Description: Why would anybody dedicate a festival for Ryuhaku Todoh? Because. Why would anybody dedicate two young up and coming teenage fighters to be sacrificed to his might? Because. So why should one spoil the results of a sanctioned fight in a log description? Because. Now stop bothering the log with your feeble mind, it's trying to be read by a bunch of people with far more important pressing questions! (Winners: Kenji and Sada)
The world only thought they were safe from having to draw /him/ again. Fading into the mists of obscurity over the hubbub sorrounding belts, and... more belts... and some more belts... with interesting side news about belts... and a heart-warming bit of good news surrounding belts... he disappeared, but for what reason?
Howard Enterprises has some sort of strange fascination with the way of that crazy man that shows up on their weekend lineup no matter how disastrous it tends to end up. They declared it openly - today would be Todohfest '08!! A whole day dedicated to the very vanity of a man that just won't go away, much like the cat in that guy who sang a folk song about how the cat kept coming back. Parades! Statues! Balloons! They're there, all right, if... not quite in the number some of the advertisements over the last week said there would be.
Fact of the matter is, where the fight is supposed to take place - a hastily constructed piece of local architecture that isn't a far cry from that of Todoh's place somewhere in the Karuta district all the way down to 'no smoking' banners placed in eerily perfect places around the wooden supports outside that hold the roof up - there aren't a lot of people around there. Many of them who are do not appear very enthusiastic even beyond the occasional waving of hastily constructed merchandise. Maybe they were paid. But forget about it, it's Ryuhaku Todoh's big day!
The only thing missing is Ryuhaku Todoh himself. Hmmm... would he truly pass up a day like this, under a cloudy sky that teases to rain on the parade?!
Sada is not sure she gets this holiday, especially since they have to fight the man during it. She's used, of course, to thousands of random festivals in various localities. That's the essence of Japanese traditional culture! But one celebrating this warrior...
She stands beneath one of the no-smoking signs, eating some Todohyaki from a skewer and sipping from a cup of genuine Kasane Ateberry Punch - a refreshing beverage indeed! She's nearly done with both.
"Oi," she says, "Ashima." She shifts one foot, stirring her 'instrument case' as she looks at the so-called Guardian King. "Did you do anything to piss off Howard? I don't see him here at all. We might have gotten stood up..."
She bites off the last smiling-kasumi-head piece of dough, swallowing it and pursing her lips to clean off the faint crumbs. "Though I guess, then, don't we win by forfeit?"
With the party going on and the people that actually did show up to celebrate the insane Todoh-- and the people who just want to see a fight-- and the people who just see a party and wanted to join-- Kenji's been a little surprised with the turnout, from the moment that he arrived to the moment that he had met up with Seijyun's own Sada Asai.
Having abstained from the mystery sugar punch-water that Sada drinks now, Kenji sits against the opposite side of the post with a small disposable box-container of ramen, shoveling in the noodles by the chopstick-ful. With a bottle of water sitting between his feet, between the very Kick-Rollers that brought him to this Todohtastic festival, he's all set for the fight to come...
And who knows, maybe he could even talk Sada into a date?!
"I read a manga like this once," he says, glancing back and up at his assigned teammate. "We're gonna let our guards down and then at the very last moment he's going to come flying out of absolutely nowhere to invariably strike me with a comical jump-kick, because it's never the plucky young heroine." He squints, now, a dangerous amount.
"Sometimes, I swear my whole life is a manga."
"YEH HAH HAH HAH HAAAAAAH!" Oh, great, it's the laugh. It's rather tinny and electrical. Loudspeaker, maybe? Then, all of a sudden - maybe on cue, even, this being Howard Enterprises - some people point up on the roof. There he is! Ryuhaku Todoh, the (self-proclaimed) greatest fighter to ever live, master of the greatest style ever to (sadly) exist! Arms crossed, face stern, nearly... no, completely statuesque, peering down upon the unworthy as if ashamed that this is the best the world has to offer on his greatest day!
