Description:
Today is Wednesday. You can tell it's Wednesday because the Kyokugen Dojo has split its class into two units for what Takuma likes to call "Super Efficiency Hour". Half of the class is washing the walls and floor of the Kyokugen Dojo's central house (The Sakazaki residence) and its open-air training plaza, respectively. The other half are EMBROILED in an INTENSE CLASS taught by Takuma himself. This is one of the highest honors for a Kyokugen disciple, second only to being allowed to run secret attacks on the Todoh dojo every Thursday Night, something Takuma calls 'Super Espionage Time'.
Today, Takuma is teaching his students the sacred art of taking a hit. A small child stands in front of him, wearing some combination of a dark-colored belt and a serious expression on his face: This quavers, only slightly, as Takuma sizes the boy up, settles into a proper bull-stance, and looks to the small assemblage of students before him. "Now, you see... It's good to be able to deliver attacks, but the most important thing, in any fight, is standing your ground! It's through this that you can take your enemy by surprise and bring the advantage to your side! KAGE!" Takuma shouts at his example, imperious in his tone. "PUNCH ME IN THE STOMACH!"
The boy punches.
"Harder," says Takuma, who has barely moved. (The kid's probably hurt his hand on Takuma's midsection). "Don't hold back, Kage, I know I'm old, but I can take what you've got! Ha ha!"
Sometimes, the Kyokugen Dojo is a barrel of laughs, giggles, and other synonyms for chuckle-related behavior, usually involving some sort of martial arts training that borders on the ridiculous; it's like the Karate Kid versus Kung Fu Hustle. At other times, however, it becomes deathly serious!!
That last part is a lie. Not even the presence of Heidern -- something which is about to come to pass!! -- could make the Kyokugen Dojo serious business.
It has been some time since Heidern has been in close contact with Sakazaki, and their schedules may have shifted relative to one another; perhaps he thinks /tonight/ is Super Espionage Time, a pastime that he is far more suited to. Whatever the case, Heidern's DEATHLY SERIOUS BUSINESS has brought him here, to the Kyokugen Dojo -- and more specifically, to the building where Takuma has started telling his numerous charges how important it is to be able to tough things out. A good lesson, to be sure -- part of Heidern's good relationship with Takuma is his respect for the ridiculous man as a trainer.
"I'd thought you'd be overseeing toilet paper deployment in Ryuhaku's trees tonight," Heidern says as he steps in, with a completely straight face; all signs point to him actually having meant that, and the image of Commander Heidern in a trenchcoat slinking around the Todoh household/dojo is forever burned into the minds of all present. "Or was that Thursday?" The dour German narrows his sole remaining eye at Takuma, just a little.
Kage's fist slams into Takuma's stomach again, likely with enough force to split an oak plank. The blow ruffles Takuma's hair a bit - he frowns at the youth, eyes blazing with austere disappointment (his mouth is an angry gash splitting stone, at this point), and practically DEMANDS: "YOU WILL STOP HOLDING BACK AND HIT ME IN THE STOMACH WITH MORE THAN CHILIDISH FORCE, KAGE! DON'T EMBARASS YOURS-" Takuma looks up, interrupted from his speech by the voice of an old comrade, and happy for it. He grins at Heidern - the mass of students parts for the trenchcoated Ikari, like he was some kind of cycloptic Moses - and stands up to properly greet his friend.
"Thursday," he says, in response to Heidern's question. "The bastard gets his trees ruined on Thursday. We're going to try to pour honey onto his doormats, too, I think." Several students nod - this is extremely serious to them. It determines whether or not they're getting a belt promotion. Takuma continues. "But what brings you here, Heidern? It's been months! Weren't you off on business for a while? I hope everything went as plan- Hmph!"
Takuma is interrupted by a fist slamming into his midsection once again. Instinctively, one of Takuma's massive hands lances out to wrap around the back of Kage's head - he is violently thrown into the ground, face-first, which elicits a gasp from the crowd and a muffled shriek from the boy himself. Takuma frowns afterwards... but looks back to Heidern.
"He'll be OK. What can I do for you?"
