speaks. Eyes open, gold orbs looking curious as he reaches to his chest, and rubs. "It... not so much. Blanka pretty tough - hoping Hotaroo doesn't use it more, though. She doesn't need t." He nods sagely, and then that's really that - he stsill has yet to talk to her about it, other than at the end of their last fight.
"Is.. okay to ask. Blanka talk more about it.. later." With that, he's also done speaking for the moment, and ready to mix it up. He bounds
forwards, his eyes flashing blue-white for a second as he channels his chi into a burst of speed, then lashes out with a quick uppercut! She's tinier, compared to him, but the green giant knows Sakura can take a whole lot of pounding. Time to start!
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Blanka's Medium Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano smiles and nods back to his reply: later is good! "Okay!" She could have been a bit more tactful about that, but better at the start of a fight than in the middle, right? She does agree with him though -- Hotaru really didn't need to be slinging that energy around like that. And -she- needs to talk with the kenpo specialist, also, now that she seems to have taken some time off from fighting.
But... yes. Fight. "Yeah, this'll be fun!" Sakura's eyes hadn't strayed from Blanka's as he spoke, and they remain glued to him as he leaps in with an uppercut! Kasugano steps back a bit, both arms snapping up to take the brunt of the blow, in lieu of her chin! Gritting her teeth at the ferocity of the strike, the Ansatsuken Angel nonetheless seems to be taking things in stride, hopping back once before twirling into a low sweep kick at the beastman's feet. "Hyaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Blanka blocks Sakura's Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sakura
Luckily for Blanka, he has a SECRET WEAPON! As Sakura recovers and sweeps down low, Blanka's mouth lolls open into a grin. There's a moment before contact where he makes a subtle movement, and then the impact of her sweep catching on the hidden bronze rings around his ankles, still wearing them despite the large pants. There's a fair chunk of ow still associated with the impact, but he doesn't actually lose his balance, more's the pity.
Pressing his advantage, Blanka leaps forwards, arms outstretched. He attempts to wrap up the Ansetsuken Angel with big meaty paws, and to muss her hair most seriously with a tussling play-bite that has a fair amount of blunt force behind it. Plus, tons of Blanka-slobber. He's not trying to carve into her shoulders or head with the bite, but certainly trying to break her stride and defense all at the same time with a veritable fake-awmnomming! "Raaar! Fear the scary monster..!" he says, hamming it up a bit. After all, there /are/ cameras watching. Surely, they expect it from him..!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Blanka's Wild Fang.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura near 'bout hurts her own feet more than she hurts Blanka! Kicking bronze really isn't all that fun, but at least she still has shoes on. "Nngh..." she mumbles, pulling her feet back and hopping to regain her footing.
Of course, just when she's rising back to her feet, the Brazilian beast is lumbering towards her, trying to give her a big ol' hug, or a brutal mauling, or... well, it could be anything! It's hard to read the beast's expression when he's =blotting out the sun=, after all! "Uwaaaaaaagh!" she howls, misstepping once before digging her heels in for one powerful vault to safety. Paws close down emptyhanded as the teacher-in-training lands a safe distance away...
Only for her to break into snickering, now that she can get a clear view of the goofy, overdramatized posture! "Ahaha!" she blurts, covering her mouth with a hand. "I thought you were gonna be trying your best or something!" quips the amused schoolgirl.
Of course... he =did= succeed in breaking her stride: she realizes she can't keep kicking him from up close, not with those anklet thingies! She curls her hands to one side, shaking her head with a broad grin. "You weren't gonna bite my head off, were ya?" she chides as blue chi wells up between her palms. With one quick motion, her hands slam forward, unleashing the gathered energy in one mushrooming shockwave, aimed at blasting Blanka backwards! Maybe she can interrupt -his- stride? "HADOOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Blanka with Large Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Whuf, missed! Blanka's big hands close on air, and he watches Sakura flip up and away. As she lands, he throws his hands up in the air and howls, as if being upset that he missed getting to chew on her. He's not really that worked up over it, though - the amused look on his face showing through for the girl at least, if not the cameras. "Blanka trying his best! Sakarooa too fast for big Blanka!" It's not too far from the truth, really - the big beast trying to size up what Sakura's brought to the yard. So far, it seems like a fair chunk of pain. As she chucks her hands forwards, he starts to bound towards her.