Then a stiff breeze comes through and pushes him off the top of the roof, tumbling down before the feet of the others to reveal a dark secret. Well, Sada's feet. It comes short of fulfilling Kenji's prophecy about people mysteriously coming out of nowhere and jump-kicking them. A cardboard cutout! "Bah!! How dare you think you have the right to be my reflection in the mirror, cardboard! You just wait! I'll carry your corpse all the way to Queen Cardboardizabeth of Cardboardopolis in the continent of Cardboaroupe and make them sign their surrender under my might!!" There he is, just where the cardboard cutout was as a Todoh balloon flies by. His eyes turn towards the runaway nylon balloon, sweat running down that headband-clad brow, and... come to think of it, does he wear anything else? Does he ever /wash/ it? "All these innocent objects think they can be me! But you, you can wield my style! You can conquer the fighting world with it! But there is only one ME! Ryuhaku Todoh! No one else!!" Teeth grind. Blood pressure rises along with the eyebrows of some involved as he promptly leaps off the top of the roof before the other two with the makeshift wooden floorboards of the outer deck shuddering under the landing, a perfect crouch as he - what else - continues to fan himself and his ego as he places the other hand right on his hip.
"So, what do you kids say?! Celebrating me instead of all these pretenders! Yeh hah hah!! I'll show you what this festival is really about!" That Howard Enterprises giveth and would surely taketh away at a moment's notice. You could write manga like this but sometimes reality is... yeah.
COMBATSYS: Todoh has started a fight here.
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Todoh 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sada has joined the fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Todoh
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Sada
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Kenji 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Sada 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sada has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
"Don't talk like that, you're going to get me kicked," Sada protests/indicates. "You know you're just inviting fate; besides, I heard that in a lot of modern manga, there's strong female characters, so you should just shut up. Are you still reading Shonen Jump at your age?"
And then - a Todoh approaches! Sada sinks into a ready stance, tossing her trash to the ground and kicking her instrument case, which produces her kusarigama, which is grasped and spun at the side as she narrows her eyes and furrows her brow at the legendary warrior. "One of these days, old man --"
The chain whips out suddenly, the weight trailing around like a curving comment. "/I'm/ the one who's going to have a festival!" The chain is aimed at Todoh's ancient midsection, aiming to wrap him up and haul him to his knees, perhaps for Kenji to punch!?
"What's wrong with reading Shounen Jump?!"
He says this as he looks up at the girl with furrowed brows and lowering his box of ramen, genuinely confused by the whole thing. If only Sada knew what was actually hiding away in his room-- the entirety of the closet in his house stocked with volumes upon volumes of manga, stretching as high as the ceiling and some in the crawlspace above, with shelves on the walls and some stacked on his dresser. Shelves, too, even. Yet, all of it is neatly-organized and set up all across the room, and it's his own little holy shrine of life and nerddom.
This is also why the other members of the Guardian Kings have never been to his house.
So Todoh flies out and kicks over-- a cardboard cutout?! And making such a bold claim!! As Sada takes the lead in the battle, Kenji throws aside his casual jacket-- the one he just got back from Shurui, no less-- and runs in the back of the arc of her chain, the box of ramen ... well, god only knows where that's landing. But it's not as important, there's an old man to smack back to the home!
"UrrrrrrAGH!!"
Swinging a hard fist at Todoh, the punch falls almost comically short-- but that's actually intentional, made clear as his fist and forearm scatters a ferocious burst of that chi in the air in front of him, trying to rip across the man's chest in the wake of the blade going for his middle.
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Todoh with Odani Foundation Art.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
COMBATSYS: Todoh blocks Kenji's Twelve Gauge.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
"Are you, now?!" The amusement of the crazy old man that just. Won't. Go. Away. Starts to fade. "Bah! Just going to invite yourself to be replaced by cardboard doppelgangers, that's what!" He's showing plenty more interest in the dialogue more than the thing that matters most of all - the chain that's about to wrap itself around his midsection! He's already crouching to begin with and if he doesn't care to move, that's to the younger duo's benefit, now isn't it. He all but lets it wrap around his waist, helpfully readjusting his grip around it.
"You think that thing can hold me?" Back to amusement, he continues to fan himself until he hits that lucky combination of 'ssqueezing hard' and 'resisting enough that it's worth,' leaning back with a cringe as it just tightens around his midsection. He might lose an inch or so off his waistline after the fact as he is dragged closer.
"AAAARGHpff," so quoth the yell as his eyes nearly pop right out of his head and he feebly tugs against a superior squeeze, pulled in further and further while waving the fan hand around like this would accomplish much of anything. It sort of does, fanning at that empty space between the space of Kenji's fist and himself, marginally disrupting the gathered chi formation right as it escapes the mighty young man whose fist is a missile, weakening the concentration and catching most of the force through his waving forearm. Cool as it may show in his ability to work against chi, this... likely was not an intentional gesture.
