Description: In this Neo League Aranha finds himself reminiscing about his humble beginnings. Hotaru on the other hand is wishing she was somewhere else. Both fighters have had a chance to grow since their last fight and now they have a chance to show it. (Winner: Hotaru)
She wishes she had known where this scheduled Neo League match was going to take place BEFORE she arrived at the location. Having the address to a run down, industrial block in Metro City didn't mean anything to the girl who didn't know one district of Metro from another, given her limited time spent in the sprawling, large American city. But as the taxi drive from the air port took her further and further into a rougher part of the metropolis, she had begun to wonder. And when she arrives at the site of a large, closed industrial plant, she began to worry even more. And when the Neo League officials wave the girl into the door of the building, her worry becomes complete.
The interior of the old factory is a mess. Metal, rusted pipes twist and turn in every which way. Giant, silent metal generators sit decaying patiently, waiting for their inevitable return to dust someday. Valves and gauges on the pipes give the girl no clue as to what this factory used to be. Dressed in pristine white pants and blouse, she's none too thrilled at the environment. In every direction is nothing but rust, dust, grime, and probably evidence of insects and rodents if one looks too closely.
A bit of a neat freak, the entire idea is starting to seem unpleasant to her as she glances over the tall walls of machenery, having no clue what they were for when they were operational. Reaching out with her hand, she rubs her finger across one of the pipes, only to have the metal give way into dust, leaving her finger coated with red rusty powder. Making a face, she smacks her hands together to get rid of it, shaking her head with a bit of disgust. The dust only ends up provoking a very girlish sneeze, however, "A'choo!"
Patting her Chinese styled blue and gold vest, and taking a moment to make sure her red hair ribbons are snug, Hotaru exhales softly, trying to clear her mind of the dirty interior lest it get the best of her. With pipes and crawlspaces a plenty, a more adventuresome fighter might have a ball with such a site, but if one is afraid of a little dust, it's really just a miserable place to be.
Enter the adventuresome fighter, Aranha. When he enters he's all smiles for a number of reasons. Aranha is a native of Metro City and so it is definitely good to be back home for him. For another, the grimy interior is a reminder of his roots as a fighter. When he fought ham and eggers for money to support his little sister. The dusty smell of what it was like to fight in one of the fighting pits of Metro City.
While Aranha wanted to show his love for where he came from, he came in silence. Welcome to Metro City just didn't seem appropriate. Too much pomp. The laid back smile is all he needs to let his presence be known but when he sees his opponent he raises an eyebrow. He just didn't feel that Hotaru belonged here. But not because she was too girly but rather because she both her skills and demeanor(before, during, and after blood thirsty Hotaru) didn't fit the blue collar feel of the warehouse. Even still he couldn't help but be glad that she was his opponent. It meant he had a chance to improve and to learn more about himself.
She becomes aware of another presence within the structure. With the creak of strained metal walkways wherever one tries to go, it'd be a tricky affair to move stealthily even if /intended/. But the young man from Metro does enter quietly all the same, leaving Hotaru slow to turn around and fix on his position. Spinning around in a small flurry of dust to face the Capoeira fighter directly, she's quiet for a moment, not recognizing him at first in the somewhat dimmed lighting of the building. It may be afternoon outside, but the only light getting inside is through the broken windows and few gaping holes in some of the walls.
But she realizes who it is after a moment and her expression shifts from the quiet annoyance at the rusted out old building into a faint trace of a smile and nod of acknowledgement. "It's been a while," she states, her voice small in the large building, dampened out by dangling chains and old curtains that haven't served a purpose for decades. "This is not quite what I had expected," she remarks, waving one hand off to the side vaguely. She's used to more traditional or sometimes exotic locales for her matches. "I'll have to see a nicer part of Metro later on to make up for it," she grins.