Yep. Definitely a friend of Heidern's -- more than one Ikari recruit has suffered much the same indignity that poor Kage just suffered, though perhaps not on /quite/ the same scale. On the battlefield, the difference between a solid and light punch is enough to mean life or death, and Heidern is not going to send out a single recruit who can't manage that, even if it means roughing them up a little so they get it through their heads.
"Mission accomplished," Heidern says, when Takuma brings up business. He can't say more than that, as Takuma no doubt knows by this point, but the simple statement alone is a sign that justice has won out yet again. "I was originally going to see what your students' instincts for stealth were like in a live fire exercise," he says, no doubt still referring to Super Espionage Time. "But if that's not tonight, I'll have to come back another time."
He looks down toward Kage again after a pause, walking through the mass of students and switching topics, "You're teaching them how to take a hit and keep on going, and your current star pupil couldn't handle the demonstration." The tall man takes off his trenchcoat, revealing his usual uniform; tossing it over to a corner, he offers, "Maybe you need a new demonstration partner." Heidern is all for helping pass skills on to the heroes of tomorrow.
"Well, that's good. I can't imagine it's very fun, being in the army." Takuma's not stupid, and neither are his students. Kage, unconscious, is being dragged from the clearing, Heidern is being ushered in. His trenchcoat is caught before it hits the ground, folded, and set on the ground. A circle is formed around both men, students stare, almost adoringly, at their two 'teachers' for the moment. That's the great thing about the Kyokugen Dojo, really. Free all-star fights, with front-row seats, practically every week! The students drop to their rears and take up spectator positions.
Sakazaki regards Heidern with a keen eye, especially now that all of the attention is on the both of them - he beams. "Well, guess I'll have my work cut out for me. You, back from duty, and me, dealing with kids' fists! Let's give these old bones a good rattling!" He cracks his knuckles, rolls his neck (the crackling is terrifying), and falls back into that bull stance. Sakazaki looks at a student, front-row.
His name is Boris, he is an exchange student. "Five!", says Takuma.
Boris looks to Heidern, expectantly.
Heidern thinks for a moment, considering what mad game Takuma might be playing. He seems to know what's /expected/, just not what the /result/ will be. There is, therefore, only one thing to do.
"Two," says Heidern, nodding to Boris.
Boris immediately pipes up after Heidern speaks: "Seex," he says.
Sakazaki beams, pulls an arm back, throws the other one forwards, and... waits. There's an -energy- building in his held-back hand, something invisible, something... something that reeks of mastery. "Too bad for you, Heidern! Hope you're ready for it! Ko'ou..." Takuma steps forward with a tile-shattering THUD, and lances that rear arm out before him, some invisible force scattering the dust between himself and Heidern, ruffling the hair and belts of those students assembled.
The question is, can Heidern track it? Will he die?!? Does an eyepatch detract from depth-perception THAT MUCH!?
COMBATSYS: Takuma has started a fight here.
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Takuma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Heidern has joined the fight here.
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Takuma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Heidern
COMBATSYS: Heidern slows Ko'ou Ken from Takuma with Cross Cutter.
Glancing Hit
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Takuma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Heidern
Evidently, the answer is yes. As Takuma starts to gather that familiar energy in his hand, Heidern drops into his stance and gets ready for a truly legendary brawl -- like every brawl with Takuma, of course. "Commence the mission," he says, taking a deep breath and narrowing his functioning eye. He studies that Ko'ou Ken carefully as it comes at him, trying to get a feel for how it'll move, its power -- everything.
It doesn't work out too hot, though. As it comes in, he sweeps his hands in that familiar technique, the Cross Cutter, his /own/ projectile... but is just a second too late. All he gets is a vague barrier of chi that Takuma's massive Ko'ou Ken plows cleanly through, only lightly diminished. It's like Heidern's defensive attempt wasn't even there.
Heidern is sent tumbling back by the raw force, landing on his side. As he gets back up to his feet, he says, "Don't take too much from that example," to the students, before looking across to Takuma. "Again."
A broad smile plays across Sakazaki's face after Heidern fails to catch his attack - it's nothing against his friend, really. Takuma's just happy to see that Heidern's fancy military adventures aren't giving him an edge over him! While the commander gets to his feet, Takuma falls backwards again, working a few latent pops out of his shoulder, answering some pithy, silly question from one of his students: Whatever the question was, the answer ended with '...might have killed a bird. Don't do it.' Takuma brings his attention back to Heidern, narrows his eyes, and sets his jaw.