Then he falls over onto his side, still wrapped up and looking awful defeated this early on. "Oooh, real cheeky, talking up to the man of the min-- ho-- day... no, no! OF THE MILLENIUM! This is the match of the millenium!!" The match of the millenium where two kids already have the upper hand on him.
He technically has both arms unwrapped, so why is he still choosing to be bound? Maybe he just doesn't care. He throws his arms up in completely mock surrender, because everyone who is here already knows what is going to happen even with a fan in place.
The trio of chunky chi blocks that form the favored technique that mystifies and pulverizes (...pffthahaha), connected to each other and only given one directove as his hands sweep downward. Or diagonally downward. It's hard to tell. Maybe the only noteworthy quality is that it is a perpendicular Kasane Ate and that it would still rather fall downward rather than outward, but will Kenji - the one closer by - be able to benefit from the difference?!
That chain loosens as Sada relaxes her grip, taking a step to the side to unravel it - she can only pummel Todoh in so many ways if he is wrapped up with most of her weapon! She whirls it as she steps aside, only to shout to Kenji, "You shouldn't read that shit if you're going to be a man! It's kid's comics!" She says this, with the six years of monthly romance manga under her bed.
But then as she steps to the side, her head whirls around, eyes widening -- Kenji's being subjected to 'that technique'! Can he possibly survive it!? Part of Sada screams out: Help him! Don't let him be hurt! And yet...
She doesn't move to take the shot instead. There isn't enough time; the wave of terrible chi will be upon him too soon for her to move!
COMBATSYS: Sada focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Todoh's Kasane Ate.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
The three columns of energy and power scream toward him, the dreaded technique that millions around the world know so well. The instant death technique!! The legendary ... Kasane Ate?!! And with Kenji being -right there-, it means that this could go horribly wrong for the mighty young Gedo student, mighty fast.
But to his own surprise, probably also to some others in the audience, Mr. Secretary brings his forearms up and turns down his head, the blast of power slamming against him.
Kenji's knees buckle, but he remains standing, pushed back a distance with a squeal of the rubber soles of his sneakers, and the angry grinding of the wheels and axels locked in them.
Taking a step forwards, Kenji's next action-- regardless Sada's action or inaction, at the moment-- is to spring forward, lunging through the air with a striding jump and thrusting out his hand. If it catches onto Todoh's head, he's going to use all the strength he can muster to pull the man to the ground by his face and spike it into the ground, and then--
"URRRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
An explosive blast of chi swells from not his hand, but the ground that would be below the Todoh-ryu master, the whole attack designed to launch him uncontrollably into the air and let gravity handle the rest.
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Todoh with Claymore.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
The elder Todoh, easily distinguishable from the younger Todoh on account of being a... spirited old man as opposed to a spirited young lady, is further distinguished from being yanked a little ways more as Sada loosens and retrieves the length of her weapon, spinning him onto his chest with a wheeze. If he were truly spiteful - and he is, come to think of it - he'd brush it off as nothing. But he's going to be feeling that squeeze for a good while. People cheer every so often to put up the realistic illusion that the vast majority of people in the audience are legitimately cheering him on. It at least fools one guy here!
Then Ryuhaku looks up as someone grabs the top of his head, an eyebrow quirked as opposed to actually doing something about it. His face gets driven down through the wooden boards, which unhinges some of the work in this loving, portable replica of his home. Then it is blown completely clean, sending wooden planks everywhere! I mean, everywhere! One may lose sight of him from how high up he is. It's high enough that he could be the sunshine that this cloudy day sincerely lacks.
He's none too willing to take the full fall gently, righting himself up in midair. "Oh you want to make this a shouting match, young man, do you?! You want to make this a shouting match? Ooooh bad choice, never enter a shouting match with your elders!!" His hands go up again, meaning what exactly? Summoning the shine of the sun for a tiny stretch of the measurable equivalent of 'three chain linked yellowish orangeish energy blasts' to shine down upon the wicked! The arms go up and down rapid fire, each one with a sharp kiai to punctuate the arrival of the sun through the clouds by his own mighty power! (lies)
...
