Description: In a randomly selected location - West Edmonton Mall - Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura face off in a battle of ideals as much as skill. Well, okay, not really. But Chizuru is trying to teach him a lesson! Mixing things up is the presence of the Strongest Woman in the World, Chun-Li, there to keep the whole match civil, something Kyo seldom is. Can Kyo overcome the odds arrayed against him? Of course he can, he's Kyo freakin' Kusanagi! (Winner: Kyo)
West Edmonton Mall is one of the largest malls in the world, even if it isn't /the/ largest anymore. It's still the largest in North America. For a while it had more submarines than the Canadian navy. You can get seriously lost in there.
It's a lot easier when SNF takes over part of it. There are any number of plazas and open areas inside at the junction of major intersections and they managed to just take over one of them; stores stretch away in all four directions.
Nothing, however, can get rid of the crowds. Actually, they're probably worse ever since SNF showed up. Chizuru is in what is set aside for the fighting area, after spending the last ten minutes trying to shoo people away from following her in. It can get dangerous, after all.
The last time Kyo Kusanagi had to face off against Chizuru Kagura, the 'Chaos Agent' interfering in the match was /Kain/. Surely this time things can't get any worse than that, unless they managed to dig up a zombie Vega from somewhere, right? No sir, this time things are going to go differently, because Kyo doesn't have to worry about some psychotic German blowing things up when he's trying to stand on them.
Instead, Kyo just has to worry about, well, /Chizuru/. And maybe whoever else they got as an afterthought. But mostly Chizuru.
So, in his leather jacket and dark trousers with a white t-shirt, the reigning World Warrior is here to set things right between himself and the heir to the legacy of the Yata clan... By beating her up and setting her on fire a little bit.
"Hey, Kagura," Kyo calls out towards Chizuru, once he's inside the barricades. Getting past the crowds was a little bit tough. "Been a while, huh? Hope you've been practicing... I'd hate for you to go all weak and pathetic on me now!" He probably doesn't know any other way to talk to people, you know?
For some, West Edmonton Mall may be hell. For others, it's a shopping excursion.
The role designated for the Tai Chi Mistress this week is a relatively easy one. She was told she just needs to be a Chaos Agent and slap around whoever she chooses or whoever gets out of hand. She's a fighter slash moderator! ...or something of that nature.
So with few worries weighing her down today, she has spent the past few hours shopping through the mall. It's not every day she has an opportunity to visit Canada, so why not make the most of it? She's sure the retailers are appreciating her patronage here.
As the two familiar fighters get reacquainted with one another, Chun-Li emerges among the many in the gathering crowds outside the roped off area, large bags held in either hand. For a few moments she just observes as the two speak, peering between the shoulders of a few much taller men absently watching the pre-fight foolery.
Kyo's sassy mouth draws a tiny grin over the Chinese woman's lips.
"Here, can you please hold this? Thanks!" the woman asks, offering her bags to a poor SNF crew member. To his surprise the weight is a LOT more than expected, his body pitching viciously to one side before he struggles to lift it. Chun-Li is, however, pushing her way through the crowds and into the arena area, smiling a bright and cheerful grin.
"Hello again, Kusanagi!" the Tai Chi Mistress offers, giving the Kusanagi heir a light nod and a small wave. Today, the woman has opted to wear something less flashy; a pair of stylish jeans and a white silk Oriental-style blouse and sneakers affair. No sense in getting dressed up when you're not the one people are really paying to see, right?
"Annnnd you must be Miss Kagura. Hi, my name is Chun-Li. Nice to meet you," she offers the Yata priestess, her smile still friendly. With formalities out of the way the woman steps back a few paces and looks between Chizuru and Kyo.
"So, now that we're all here...let's say you two get to it? I'm ready to go!" At least she's not German.
...or a zombie?
Chizuru is not an inherently imposing woman. You'd think Kyo had some sort of issue with her or something.
Of course, he does, and that's what makes the fight interesting.