This could have worked better. As he launches himself into the air, he sees that blue shockwave leave her hands. There's a twisting, turny motion like a cat as he tries to adjust his course in mid-air, and then his course is adjusted /for/ him, with a blazing explosion that knocks him down and away into a nearby tree. Hitting it topples a hidden melon from the branches, which falls down and lands smack on his head, sticking there. Blanka staggers for a moment or two , arms failing about as he moves in an unsteady direction towards where he thinks Sakura was, obviously blind... OR SO IT MAY SEEM. Sneakily, he's managed to poke two small holes in to the melon, and is biding his time, preparing for the next attack! Hopefully, he can get Sakura to overcommit!
COMBATSYS: Blanka focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano smiles faintly as her fireball slams into Blanka, taking a brief hop backwards just in case he decides to jump through her attack and smack her anyway. It's happened before, after all! But she can see that her blast knocks him back into the nearest tree... and knocks a melon down onto his head, to boot!
"Aww, you know I'm just pickin'! she calls out, hoping the Brazilian beast can hear him through that fruit helmet he's got on.
But while she's talking, she's also jogging closer... and once she gets close enough, she'll try to leap onto Blanka's shoulders and back, tighten her arm about his neck, and start drumming on that melon with her knuckles! Thum-thum-th-thump -- her drum solo would be payback for trying to aumnom on -her- earlier!
COMBATSYS: Blanka interrupts Quick Throw from Sakura with Direct Lightning.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Blanka 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Sakura
Cunning plan, GET! Blanka haw-haw's as she pokes fun, approaches. Playing along, he continues to stagger about, though it's harder and harder to do when she comes close. He wants to leap out and strike while the iron is hot, whatever that means. Instead, he bides his time, and even seems to act surprised when he gets hopped up on by Sakura. The beating of her hands on his melon is definitely the signal he was hoping for, and as she does strike him, he leaps into action.
"Blanka... know! AHW-ROOO!" With that, lightning crackles around his body, sparks and brilliant lines of blue-white electricity flickering on and off at a rapid pace. He leaps into the air, and spins in a ball, dislodgint Sakura as best he can, leaving himself unmelon'd, mouth hanging open in a happy grin. After all, his SECRET PLAN worked! He /should/ be happy!
Owned! Kasugano thought for sure the beastman really was unable to see her... but that's what she gets for thinking and not =knowing!= Her spine arches sharply as electricty arcs through it, her muscles convulsing involuntarily as she's flung off and away from the howling beastman.
Flung into a tree, she gets wrapped around a branch, which breaks and collapses in the process. Falling to the earth, she manages to regain some control, landing shakily upon her feet. ... Or maybe the shaking is just more convulsing, it's hard to tell! "Hehehe... that was p-pretty c-cool..." she stammers, slapping her cheeks lightly so that she can get the numbness out! Her eyes focus on Blanka... but for the moment, she won't be closing in on him just yet!
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sakura
"Good... strategy. Other plan.. not let you relax!" With that, Blanka tosses off what is left of the melon cover, chewing a bit of the pulp and savoring it. He pulls back and brings one green fist up, slapping the tree he was just so near. It rattles from the force, and a watermelon falls from it, landing in his open paw. He squashes one end of it, and then hauls back and hurls it at Sakura's noggin. He may have been playing and not able to see - but if he can land one on her noggin, she won't be able to, more likely than not! Plus, it means she'll have to deal with melonhead!