Inhaling, Hotaru folds her arms in front of her and offers Aranha a formal bow of respect before exhaling slowly and raising her hands up to her side as she turns her shoulder toward him. Her grin fades, her expression becoming more serious. "All right, then." the young Kenpo artist continues. "I'm ready." He's seen her fight before, and tried his talents against hers from time to time. But a lot of time has passed since then, and a lot has changed for the both of them. In the past she might have even gone easy on him as he accused her of aboard the Suiryuu. But they've both had time to improve their talents since then. "Whenever you're good," she adds softly. "Remembering what I do about you, Aranha, I'm actually curious to see you in action here." she admits after a moment. Maybe this is the best place to fight after all. Icky dust and grime aside.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha is somewhat contemplative as he sets eyes on Hotaru. Slowly moving closer and closer before he pulls out his Oakley Thumps. He looks around for a moment and then slips them back into his pocket. That's the main drawback to such a dimly lit venue. Shades are a handicap.
"While it's not expected for me, it almost feels like home. My first fights after learning Capoeira were in places like this. Pay a buy in to fight and make a little money here and there." He pauses as he looks around studying the environment and then finally looking at Hotaru again.
"It has been too long but now that you're here you should know..." his voice beginning to drop off as he mouthes to one of his favorite rap songs. "This is the home of Schugerg's Invasion. The place of the lost towers... We're still bangin. We never really lost power." And then he suddenly bursts into motion with a tumbling pass, shooting towards Hotaru before suddenly taking to the air and snapping off kick while upside down before landing on his hands and tilting over to drop into a low crouch with one leg extended forward. "Welcome to Metro City."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Aranha's Short Kick!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
No, given the dim interior, shades would probably not be a good idea, except for the help they would provide in keeping dust out of his eyes perhaps. Hotaru is definitely not going to strike first, as is evidenced by her swaying in place, bouncing lightly on her toes, ready to put her remarkable speed to work against the capable young man. She listens to him speak of his first fights, how he learned the hard way by paying for the chance to fight in pits and slums and Hotaru looks thoughtful. Her first fights were in prestigious dojos at her father's behest, as he'd take her and her brother to other fighting schools to meet the instructors and perhaps show off his children's skill a little. The contrasts aren't lost on the thoughtful girl, though she speaks nothing of her own circumstances for the moment, but rather offers him a quiet smile. She hopes he's coming a long ways since having to engage in pit fighting to get by...
Aranha begins to utter the words to a song that inspires him, but the references are lost on Hotaru, who's Japanese sensitivities might not have graced her with an appreciation for rap music. She at least realizes that they ARE lyrics, so that she doesn't think Aranha is spewing random gibberish at her though. And then she tenses, sensing the fight is about to start and not wanting to be caught off guard.
He takes to the air and snaps out a kick that might catch her easily if she isn't ready for it. But the girl is aggressive in her defense, shifting her left arm a little before snapping hard to press her palm against his shin and redirect his momentum to the side. It isn't enough to keep him from making it into his intended stance, perhaps, but all the same, she continues with that opening she believes to have made for herself by dropping down into a stance so low that she's practically beneath the level of his legs, her face not that much higher up than his while he's in that handstand.
The Swallow stance, as she calls it, with her arms out at her sides, her legs split far apart, is held for only an instant before she springs forward rather aggressively, her right arm out, hooked to catch Aranha around the waist while he's upside down in an attempt to take him with her and slam him against the floor in the very act of landing in a handstand /herself/. "Ya!" If successful, she simply springs off of the young man's chest into a backflip to try and gain some ground and get ready for her next action.
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Hotaru's Hantentou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha doesn't completely tilt out of that handstand and it serves as both a blessing and a curse. Because of the position he's in he manages to plant his feet down on the ground instead of the being laid out on his back.
The impact of his feet hitting the ground was major and he could only imagine how much pain he would've felt had she gone completely through the attack. Hotaru is still close by though and he doesn't want her getting away. So after she's back on her feet, he shoots in, whipping an elbow across her chin then another elbow before suddenly dropping low to grab her the back of her knees as he delivers a head butt to the abdomen to assist in dropping her on her back.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Aranha's Bad Beat.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Aranha
One thing she remembers well about Aranha is that even when they fought before he is rather quick. And his quick reflexes keep him from being bowled over completely by her swift, aggressive lunge to take him to the ground. Springing backward, Hotaru's feet touch down on a metal 'bridge' spanning some greasy, old machinery, stirring up another cloud of dust and getting some rusty powder on her blue shoes. Grunting, she has to put all that out of her mind as Aranha is back on her swiftly, clearly aiming to keep the pressure on.