"I always practice," she says to Kyo, absolutely truthfully. "I see no reason to let certain people leave me behind from their experience in random brawls." Chizuru stretches one arm out as she says this, limbering up a little. She makes it look elegant. Somehow. "Perhaps we should get to this before they have a sale and someone stampedes through here. I - "
Look, there's the sales shopper now. Or not; it's Chun-Li, who she is not particularly familiar with in person but recognizes from years of paying attention to fights she hasn't been involved with on her own. "I am. A pleasure to meet you." Chizuru actually smiles. Kyo might find it unusual. "I agree. We should do this before we waste any more time."
COMBATSYS: Chizuru has started a fight here.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-------|
Was that some sort of veiled insult? Kyo's eyes narrow faintly at Chizuru's response, and he lifts his chin, the better to gaze down his nose at the woman, but of course Chizuru goes and gets cut off by the appearance of the third party to this little fracas. Chun-Li, of course.
Kyo's attention turns towards the Strongest Woman in the World, and he lets out a faint snort at her greeting. Just what he needs, somebody all genuinely kind-hearted and friendly hanging around. Plus, he's been on the receiving end of Chun-Li's kicks, and those things are going to be annoying to deal with when he's already got to fight Chizuru and her tricks.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You two can go braid each other's hair and try on clothes later, for all I care," the Kusanagi heir declares, somewhat annoyed by the smiling and politeness between the two women. This is a /fight/. Show some decorum! Crazy old biddies. "Right now, you've got to deal with me!" With these words, Kyo rushes headlong right at Chizuru, throwing his right fist out in a hooking punch, trailing the distinctive crimson flames of the Kusanagi behind his hand... And then, if that hits, he steps in for a second flaming punch, intent on finishing the combination off with a third such punch, a thunderous uppercut aimed to drive Chizuru right off her feet.
So, uh, clearly he agrees on the not wasting time thing.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with Aragami.
- Power hit! -
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kyo 0/-------/-----==|
Chizuru was expecting Kyo. Really. She'd have to be blind not to.
She still moves /just/ the wrong way and ends up with a flaming fist right in her side. The first one causes her to hunch slightly, leaving her open for the second and much more empathetically the third; the uppercut actually picks her up and throws her back off her feet, just as Kyo had planned it.
Chizuru picks herself up a moment later, dusting herself off. "You hit quite hard," she says. "That hasn't changed. Are you actually improving or just depending on the same things over and over?"
She lunges. It appears to be the real Chizuru lunging, but halfway through it, an image flicks out of her, finishing the lunge and leaving the real one sliding back, away from Kyo. It perhaps overextended her a bit, but it was worth it.
A nod is spared to Chizuru as she returns the greeting, Chun-Li's expression friendly as she shoots the Yata heiress a light wave. At least someone else here has a polite attitude to balance out Kyo's jerk behavior. And just before Chun-Li can offer a friendly response to the other woman, Kyo just has to go and ruin a nice thing.
Sadly, it doesn't irritate the Tai Chi Mistress. She just laughs softly. "I see you're as temperamental and anxious as ever, Kusanagi," the elder woman offers, tipping her head gently to one side as her smile grows wider. "I can handle it just fine. I'm not sure how miss Kagura will deal with your sassy attitude." She spares a glance to the woman. CAN she handle his attitude?
That Aragami to the ribs might be hard to handle, but she seems to sass back just fine.
With Chizuru leaping into the fray with Kyo, Chun-Li decides to step back, though her pace is impeded upon by a small but sturdy bench. Getting a fantastic idea, the Tai Chi Mistress gives a very swift kick at the thing, uprooting it from its cemented place before she hefts it into hand. Grinning she balances it precariously in both hands, steadying it...before she lets out a loud cry and throws it.
Right at Kyo's head!
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chun-Li's Large Thrown Object.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru successfully hits Kyo with Shinsoku no Norito.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kyo 0/-------/--=====|
So this is the level we've descended to, now? Kicking benches at people? Kyo's arms come up as he feels more than sees the bench coming his way, batting it aside even as he turns to look at Chun-Li with a dubious expression. "Did you just call me /sassy/?" he wonders, somewhere between confused and offended. Seriously. /Seriously/. Sassy? COME ON. That's a girl word.