Whatever it is accomplishing... it does at least slow his descent visibly as to make the landing much less brutal from this height, but as he draws closer and closer he shows no real signs of stopping, waving those arms up and down with more and more drawn power every second, descending somewhere within Kenji's vicinity where he has to deal with a torrent of this terrible technique once it comes to the height it's not going to dissipate before it can touch the ground!
"HEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAHHEEYAH!!!" Is true martial arts mastery in the power to do the same thing over and over and over again without breaking a sweat in a relentless cascading barrage of world-destroying chi powers?! (...pffthahahaha)
He's striking forwards with all his power and heart?! Sada is, despite herself, slightly impressed - especially at the projectile maneuver, sending his own chi outwards. She might be jealous, were Sada not convinced that chi was a waste of the proper training and time of a fighter.
Then Todoh comes past it - forcing another of those legendary maneuvers past Kenji's defenses, screaming and squealing and making those horrifying noises of ultimate mastery. Sada's heart is moved; she can't just let Kenji remain out there, being horribly beaten with intense chi rays, not even if it WOULD be really funny to watch him be set on fire!
"Ashima!" she shouts, as she whips the weighted end of the kusarigama back. "Try to hold out - I'll get him in position, and you can use your stupid super punch on him!" Ah, now there's a technical term for you. She then tries to exploit Todoh's possibly drunken nature by whirling the kusari to build speed up, before hurling it with a shout --
At his legs?! Yes; her aim is to wrap him up at the knees, preventing, perhaps, further mobility. Maybe even interfering with future deployment of that deadly technique?!
COMBATSYS: Todoh successfully hits Kenji with Kasane Ate.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
Is he-- seriously-- he just--
"Urgh!!" Kenji lets out, being pummelled down into the ground from the aerial bombardment of Kasane Ate. He hits the ground a little hard, his back going rigid before the final flop-thud on the ground-- and he doesn't bother staying there long enough to see where Todoh lands, either. His hands and feet find immediate purchase on the floor of the mock home in the mock festival, crabwalking himself backwards as fast as he possibly can muster-- and nearly in line with Sada while she makes her next attack.
A shouting match? His 'stupid super pun-- "That's RAIL GUN," he corrects with a slight yell, getting himself up to his feet. Right before he throws his fist at the ground, bending forward and glaring at the air just beyond his knuckles, he makes a single affirmation toward Todoh: "Yell like this, old man!"
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
And through his seemingly unending scream, a massive gout of white-blue flame explodes from his knuckles, screaming up the length of his arm and trumpeting off his shoulder, a glow that would illuminate the darkness-- and it has, in the past-- and yet, it doesn't give off the same sort of angry blazing heat. It's ... strangely comfortable?!
And that force continues to build while he continues to let out that scream...
COMBATSYS: Kenji gathers his will.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Sada
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Todoh with Tangle Whip.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 Kenji
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Sada
And so, the elder Todoh gracefully lands next to the blown open pit of splintered wood boards, his breath no heavier nor louder for the effort of showing the world that the greatest miracle of martial arts in the world is no effort at all! A large grin forms on his face as Kenji eats the full bombardment. He brings his hands up above himself, ready to clap them together to center his focus and prepare the next bandying of words and phrases and insults and insipid dialogue stolen from Takuma's little English language playbook that Ryuhaku keeps finding and cribbing pages from despite the best efforts of the whole Sakazaki family.
"Oh, isn't this cute, teamwork between the y--- AAAH!! AAAAH!!" The kusari didn't come from his blind side. He just, for whatever reason, didn't consider it a threat. That first time, he thinks, that was a lucky shot! It won't happen again, she won't get him this time. His knees say differently as she wraps them around his legs tightly enough that he has difficulty keeping his balance with her tugging, and this is to a backdrop of Kenji screaming and putting on an impressive chi show sure to delight everyone who is here for a good fight. In fact, those who were paid to be here are showing legitimate interest and cheer in the efforts between the two of them.
The elder Todoh's composure comes back together like a mood swing, achieving some kind of balance against the ground as he turns his head so very slowly to Sada and raises a single hand. A tell for a simpler variation of the greatest chi technique of all?!