"Again? That was just the warm-up! There's gonna be plenty more where it came from, so you'd BETTER be ready this time!" Takuma does NOT do the same thing he'd done last time, no sir. Latency is silly, and there are better ways to analyze your opponent. In this case, Takuma runs forward, over the tiles of his training arena's floor, and... executes a short hop, halfway through his sprint. He rises some three feet into the air, pulls his feet up, and extends one in a brutal flying-kick towards Heidern's chest.
A student shrieks out, halfway through Takuma's jump, "YEAH, TAKUMA-SENSEI! KICK HIS A-"
Takuma interrupts him.
"EN GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARDFE!"
COMBATSYS: Heidern interrupts Medium Kick from Takuma with Backstabbing.
- Power hit! -
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Takuma 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Heidern
Heidern's stance drops subtly lower as Takuma comes in, the old soldier shutting out the background noise and focusing entirely on Takuma's move. Bracing himself for impact, he reaches out at the old martial arts master's leg as it comes in. It hits him in the shoulder, but he has control of the attack -- and that makes all the difference. "Sometimes," he says, "letting your opponent come in for the hit..."
Abruptly, Heidern uses that leg to fling his opponent at the ground as hard as he can, face-first, in a punishing toss. "... is to your benefit. Press the attack even when it means you're going to take some losses -- they don't expect it." Those bladed gloves come down toward Takuma's back, and Heidern digs them in as hard as he can, no doubt aggravating those ancient wounds on the other old man's back. Hopefully, the Kyokugen students aren't too squeamish.
Moving away from Takuma a little, Heidern gets back into proper stance, saying, "I've spent too much time in the comm center and not enough time at the front lately." Though he doesn't say it, he has missed this.
Takuma's eyes widen when his ankle's grabbed like that: Sure, Sakazaki might have been setting this up, but it's always startling, how different the reality is from the supposition. "Mghn!" He's thrown into the ground and subsequently -stabbed in the back-, drawing a cry of "Good gracious!" before Takuma rolls onto his back, wincing, writhing about on the floor like a child who'd just shit his diaper and didn't know how to fix the problem.
"I forgot about those damned gloves!!!" Takuma speaks while he comes to his feet, approaches a kneeling position, winces again, and looks to his students. He nods, gravely, after a few seconds of thought. "The important thing about this sort of fighting, though, is that while it's always good to fall into the enemy's attacks, it's -never- good to let the opponent intimidate you into losing your strategy! Think logically at all times! Is Heidern expecting an old man to do..."
Takuma rolls forwards, lighting-fast (it draws a pained gasp as he rolls across those Backstabbing gashes), and lands on his knees once again, by Heidern's hip. He brings his fist around in a groinwards uppercut, brutally, with a semi-demented grin on his lips. Oh, does Takuma love this sort of fighting. "HATTAH! UNWELCOME FIST!"
COMBATSYS: Heidern endures Takuma's Fierce Punch.
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Takuma 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Heidern
If what Takuma is hoping for is to avoid intimidation, he may get an unpleasant surprise; as he comes in for that brutal, vicious uppercut right to Heidern's Dustin Diamond, the soldier looks him in the eye. "I've missed training with people who don't hold back during training," he manages to deliver with poise, even as Takuma's punch plows right into the /other/ one-eyed Heidern. The scariest thing for the Kyokugen recruits at this point, most likely, is that the one-eyed man doesn't give an inch.
/And/ he doesn't waste any time getting right back to the business of beating the hell out of Takuma, either. Using the slight upward momentum of that punishing uppercut, Heidern launches himself at an awkward angle into the air for one of the techniques that Heidern Assassination Arts are most known for in this age where any fighter's techniques can be researched with the push of a button.
As he starts to come down, he hooks those blade-laden gloves into Takuma's throat, using the momentum of his leap to send him around Takuma's throat dozens of times, like some terrible helicopter rotor. Takuma actually lifts about an inch off of the floor thanks to the rapid spinning involved in this ludicrous technique, /if/ Heidern lands it.