She turns her body to the side, shoulder toward him, arms raised to take the brunt of his attacks. Her forearm eats the elbow strike and when he ducks in low to go for her knees she draws her left leg back a bit out of range, leaving him only holding onto her right leg in the end and giving her a chance to catch his headbutt with both of her hands just before he would have been able to land a more painful hit. The entire experience still has her releasing a quick breath before she retaliates quickly, using his hand behind her knee as leverage in order to snap her whole body up into a horizontal cartwheel in the air.
It's her left foot he needs to watch out for, the girl's leg coming in at near head level of the young man, her shin perhaps in danger of colliding with the side of his skull with a fair amount of force from the acrobatic attack. If she makes it by, the girl ends up landing, spinning around as she follows through with the momentum in order to stay facing Aranha. A glimmer of a smile traces over her lips. He's gotten better. This is going to be a good challenge. And watching him in action here might be education to boot.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Aranha with Medium Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha finds himself left with two choices. Considering his stability hasn't quite recovered from the jarring impact of his reaction to Hotaru's slam and by proxy his ability to defend against the attack has been reduced. This results in him taking a gamble that doesn't quite pay off for him.
Aranha tries to tilt out of the way the kick being dropped on him but the kick is placed precisely where it needs to be to catch him bashing him down to the ground with a loud grunt leaving his lips.
Aranha doesn't stay down for long though. Instead, he whips a leg upwards using the momentum to both attempt to clip Hotaru in the chin and to bring him back to his feet.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Change-Up Kick from Aranha with En Bi Kyaku.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Aranha
Her kick connected, the girl lands and recovers quickly, spinning around to face him at first, only to take a step to the side and twist around completely, turning her back toward Aranha all of the sudden. Looking over her right shoulder, her right hand is resting against her left knee, she adopts a position, for a moment, that seems both inviting to be hit but also extremely ready to do something about it at the same time.
And as Aranha's foot whips out that turns out to be the gist of it after all, the girl shifting her stance just a little such that he kicks her squarely in the upper back rather than landing a hit against her fairly well known glass jaw. It provokes a soft grunt and she'll be feeling a bruise there later, but she's still standing, her stance firm.
And with his foot against her upper back, she retaliates, as if he tripped a trigger response by hitting her, spinning around, whipping her right foot out into a rather swift and somewhat punishing mule kick roundhouse intending to pay him back for the hit he landed. "KYA!"
Aranha finds himself whirling away from the Kenpo artist, struggling to stay on his feet but he manages to regain some semblance of stability.
Given that he hasn't had much success with the close in game, he decides to try something a bit different from the strategies he's been using so far and a technique he developed since they last met.
Aranha dances for a moment before suddenly whirling around as he swings a chi web right for Hotaru. As for whether it'll stick or just impact, he has no clue. He just has a plan for what it'll do the moment it hits.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Hotaru with Web Shot.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Aranha
Turning around out of the kick leveled to knock Aranha back a little ways, Hotaru pauses for only a brief moment to regather her sense of the situation. By now her eyes have gotten used to the dim interior, so the lighting isn't an issue. But with all the movement going on, it can be tricky to keep tabs on where her opponent is any given moment. That pause, perhaps, leaves her a bit too slow to realize what's coming next, eyes focusing on the motion flying her way only to realize at the last moment that Aranha had unleashed a chi projectile in her direction.
Caught too quick to fall back on her reflecting techniques she decides to go with just trying to play it safe, drawing her hands up, hoping to contend her aura against the chi with enough force to fend off the worst of it. The problem is the shape of it that has her a little bewildered, reaching out with her right hand to try and force her own chi into it to defuse a little of it only to have it slip right through the open spaces of the web. In the end she gets struck clean on in torso by the unexpected attack, the force enough to knock her to the side, her shoulder banging against a giant metal tank, the loud sound echoing throughout the building.