Still, no time to be distracted Kyo, because Chizuru is on you like white on rice.
Standing his ground against the attack, Kyo takes the hit dead on... But his plan to reciprocate afterwards is stymied by the fact that it was just an illusion. Go figure. "Speaking of the same old thing..." the Kusanagi heir says, charging forward anyway. What's his plan this time? Oh, he's trying to grab Chizuru, both hands seeking to catch the Kagura woman by her shirt, so he can twist and drive his shoulder into her, really hard, in order to knock her painfully away. "I see you're just as boring as ever, Kagura!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with Hatsugane.
- Power hit! -
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/-------/=======|
Chizuru wishes she could say that it was all going to plan. She'd be lying, though.
Chizuru's shirt sleeves are as always loose and floppy. Normally this is not an issue; she's pretty god at keeping her hands and arms out of the way of being grabbed, but Kyo really /is/ fast. Fast enough to get through her guard and hold her still so that he can shoulder-ram her backwards several feet. She's rapidly approaching the edge of the fighting area - and not by choice.
Chizuru breathes a little painfully after that one, but she is going to hide it if she can. She tries. "I wouldn't think that 'sassy' would be a terribly incorrect term," she says, to cover it. "Possibly feisty. Would you prefer feisty?"
As for the boring - well, she can't very well just /say/ otherwise, so she demonstrates instead, lunging forward once again. This time, though, she comes in low, sliding in rather than delivering a punch or an illusion. It's all Chizuru, all the time.
For now, and hopefully Chun-Li won't throw another bench.
Yes, Kyo. Chun-Li just accused you of being sassy, and has no qualms about it.
The grin on the Chinese fighter's face never fades, despite Kyo's swift handle of the large and bulky bench thrown at him. Chizuru's assault fares much better, the woman's strikes finding their target and jarring the heir but hardly fixing that terrible mouth of his--a pity!
Crossing her arms over her chest, she continues to watch the two fighters, even as poor Chizuru is painfully rammed and sent sprawling. She honestly feels a little sorry for the Yata woman--things don't really seem to be faring to well for her while up against the Kusanagi boy. And with his attitude, will this really be a one versus one, or..?
"I think feisty is suitable as well," the woman replies, grinning as brightly as ever. Following in behind Chizuru, Chun-Li makes her move, jogging forward before she leaps up high. As the other woman lands the Tai Chi Mistress attempts to snap her legs out and catch her upside the head.
"Sorry!" she offers as apology. 'cause really, she doesn't feel like the woman deserves it, but it wouldn't be fair to both fighters if she focused entirely on the SASSY Kusanagi!
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chizuru's Light Kick.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Chizuru
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Kyo 1/-------/=======|
"This is like having to deal with two maiden aunts," Kyo remarks, a bit louder than he really should have. Aren't you supposed to say that sort of thing in an undertone? Kyo rolls his shoulders to get ready again after his attack - honestly expecting Chun-Li to stay on him - but instead it seems the Strongest Woman in the World is compelled to spread the hurt evenly! Which means all Kyo has to deal with is Chizuru's baseball slide, which causes him to drop low to take the hit against his guard.
Grunting a little, what Kyo /says/ is: "I'd prefer you shut up and focus on pretending you can actually fight!" Before he twists around and puts one hand on the ground, pushing himself up long enough to thrust a leg right at Chizuru's head in a sort of sideways stomping kick... Which will also, hopefully, serve to let him push off of her and roll away, to get his footing again some distance away.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Chizuru with Tenshin Shuu Kyaku.
- Power hit! -
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Chizuru with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/------=/=======|
Chizuru just can't catch a break today. She comes up literally into Chun-Li's kicks, taking both of her feet to the side of her head. That alone almost drops Chizuru back down, at least for a few moments; it's unlikely to keep her down forever but it might have kept her dazed.