"As I was say--" Kenji's still screaming, "DON'T YOU SHOUT OVER ME BOY WHILE I'M TRYING TO LECTURE THIS YOUNG LADY," and even at his comical best volume can't drown Kenji out, but he keeps trying anyway as he coyly reaches down to the chain and attempts to tug her off her feet and maybe into that gap in the floor of the imitation deck that one Kenji Ashima here blew a hole through, "THAT SHE HAD DAMN BETTER WAIT HER TURN BEFORE I SEND HER WITH THAT CARDBOARD SPY OVER THERE!!" His legs would really like free movement right about now because they're really cutting off circulation and his feet are beginning to fall asleep. No sleep nap on the job when he needs them most!
...What is his problem with that cardboard cutout of himself anyway?
COMBATSYS: Sada counters Strong Throw from Todoh with Asai Harvester.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 Kenji
> //////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Sada
Yes, Sada thinks, SUFFER! She thinks this even as that chain is grabbed and yanked forwards. Sada does have the presence of mind to leap up in the air instead of getting dragged all through that festival garbage/filth - a particularly NOXIOUS form of filth, really, when you think about it - and shouts to Kenji, "Stop screaming like you're going to hit him, and hit him!!"
As she flies forwards, powered by the brutal yanking power that is Todoh, she swipes at his belly with the kusarigama's sickle end - this is the wooden practice one, preventing Todoh from a possible wardrobe malfunction, but the ripping, cutting motion should still raise an interesting bruise! "Like this!!"
She is then sent sailing through that hole, removing her, however briefly, from the immediate field of action. Can Kenji prevail!?
Cardboard spies, cutouts, the screaming of an old and the screams from a young girl-- all of it, and more?! The energy continues to build as the visual display does, the raging flames and the swelling of chi seeming to coordinate with how loud and how gutteral his scream is. His head lifts to watch the next scene unfold, the man of the hour getting his attempts to drag Sada around by her own weapon cut painfully short.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
There's no light steps to his pace, but a single, from-the-line burst into a sprint. His feet pound against the cheaply-constructed floor while he tries to cross the gap between himself and Todoh, Sada aside, and his arm draws back. His leg hits the floor and kicks up more splinters, too.
"SET!!"
A beam of blue light is suddenly shining on the martial artist's chest, a straight line that leads back an unknown distance and to his chest, and out behind him. It does no damage, but acts like a guide-- a guide while the Guardian King's fist rears back with all of that brimming, angry chi moving to his fist in one colossal surge. Once his fist touches off on that light, his arm screams forward in a direct line, the muscles in his arms, chest, and back all tightening up at once, trying to slug Todoh square in that point highlighted on his chest.
If the powerful strike lands, all of the built-up chi is likewise released-- in the form of a brutal shockwave, one that intends to throw the man off his feet and send him flying as hard as he can manage. One thing can be heard through the sudden roar of the chi and shockwave, and it's Kenji using a bit of English:
"RAIL GUN!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Todoh with Rail Gun.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Kenji
> //////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Sada
This is Todohfest '08, full of hastily devised Todoh-themed merchandise and snacks and vanities and just about everything you can ask for in fully commercializing (and... festival-izing) a particularly obscure man who just can't ever seem to get on top. Maybe he should consult with that guy whose name is Earl as to why this is.
It starts innocuous enough. A hard tug to try and send Sada into that gap so that he won't have to /deal/ with her for at least a couple seconds, an impulsive moment you would attribute to a frustrated novice as opposed to a martial arts master. Especially one such as he! Is he truly? ...One discipline he could state true mastery over is the art of taking it to the gut as Sada flies forward with her terrible speed, socking him with a wooden sickle that shows he's barking up against the wrong thing that can bite back, sending him stumbling back with a loud exhale across uneven terrain from a significant patch of it having ceased to be from contact by the Missile Fist wielder himself. Maybe the Asai and Ashima bloodlines are the true families who rose to match the threat Todoh represents to the order of the world! (...maybe)
But he stays on his feet, regardless as to whether he is still bound by the legs or not. He might not be for much longer. He stubbornly, as is proper, tries to stay on his feet. Sadly for those involved, a good punch to the gut doesn't shut him up. "So you kids are enjoying this, yes? A little... too much! Stop having fu-- STOP YELLING OVER ME!" The likelihood of any of this being heard approaches zero because, well, this is Kenji, Kenji shouts good, he will be one of the best shouters in all of history, you can take that to the bank!