"Oof. New one," she grins, pushing herself off from the metal barrier only to find that the unusually shaped attack isn't shaped like a web for nothing, some ends of it sticking against the metal and keeping her in place for a moment. A second effort is made, tearing away from it, forcing the energy off with a small burst of her own aura to counter it, stumbling away from the tank with a shake of her head. Definitely a new one.
Focusing back on Aranha, she wastes no time charging back at the young man, only to step hard into a spin from a few steps out. The motion has her turning her backward him for a brief moment, but it seems designed just to pour even more momentum into the swift hand strike she lashes out next, twisting her torso to add just a little bit more umph as she swings backward at chest level on Aranha, "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Medium Punch from Hotaru with Malicia EX.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Aranha
Aranha couldn't help but look on with interest as he watched Hotaru deal with his energy web and with even more interest in how his energy spider web decided to manifest itself. In this case, it's a truly a special case since there's a first for him in this one. "Impact and sticky at the same time... That's never happened before. Usually it's one or the other." There's a short pause as Hotaru pulls herself off of the tank. "Interesting."
When Hotaru finally frees herself, Aranha's plans finally go into motion, much like ginga, but he doesn't move much more than his normal dancing. His intent with the web whether it was impact or sticky was to slow the Kenpo artist down. Then when she came back in, he'd have a trap waiting for her. As long as he kept the ginga going it would be hard to suspect a thing, but when she begins to turn backward to pour momentum into the strike, Aranha stops moving as his lips curl into a smile. That's the only sign that he gives that it's a trap but by then it's already too late.
The moment right before Hotaru's hand strike connects Aranha suddenly bursts into motion once more. Instead of her swinging connecting with his chest, her arm connects with his shoulder not quite doing the damage it would have had she connected completely with it. And it gets him right where he wants to be. Up in the Kenpoist's face throwing a quick series of blue chi elbows and forearms at her before he jumps back away. Capoeira isn't always pretty as Aranha demonstrates in his reaction to her attack.
Well, that got her attention. Her hand snapping back smacks into his shoulder but she's already trying to draw herself out of the momentum of her swing to avoid the retaliation she feels coming. She isn't in time though, Aranha's speed of springing the trap catching the girl before she can slip out of harms way. The elbow and forearm strikes hit their mark, staggering her one direction then the other as he manages to hit her fairly hard about the head.
The experience leaves her a bit dazed, her legs going weak and Hotaru dropping to her knees on the metal grated floor for a moment, kicking up another cloud of dust in the process. She's quick to snap out of it, however, shaking her head quickly, regaining her focus, and pushing back up to her feet. A slight, silent nod is offered Aranha as she draws her forearm across her mouth, wiping away a trace of red from where he got her good on the lip. She opened herself up to that one, got a bit too aggressive perhaps, she muses.
Unfortunately, riding that line between control and all out aggression IS her style of fighting. Swift speed, hit and run tactics, and just trying to take her opponent down before they get past her reflexes to land too many hits is all the name of the game for the agile girl. But she can't get too reckless - she can't weather the attacks that will land if she /does/.
Darting toward Aranha a second time, she springs in from a bit further out this time, dropping into a low crouch from a yard away before rolling forward toward his right side.
She comes out of that roll quickly, hands extending out in a bid for his right arm and if she gets that grip, she'll try to push Aranha backward then pull him forward over her leg, dropping him to the floor with the swift attack before dropping back down into a defensive crouch.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Aranha with Quick Throw.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1 Aranha
Aranha had tried to pull his arm away. He couldn't afford to let Hotaru have her way with him. But his hands weren't quick enough get away and she wreaks havoc with his foundation whipping him back and then throwing him over her leg sending him sprawling to the ground.
The Dancing Spider works himself back up to his feet while the wheels begin to turn in his head. He originally planned on holding off on it wanting to set it up perfectly before going through with it but as his bruised body reminded him after Hotaru's attack, if he waits too long he might not have a chance to use it at all.