The stomping kick snaps her back to reality, though. Chizuru almost /can't/ get up after that, but at least she's no longer dizzy and dazed when she forces her way back up. "Hah... Well, at least it hasn't hurt your skills any," she says, eyes narrowing slightly.
She bursts into action all of a sudden, reaching forward to Kyo with her left hand, cupped around an invisible point in space. An orange glow suffuses her hand as she does, swirling sealing chi reaching out to touch him and perhaps keep /some/ of his energy from being useful for the moment.
Kicking off poor Chizuru's aching cranium, Chun-Li flips through the air once more, a graceful display before she lands and skids backwards, a hand grazing along the floor for a bit of balance and support. Once she's cleared out of the fray she stands upright, still offering a tiny smile. Even Kyo's comments can't seem to keep that smile off of the Tai Chi Mistress' face.
Rather than get directly involved in a verbal exchange of blows, Chun-Li instead dashes aside wordlessly, coming around Kyo's flank just as the other woman makes her move. Only after that chi seeks to seal the Kusanagi's chi does Chun-Li deliver a loud cry and leap in, her leg whipping about violently in a rapid series of swift kicks unleashed at Kyo.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru successfully hits Kyo with Reigi no Ishizue.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
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Kyo 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kyo dodges Chun-Li's Hyakuretsu Kyaku.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/---====/=======|
Uh oh. Kyo's seen /this/ before, and it's been tough enough to deal with in the past without having to deal with Chun-Li trying to kill his ass on top of it. When Chizuru comes at him full-bore, Kyo tries to get his arms up to deflect the Yata clan heiress' attack, but he can't quite get his guard in place in time; the hand and its whirling chi blast right through his half-formed guard, striking at his body and somewhere deeper, driving away his strength...
And /then/ he sees Chun-Li.
"Shit," mutters Kyo, kicking himself back to avoid those hundreds of kicks entirely, choosing to not even be in the same space as the Chinese woman and her scary legs. But rather than going after Chizuru again, for the moment the Kusanagi heir seems content to hang back, waiting carefully. He's got to end this as quickly as possible, lest the advantage he's had so far disappear... And that means he needs to capitalise on exactly the right opening...
COMBATSYS: Kyo focuses on his next action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/---====/=======|
Chizuru gets left alone for a few moments. That's fine. She's just as happy to be, at least for a few moments.
Raising her hand, Chizuru holds it on front of her, palm out and facing Kyo. It isn't a particularly aggressive stance inherently, but he might recognize it from when she's 'fighting serious'. Vega got the hand out. So does Rugal. She's apparently willing to put him in the same power category.
And then she too waits. They don't call her the Watcher for no reason, after all.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru focuses on her next action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/---====/=======|
With her dangerous legs avoided, the woman cuts her rapid kicks short, a leg whipping back and recoiling at her hip before she takes a wide hop back and away from the two fighters. Eyeing the arrogant Kusanagi carefully, the woman's brown eyes slowly drift to Chizuru, who is just as quiet now as the young man she's squared off against.
Tipping her head in a light bow, the Tai Chi Mistress lets her eyes draw to a close, lips pulling tightly across her face as she bides her time. She won't attack if they aren't; there seems little point in aggravating the fight if neither is willing to do as much themselves.
And so, Chun-Li waits...
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/---====/=======|
"Okay, fine," says Kyo, shrugging his shoulders a little. "You're gonna just hang back? Then I'd better put an end to this joke." He starts rushing forward then, closing the distance between himself and Chizuru at a breakneck pace... What exactly is he planning to do, here? Under other circumstances it would be pretty obvious, that he'd try to finish the fight with a big attack, but maybe he's got something more in mind than just throwing a huge gout of flame at the tricksy Kagura? He does have a few other powerful techniques that could seal the deal here, after all...
But what Kyo /does/ is, as he gets close enough, he rears back from what is sure to be an awesome attack to shake the very foundations of the West Edmonton Mall and reduce Chizuru to so much ash....
And then his weight shifts, and his fists lances out towards her face. "Psych!"