COMBATSYS: Takuma fails to counter Neck Rolling Slashes from Heidern with Mouko Burai Gan.
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Takuma 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Heidern
"Hah! Life doesn't take it easy on you! I miss training with men who can take what life throws at them!" Takuma begins rolling away from Heidern, at this point, eager to get away from the feel of another man's junk on his knuckles, or the slight, disheartening knowledge that Heidern is a human being capable of -ignoring- sledgehammer blows to the johnson. Sakazaki's roll is of course interrupted by Heidern's awkwardly-angled leap... he's strangled just as he's getting back to his feet, and brutally cyclone-slashed about the neck and face. There's of course a -torrent- of blood thrown around the area, spattering on nearby tile and the white gis of wide-eyed students, but mostly getting into Heidern's face (hooray for close quarters!) and pissing Takuma off.
His attempt to toss the Ikari off of him and punch him - directly in the face - is met with more insane warlock magic at work, and more blood leaving Sakazaki's body. By the time Heidern joyfully leaps away, Takuma's dropped to his knees, breathing heavily, grabbing at his neck to stop the bleeding - and swearing something fierce.
"Boss," says one of the Kyokugen disciples.
Heidern brings his hand up to his face, tilting it slightly and wiping some of the massed blood off his face. It's a miracle that he does it without cutting himself -- one must wonder, briefly, if he shaves with those gloves, too. After all, he'd just have to rub them across the side of his face and he'd be done pretty quickly. "Your technique was good, but too late," Heidern comments, under the Old Man Understanding that all old men should be able to beat the piss out of all other old men at any time.
Taking the offensive again, Heidern considers a few different options -- there is basically no /wrong/ way to go at Takuma, but there is also no particularly /right/ way to go at Takuma -- there lies, of course, the danger. He has all of the possible options in the world, yet no one option seems to be quite tactically better than any other.
So he decides to try for something ridiculous, something Sakazaki won't expect from him. Leaping up into the air, he sends his body into a flip, much too far from Sakazaki to do anything to him overtly. Midway through the flip, however, in a twist that the old man probably wouldn't expect, Heidern's boots start to slip; as he finishes the flip, those boots are sent flying full-speed at Takuma's face, moving in tandem as deadly projectiles, allowing Heidern to move closer while simultaneously giving Takuma something even closer than the man himself to worry about!!
COMBATSYS: Takuma dodges Heidern's Large Thrown Object.
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Takuma 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Heidern
Takuma's clever about these sorts of things. Boots? Who needs 'em? Sakazaki witnesses Heidern's flip-fu, notes the way the other man's footwear begins to fall, and... as those leather missiles are shot towards his face at a velocity approaching and surpassing 'impressive'... steps to the side. A sidestep turns into a spin, and Takuma brings himself around Heidern, finishing his single rotation with increasing momentum. One arm lashes out from its spot against his chest as Heidern falls to a landing position - Takuma attempts to slam his friend in the small of the back with his elbow, follow it up with a brutal spinning back-fist to the knee.
"You'll need those if you want to have a chance, Heidern! It's hard to -stand your ground- without any shoes on! Ha ha!"
COMBATSYS: Heidern endures Takuma's Medium Punch.
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Takuma 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Heidern
That, coming from a man who trains in flimsy karate footwear or barefoot. Heidern doesn't comment on it, though; instead, he just thrusts himself full-bore into the series of strikes, keeping his footing and leaning in toward Takuma. "Good shot," he offers, as he swings his hand forward and toward Takuma's stomach at an incredible speed -- normally, the move is pretty telegraphed, but coming so soon after those nasty arm strikes makes it a lot harder to handle.
Trying to dig those fierce claws right into Takuma's gut, Heidern begins to channel his chi into Takuma while at the same time ripping some of the karateka's own life energy out; the whole process is fairly draining for him, but it is likely radically moreso for Takuma. "Make sure... to keep your center guarded... at all times, if you're on the defensive," he forces out, toward the students, as he reaches in.
COMBATSYS: Takuma endures Heidern's Storm Bringer.