COMBATSYS: Sakura just-defends Blanka's Thrown Object!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano really isn't used to seeing Blanka in quite such a good mood! All she sees on her DVDs (of questionable origin) is his opponents running in fear, and of course the xtreeeeeme camera angles used by Howard Fightsports and Masters Enterprises in playing up the beastman's ferocity. Up-close and personal, his act seems almost... comical! Though that's mostly because Sakura knows what a sweet person Blanka is underneath the intimidating exterior.
It's actually a bit tough for her to sell that ferocity to the audience, since she keeps wanting to break out into giggles, but she plays it off with a tight-lipped grin. "Good plan!" she chirps, squinting as the beknighted and subsequently de-knighted Blanka bashes the nearby tree... and sends a melon hurtling at her!
The Sakura who -hadn't- learned from Ryu would, of course, try and catch the melon head-on, rather than let it hit her. But that'd mean she'd get a face full of melon guts as it explodes, thanks to his softening -- which she happened to catch. So, instead, she crouches beneath the melon... and lifts up at the perfect, most opportune moment.
That is to say, she catches it =from below=, her palms pressing against the strong of the melon's shell, rather than its weakened front. Grinning as she lifts the melon up, she notes, "Hey, you dropped something!"
Then she twists about and hucks that melon right back at him!
COMBATSYS: Blanka fails to interrupt Thrown Object from Sakura with Vertical Rolling.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sakura
Stunned, shocked! Blanka was not prepared for such a feat, of catching a melon and hurling it back towards him. Stunned, flabbergasted even, his jaw hangs open, a comical (yes, comical1) look of dismay and surprise is shown! He is not used to the skill of people being smart enough to catch and hurl things back! Sadly, this leaves him relatively wide open for the incoming catch and hurl back.
Blanka crouches down, and tucks up in a ball, attempting to go straight through the incoming melon and smack Sakura with his body - but there's a slight miscalculation that's only exacerbated when the melon hits him. Caught square in the chest, it deflects Blanka to the side, and lands him in a heap near the trees near Sakura. He's not slow to get up, no - quickly recovering, he bounds back to his feet and does a very good Cowardly Lion impression with the 'put 'em up, put em uuuuuuhp' fists, trying to shake off some of the confusion and surprise. He's taking the fight seriously, but he's starting to feel a little outclassed!
If Blanka voiced his concern, Kasugano would be quick to discourage such thoughts -- she knows darn well how hard he hits! Just one powerful blow from Blanka would be more than enough to level the playing field, and two... well, she doesn't want to even think about that!
Of course... she can't stay on the sidelines forever. If she keeps engaging in melon combat, she's bound to lose out to the pro here! "Hey,
Blanka... you know Hurricane Hime wasn't able to take me down last week... it's up to you now! Show me your Saikyo-ryuu!" She decides to close the gap between the two, dashing in close to challenge his 'put up yer dukes!' gesture. If he's ready for a fist fight, Kasugano's just about ready to meet him halfway! She darts in low, hoping to slip beneath his guard, and uncoil into a powerful leaping uppercut right for the beastman's jaw. "SHOOOOOO'OOOU KEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Blanka with Shou'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Blanka 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Oh, sure, put /pressure/ on Blanka! Demand that he take Sakura down to defend Saikyo-Ryuu?! How will he ever handle this surprise pressure, other than by leaping blindly in and attempting to meet the other girl half-way! Well, that's actually the thing that he'll do - and damned be the consequence. Charging in, he attempts to batter through Sakura's offense, to place himself in a better position for attacking - however, the heavy uppercut that collides with his jaw has other plans for him. Painfull plans!
WHOCK! Knocked up into the air, Blanka has no real way to recover, save for stretching out and twisting his body this way and that. Luckily, that's a skill he's always had, and one that he uses now in an attempt to come down on top of Sakura's noggin. If he can land on her, he'll land feet-first, big shoes intent on smushing her into the ground. He can't stay up much longer, so desperate times call for desperate measures!!!