COMBATSYS: Chizuru interrupts Quick Punch from Kyo with Tenjin no Kotowari.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 1/=======/=======|
Chizuru sort of expected it. Sort of. She knew Kyo was going to do something, but as most people would, she assumed that it would be chi-based in nature - just like every other time this happened.
The punch was surprising. She was all wound up to react and it turned out to be - well, that. Too late, though; Chizuru is already moving back while an illusion spirals upward, striking at Kyo with its outstretched hands and burst of chi. She gets clipped by the punch as she does, but it's nothing serious; only the fact that she's already pretty beaten makes it noteworthy at all.
"Whoops," she says, not sounding particularly sincere about it.
Well, Chun-Li now knows who her target will be.
Narrowing her eyes as Kyo sasses a bit more at Chizuru, the Chinese woman's lips pull into a thin smirk, her legs tensing as she begins to move. But the Yata woman doesn't see through Kyo's feint and, as result, lashes out in kind, delivering a pretty nasty blow. Sadly, it likely isn't enough to shut Kyo up. So perhaps the Tai Chi Mistress should step in a bit and help remedy things?
Sprinting forward, the woman comes in behind Chizuru, leaping high before she angles a sharp kick downwards, attempting to strike the young heir harshly with a kick to the jaw! "HIYAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Chun-Li's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\\ <
Kyo 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Whoops is right, geez. Kyo gets blasted back by that burst of chi, just in time to see Chun-Li trying to kick him in the head AGAIN, which is not something he condones. Indeed, he throws up his arms to intercept that kick to the jaw, brushing Chun-Li aside entirely. "Didn't you attack me last? I thought you were all about 'fair play'?" he wonders of the Strongest Woman in the World, letting out a faint snort of disdain. "But, okay, fine. Let's just get this over with," Kyo says, looking right at Chizuru.
Now, he hasn't had very good luck doing this against her in the past. But right now? He doesn't especially care.
So Kyo's right hand comes up, lighting on fire, and he holds it for just a moment before he slides forwards, sweeping his hand out in a wide arc to unleash a huge swath of Kusanagi flames, the raging torrent of bloodline power seeking to devour Chizuru entirely! "EAT THIS!!"
COMBATSYS: Chizuru fails to reflect Orochinagi' from Kyo with Reigi no Ishizue.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Chizuru
[ \\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Chun-Li
Chizuru knows that this is a stupid idea. But she has to try it.
Chizuru braces herself, holds her hand in front of her, and concentrates. The same orange glow surrounds her hand, a sphere of chi that she spreads out to shield herself from the incoming flames, to draw them in to the point and push back at him while simultaneously protecting herself -
It doesn't work. Maybe they're hotter this time, or he came in too fast, or Chizuru just needs more practice. It's kind of hard to tell just from that one example. The wave of flame washes over her and sends her flying back, landing with a crunch half-on, half-in a decorative tree. It may be plastic.
She hangs there for a moment and then slides to the ground, /almost/ able to stand on her own. She ends up using the tree for support. "A very - spirited fight," she manages to get out. "I yield."
"Yeah, that's about what I thought," Kyo says, in the aftermath of his attack as Chizuru is clearly unable to quite get up on her own... And even gives up aloud, which isn't something that happens much in most fights, you know? "Well, whatever," he says, turning his back on Chizuru entirely, and casting a brief glance towards Chun-Li, whatever the Chinese woman is doing by this point. "I hope the two of you have a grand ol' time doing each others nails or practicing making out or whatever you're gonna do," he says, because he's a little bit of a jerk.
And then he starts to walk off, lifting one hand in a lazy wave over his shoulder. "At least you're a bit of a challenge to fight, Kagura... Too bad you've got such a stick up your ass!" is Kyo's parting remark, as he melts into the crowd. After all, he /won/, he doesn't have to hang around and make nice afterwards. That's for /losers/.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has left the fight here.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
Log created on 22:05:38 05/24/2008 by Kyo, and last modified on 19:17:52 05/27/2008.