Kenji rushes at him. He has a face that can be described as half-way between a confident master's evil gleam and the beads of sweat of innate panic and fear, with a dash of nostalgic value over how the wood under his feet feels a lot like one of his relatives' old homes he used to visit regularly as a kid. Nice and springy. He sheds a manly tear while still on the losing end of staying on his feet. The beam of blue light centers on Todoh's chest, and it doesn't hurt. He stifles a little chortle, c'mon, if that's it, that's nothing, he can't feel i--
boom
Just that one word. Uppercase and punctuation does not do it justice.
If any were in a single fight against this man... well, one can't say how it would go, this is Todoh! But that's credit to the sheer strength behind the shot to the chest, dust flying up everywhere from the chi shockwave as the man goes flying, flying, flying, clear through the hastily constructed wooden railing and into the crowd, which wisely clears as he collapses into a pile of limited edition stone statues of the man himself! It explodes awful exaggeratedly, perhaps like one of those manga still panels.
A figure rises in the dust, vague and hard to make out other than it has long hair, hakama trousers, the usual big fighter arms, and is apparently not dead. Pay no attention to this. Instead, pay attention to the scattering debris from the statue explosion. Like the one of Todoh's grinning face falling from upon high somewhere towards Kenji's face.
Even inanimate objects harness the true power of Ryuhaku Todoh's ability to spoil a fine emotional moment, or that of triumph. It's a credit to the craftsmen!
COMBATSYS: Todoh successfully hits Kenji with Thrown Object EX.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> //////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Sada
Kenji ;O;
The 'stupid super punch,' as Sada so eloquently put it, fires off without a hitch. His fist screams through the air, and the air itself ripples with the shockwave. Todoh is sent flying through a combination of his own strength and the strength of the energy he had welled up, and now their grand stage has taken the brunt of the beating.
Similarly, Kenji is getting beaten by a severed head.
Stone, but.
Still severed.
The grand stone skull smacks flat into his face and sends his head back, the entirety of his body reeling to follow suit. His arms pinwheel around and his legs stab around here and there to keep himself steady, but he just got hit in the face with a -severed head- ... of stone. Landing on his back and holding his now bleeding nose, Kenji blinks a few times, trying to piece together what exactly happened there. The last thing he remembers seeing was something like:
8D
And that's enough to give him nightmares. Sitting up and wiping it away from his face, he does what any teenage boy would: He wipes his hand off on his jeans. Looking about ready to fire off a speech, Kenji looks around at first-- looking at the stage, around himself, and around Todoh.
"Sada? Sada~!" Whoops.
COMBATSYS: Kenji takes no action.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> //////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Sada
Dust rises from the hole - could anyone survive that much dust? It's a good question. The chain rattles, though, before going limp... limp and useless. A sign...?
"Ashima!!" Sada shouts in her peculiarly deep and resonant voice as she strides out, coated in dust and looking pissed off. A little blood flecks her arms where she nicked herself going through the hole at an awkward angle, and she stares ahead with blind fury at the back of the legendary warrior. Ashima hasn't killed him yet?!
Defeated. Defeated.
She assumes, due to her moment of dizziness when she bonked her head against a rack of Todoh-Meki Memorial High School gal-game CDs (with custom art!), that Ashima's blow has carried through and has, thus far, failed. "I'll show you," she shouts, as she runs forwards, briefly abandoning her weapon, "how to do it!"
She advances then, reaching forwards to grasp one of the legendary hands that burn red with the wrath of the ancient technique whose name is too great to be said casually, one strong well-manicured hand going to grab at fingers and palm while the other grasps at Todoh's upper arm. "Feel the wrath of Seijyun's elegant ladies!" she cries, before twisting around and jamming her knee up at Todoh's fragile, arthritic old elbow!
It's not supposed to go that way... will it bend?
COMBATSYS: Todoh dodges Sada's Fighting Like A Girl.
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Todoh 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> /////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Sada
It all seems quiet. This is a recurring theme. It continues to sell, so things will continue to seem quiet as appropriate until proven otherwise. From the haze of dust of shattered likenesses of a man who may or may not really be a fighting sueprstar (...snerk) walking forth. There's no reason to doubt that this man still moving is a sign that the fight isn't quite over.
Sada grabs at the arm. It's nice, strong, thick - the perfect profile for a fighting man! A grunt of indeterminate character other than it being 'male' responds as the mighty Asai heir mightily fights like a girl and strikes the elbow, causing them to fall over with a groan.