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Takuma 1/=======/=======|=======\==-----\1 Heidern
Heidern plunges his hand into Takuma's midsection -immediately- after the series of buckling arm-strikes... and, despite the distinct, unhappy feeling of having his very SOUL drained out through Heidern's warlock-surgeon fists... Sakazaki grits his teeth, flexes, and through some miracle of focus, balls-to-the-wall endurance, and simple refusal to be put down... forces the Ikari commander's hands OUT of his abdomen, leaving blood to stain the front of his gi in such a fashion so as to render it entirely, completely unwearable. Oh the terror!
Even so, Takuma's able to maintain some semblance of consciousness, despite it all -- and goes so far as to grin at the other man. "It's good to keep your -face- guarded, as well..." Takuma launches his fist for 'Dern's face, as promised, and regardless of the result, crows out: "And once you've found a foothold, keep going!" IF HE FINDS A FOOTHOLD...
Well he's going to launch right into that delicious preprogrammed slew of punches, kicks, elbows, knees, and eye-pokes(?!), forcing Heidern to the very end of the makeshift 'arena' before slipping behind him, flipping him over an upraised knee so that he's thrown towards the middle of the arena... and finishing the trip with one vicious, single-armed Haoh Sho Ko Ken, eyes... blazing.
COMBATSYS: Takuma successfully hits Heidern with Ryuuko Ranbu.
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Takuma 0/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Heidern
Takuma's always had a little bit of an edge on old Heidern; the raw killing force of Takuma's blows is far beyond the precision strikes of Heidern Assassination Arts, and even as Heidern tries to throw himself right /into/ the blender in the name of getting an advantage, he finds he can't even seize that. The full-bore assault knocks him back with every little trick he tries, eventually sending him up into the air with that Haoh Sho Ko Ken.
Even as his strength starts to fade, Heidern cracks a grin. It is not a particularly nice smile, but it may be the first time Takuma has seen something more than a small, nearly meaningless quirk of the lip in a while. "And your last lesson..." he groans, falling from the sky, "is that you should never, ever overlook... an opponent, even if he's on his last legs."
He starts to flip at that awkward angle again, seemingly coming in for another neck-rolling helicopter-like series of slashes...
COMBATSYS: Heidern can no longer fight.
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Takuma 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Takuma blocks Heidern's Final Bringer.
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Takuma 1/------=/=======|
With a sudden last-second flip, Heidern drives his bladed gloves right for Takuma's breastbone, trying -- much as before -- to rip the energy out of him. Usually, this leaves him feeling a little refreshed, ready to keep going... yet for some reason, he's not quite getting it. Perhaps Takuma will have some grand elaboration!?
Takuma's clever-er, this time... even though he's still winding-down from that enslaught of punches and kicks, and the front of his gi is looking more like a butcher's apron than any karateman's clothing, he's conscious enough to be able to see what's coming at him -again-... and he's certainly able to remember exactly HOW that specific sort of attack hurt the LAST TIME it hit. Considering this... he gets his arms up to his breastbone just in time to catch Heidern's glove - there's a deep gash incurred, but the battle-surgeon can't quite get his arm into Takuma's chestmeat. Blood trickles down Sakazaki's chest, moreso since he's tossing the Ikari to the ground and shouting out random last-minute lessons to his students.
"REMEMBER THAT DEFENSE IS CERTAINLY ALRIGHT, ALSO! Offense is important, but if you can't realize that keeping yourself -safe- is key to winning a fight, you'll never go anywhere! Get us some gurneys, kids, and somebody get the beer out of the fridge! Free time for the rest of the day."
Amidst a choir of cheers, Takuma helps Heidern to his feet, into a gurney... and hops into one, himself. Provided Heidern doesn't mind being carted around by children, there is some -ice-cold- beer for him in that house. Ice-cold beer, good conversation... and some epic videos of Todoh being terrorized.
Heidern has no problem with being carted around by children, when he has earned the wounds that cause it rightly; letting Takuma have the last word (they are, after all, his students), Heidern finally collapses, into a heap in front of Takuma, worn out and badly beaten. "It was a good lesson," the Commander says, as his first of what may be several beers comes. "You've always had a knack for teaching."
Free time for the rest of the day, for the record, sounds like a /great/ idea.
Log created on 02:02:51 05/14/2008 by Takuma, and last modified on 05:59:24 05/14/2008.