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Strong Kick from Blanka with Small Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Sakura 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Blanka
The greatest feeling in the world, to Sakura, is the feeling of adrenaline coursing throughout her in the midst of a good brawl among friends! She hasn't shared much time with Blanka, but she can tell there's at least something shared between the two in this battle -- the urge, the -challenge- to do their best in battle, to keep the spirits high. Not just -anyone- can give Sakura a challenge, after all: she relishes the opportunity to face someone as strong as Blanka!
And, true to form, he proves that even when she's able to land solid strikes onto him, he can still keep coming back for more -- and even deceive her from time to time. Never, /ever/ judge a book by its cover. The exchange of fists could easily have turned against her, and it would have hurt her much more to boot... but luckily, her fist happened to hit its mark first, catapulting Blanka into the air. It takes her a moment to recover from her leaping punch, though, and as she falls back to the earth, she looks up to see the beastman hurtling towards her! There's not nearly enough time to spring out of the way, nor to mount a defense capable of =stopping= Blanka... so she decides on something else entirely.
That is: as soon as she lands, she braces herself for impact, doubling both hands overhead. By themselves, her hands aren't anywhere near enough to stop Blanka's momentum -- but Kasugano's never relied solely upon her physical strength. Squinting her eyes, she channels a tight, focused orb of energy into her hands, unleashing it in a brilliant burst of light at the exact moment Blanka's feet crash down into her. It's not her noggin, no.
But even that explosive detonation of chi isn't enough to derail Blanka -- his feet plow through and knock Kasugano to the ground, bouncing her off it and sending her flying back a few feet. As collisions go, it wasn't the =worst=, but it unquestionably =hurt= her... considering how long it takes her to push back to her feet. "Ugh... nice one!" she comments, shaking her hands out. Numbness strikes again!
Luckily for Sakura, she bounced a few feet! That means that the fireball smacked Blanka does not land completely unconcious on her afterwards. He hits the ground hard, his body aching from the sudden wave of chi that's blasted through him /again/, but he manages to stay with his arms propping him up. Knelt as he is, it's obvious he's pretty much out of the fight. However, he's never been one for just walking away from a battle, so he's more than willing to get up that one last time. He does so, green giant rising to his feet unsteadily. "Sakarooa... better than Blanka, today. But maybe Blanka.. still strong too."
With that, the green machine falls forwards, as if unconcious - however, at the last second he tucks into a ball and throws himself along the ground at Sakura, trying to catch her with a last-second blitz of speed that he forces through himself. At the end, it's basically like throwing a few hundred pounds of potatos at Sakura, since he's almost completely dizzied - but hopefully the speed of his attack will give him the edge he needs to knock her down that one more peg! Sadly, this will also probably make the conversation after impossible - at least till he wakes up!
COMBATSYS: Blanka can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Blanka's Ground Shave Rolling.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/-======/=======|
"No 'maybes' about it -- you -are- strong! It's been a great fight!" she calls back -- if it weren't the case, her arms wouldn't be shuddering so much! She can't help but flash the Brazilian battler an encouraging smile, really!
... Of course, she'd be shirking her duties as a fighter to give him too much leeway just because he's stumbling about. When he starts rolling, Kasugano is ready... and drops down to the ground. When Blanka rolls up, her shoulder and forearm take the brunt of the attack, absorbing the shock fairly effectively. Though that's not to say Sakura can really -stop- him -- even with her heels dug into the ground, she's still driven back for nearly a dozen feet, carving twin gouges into the grass of the clearing.
When it's safe, she hops back to her feet, uncurling her fists as if she's ready for another strike... but it seems Blanka's not going to be able to deliver one! Kasugano stands back, letting out a breath -- she's a lot more exhausted than she'd been letting on. "Yeah... that was an /awesome/ fight. Thanks!"
Blanka unconcious thumbs-up! Don't ask how.
Log created on 21:26:11 04/29/2008 by Sakura, and last modified on 13:44:01 05/04/2008.