"Agh! What the hell was that for?!" That... that voice is not Todoh. It instead belongs to a man who would be his spitting image, were his face not twenty years more youthful and had a green vest sort of garment on instead of red. "Ouch! Aaah! Aaaaaaagh! Ahh..." He winces as he grabs his assailed arm on the ground. It flexes at the elbow, at least - so it's not broken. That should clean the conscience a bit.
"YEH HAH HAH... haaah... haaack!" Triumphant laughter is met with coughing, giving Ryuhaku Todoh away somewhere just behind one of the wooden supports around the deck of the makeshift replica of his infamous stomping grounds. He's bloodied and unsteady, at /least/ as he stumbles out from behind the place he had somehow moved into within the last few seconds without anybody noticing, leaning up against the support with one hand while waving a finger tauntingly, wheezing but smiling even with a trail of blood going down from just above his left eye and off his chin. This culminates into giggling. Unnatural giggling that a grown man should be ashamed to ever do. Not him!
"That's what you get for interrupting a dramatic re-entry!! You wait until I get out of the dust, young lady! And if that were me I'd-- aaah, forget it!!" And let's see him laugh when /he/ takes the fall for getting a bystander hurt - one that is either a huge fan or at least has an eerily identical dress sense, but for now, he shoves off that support and brings his hands up again, his side rather... open, to an opportunistic Kenji. Maybe too open?
The arms go swinging down again, but there's nothing up above to look at. No yellowish-orangeish blobs of REAL ULTIMATE POWER, because that's the wrong place to look. Instead, extremely thin white-ish blue blades of chi fan out conically, ascending the further it travels in a wave that looks more like how someone /else/ would do it. But who? "HOOOOYEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!"
It reaches its maximum range roughly around where Sada presently stands. Careful spacing? Sheer dumb fortune? Or the work of a true master of the art?!
COMBATSYS: Todoh successfully hits Sada with Cho Kasane Ate.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Todoh 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\=------\1 Sada
Sada stands there, a hand on her hip as Todoh falls over. The other raises, the back of her hand approaching her lips. "Fu hu hu," she actually enunciates, "that's what you get for defying the power of youth!" Her eyes narrow as her lips quirk upwards. "If you surrender now, maybe we'll have mercy on - "
Her eyes widen at the sight of the sudden power. "How could you - after all your wounds - you can still --?!"
She screams, then, the light seeming to whiten the world around her until her outline can only be seen as if it were drawn on a pencil board, her eyes widened and terrified. Her scream trails off as she vanishes, erased suddenly, with a moment of silence.
Followed by the actual explosion, which sends Sada rocketing backwards the way she came, going through the same hole she came out of, her body briefly engulfed with wisps of Todoh-Ryuu-induced chi flame!! She lands with a groan, before cursing in Kyotoben. The chain of the kusarigama rattles...!!
But Sada seems strangely reluctant to leap back into the fray. Maybe she just needs to catch her breath before she gets struck with that terrifying maneuver again. "So this," she says to herself, "is the power of the Kasane Ate..."
COMBATSYS: Sada gains composure.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Todoh 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Sada
Learning that his concerns were so well-placed, that Sada's reaction would be that sour, the young man straightens up and punches his fists to his hips as though he were going to watch something brilliant happen. His expression is somewhere between 'o rly' and 'no wai' when all of her skills and pretense and style fall flat for her to-- miss, completely!
When the retalation comes down, the might of the mighty and legendarily legendary Cho Kasane Ate befalls his teammate, Kenji's head turns a little, wincing-- that looked like it felt good.
"OOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
The battlecry is sudden and immediate, and the young man with no real fighting style is charging in at the man of the hour head-on. Relentless! Stubborn! Blind, maybe?! But he doesn't seem like he's going to give it up all that easily. His shoulder rolls down a little, his weight shifting to a lower center of gravity while a hand grabs for Todoh's collar-- bunch it all up in a fist. "UuuuuuurAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH--"
And if he can manage it, a sudden shaft of white-blue chi screams up his arm and into the man's face. It tries to launch Todoh into the sky, with no apparent course and ... well, landing's all up to him.
COMBATSYS: Todoh fails to counter Sky High Rocket from Kenji with Kuzu Otoshi.
> //////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Sada
COMBATSYS: Todoh can no longer fight.
> //////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Sada
The elder of the Todoh duo (and the only one present, while we're at it) raises his hands up once more, clapping them together loudly in the aftermath. It's one part a way to focus, the other part showing off, and with a dash of maybe rubbing it in. Wounded as he is, winded as he must be, he's not looking any ready to give it up. He's still fighting, isn't he? Career-wise. And speaking of that... oh, let's not.
"Hah hah... young lady, did you... expect anything more? Why, you're free to try again, if you have no ba--" He's cut off by Kenji screaming again. Like another mood swing, an almost respectful and cheerful if wounded old man suddenly grits his teeth and furrows his brow as though a harsher scorn than ever before, though he doesn't turn to face the guilty party.
"What... did I say... about SHOUTING ABOVE M--" His arms, almost instinctively at this point, lower around shoulder length, one forward, one cocked back. Astute eyes, or namely, maybe the one or two people who actually even enjoy watching this guy fight (the few and the proud who care to follow him as far as humanly possible when he has a nearly superhuman knack for obscurity by will alone), would pick out what this stance is for.
The story would be largely different if the man were /facing the right way/. His collar gets grabbed with a choke and his eyes bulging out like they're ready to defect to the side of Not Due For The Retirement Home Within Five Years.
"Aah! You little!" Both hands reach behind him to go through with it anyway, but tugged right off his feet, he can't keep the necessary concentration for the fluid motion that foiled Mr. Big pretty handily. The crowd that is even watching this, small as it is, looks up suddenly with a couple gasps among the crowd as the white-blue chi illuminates what may be the decisive blow, a loud crack followed by /someone/ flying into the air. A fan falls out of somewhere on Ryuhaku's person and lands neatly folded between the cracks of the mock dojo grounds.
His consciousness fades the higher he goes up into the cloudy, overcast skies. But old men, old people in general, seem to have this little thing that makes them ever the more unpleasant to deal with. Pretentious behaviors, an entitlement mentality, and old-fashioned rose tinted views of the olden days. Also, a mutual disrespect for everyone more than two or three decades younger than themselves. In flight, he has enough to ball up a fist and flap his gums. Sadly.
"YOU... ROTTEN... KIDS!! Raining on my parade! Why when you graduate, let's see how you like it when I--" Whump. He is silenced handily by a blimp bearing the ugly mug of Todoh himself colliding into him in midair. You know how far up Kenji punched him? ...Pretty far.
Strangely yet, the displayed image turns to that of a poorly drawn caricature of a fistshaking Todoh as the blimp seems to lose altitude as it continues through the sky. That... can't be good.
All that's left to do is for the announcer to speak of the winners of this battle of the greatest festival of the year (lies)! Odd as it may seem, there's not a whole lot of boos and quite a few cheers.
Sada's head tilts up to watch Todoh go flying upwards, flying high up in the sky... she watches this for a few moments, especially as the Todoh Blimp blimps the great man himself.
She looks at Kenji, then, her face seeming gentle and soft. Soft pink petals seem to fall behind her in a gauzy, casual, transient spray as her eyes glimmer, as if wet with tears. She lets her sweet lips part, as if to breathe something --
"Why didn't you use that move earlier?!" she shouts, stabbing the kama forward. Her outfit continues to smoulder. "Do you have any idea what the hell that move felt like?!"
Ordinarily, someone being hit by this technique doesn't touch the heavens quite like Todoh. In moments like this, that's when Kenji stops to stare at his hand in absolute shock and awe, wondering just how deep the great vastness of awesome he has inside goes. Maybe he's exaggerating a bit, maybe Todoh really didn't go up as high as he seemed to. Either way, he's got something else to contend with right now--
Like a girl looking longingly at him in the moment where they say nothing, but their love is affirmed to the readers. A moment where the hero finally realizes he's wearing his feelings on his sleeve! A moment where he realizes that he could just grab onto that rose-colored student life he's been wanting since he moved to Southtown from Osaka and hold onto it with both hands!!
'Why didn't you-!!' she screams. ... Well, okay, it was a nice dream.
Kenji's immediately recoiling, his hands held up and his eyes wide. "W-What?! I didn't know he was gonna go flyin' off like that! Honestly!! Seriously! I thought the Rail Gun was gonna finish him off and he just got up! What was I supposed to do?!"
Yes, at moments like this, Kenji Ashima wonders if his life wasn't penned by some obnoxious shounen manga writer creating the next great comedy series...
Log created on 22:49:19 06/06/2008 by Todoh, and last modified on 13:17:28 06/17/2008.