"You know," Aranha starts as he looks into his opponent's eyes. "You're a lot different now. There's more precision and there's..." Aranha stops for a moment. "Well... If they want to know what I see, they have to figure it out on their own."
Aranha glances at one of the cameras indicating the audience as far as them needing to know. "Now allow me to show you something I've been sitting on since our last fight but I never showed you. It's different from before but since you've never seen it in action before, you might not come to appreciate the difference between then and now."
Aranha begins swaying to the music in his head as he closes in on the Kenpoist. All of a sudden he begins lashing out with glowing kick after glowing kick spinning around like a whirling dervish with kick after kick before spinning in another direction and then reversing the direction again until it culminates in a series of spinning kicks delivered from a handstand, all wreathed in blue chi.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Hotaru with Royal Flush.
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Hotaru 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Aranha
Keeping that constant pressure on the young man is what it's like to face the young Kenpo artist. She's fast, but that speed isn't used just for running away or darting around attacks. She also pours it into her offense, as demonstrated by the quick grab and trip she landed before Aranha could slip away. She lets him get up, however, not one to kick someone while they're down, and waits, dropping back into a low stance, one foot forward, her arms out at her sides.
As he gets back to his feet, she can sense the build up coming. He's getting ready for something bigger, the tension in the air is unmistakeable. But he speaks first and she responds with a quiet smile, blue eyes focused on his. He always was a perceptive sort. If anyone would be able to notice the changes in how she's fighting these days compared to before, it would be him. The control, the pacing, the last moment adjustments. Gone is the berserking girl from earlier in the year, or the frantically paced child from before then even. Now she's got a sense of control, a flow of style, as if she's come to discover so much more about her Kenpo than she had ever before. "I've been learning from a lot of people over the course of last year, many of whom have taught me new insights and uses for chi and energy."
And then it's time to demonstrate just that as Aranha comes in with that swift barrage of chi laced kicks of his. Hotaru is quick to try and defend herself, swinging her right hand out, leaving a swath of shimmering, blue chi in its wake. It might seem she's trying to counter attack him at first, but the energy becomes instead a barrier, taking a little of the momentum out of the first series of kicks.
She draws back, trying to pull together defenses to protect herself but she just doesn't have the strength to keep her guard firm and Aranha kicks through it after the second series of strikes, buffetting the girl one way than the next. Desperate to avoid as much harm as possible, she swings out with her right hand, leaving another chi barrier in its wake to absorb the last couple of hits. It partially works, leaving the last of the spinning strikes catching her hard in the chest and finally driving her off her feet, tumbling over the metal walkway until she comes to a rest.
"Nn," the girl grunts, pushing herself up slowly off the ground, her once white clothing now a mixture of greys, browns, and blacks. She sneezes once as she continues pushing up into standing, looking just a little distressed at the condition of her outfit as she looks herself over. But she can't just sit there and fret about a little dirt. Aranha has proven himself to be a tough competitor. She had best do all she can and not lose focus. "That's a pretty advanced combination," she replies, her arm coming up to rub her bruised cheek. But for her protection with her chi, she might not have been able to weather it at all, she muses.
But it's time to push her offense, the girl darting forward, steeling herself for the fight ahead. He's done well, but she's not finished yet. Again she drops into her low crouch for just a moment, and then she's springing out of it, rising into a spin through the air, unleashing a quick flurry of windmilling strikes in an attempt to catch a hit through Aranha's guard and knock him to the floor. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Aranha with Enryuu Banda.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Aranha
However the attack is so fast that Aranha's guard is practically non-existent. Aranha tries to bob and weave, and escape the speedy strikes. Instead he finds himself smacked to and fro by the kenpo practitioner before he finds himself stumbling backwards into a pipe with a resounding clang.
Aranha glances around and then a plan forms in his head. Whether or not he can execute on it another matter altogether
Aranha swings himself around the pipe so he has a barrier between himself and Hotaru and then he quickly climbs up to the top of the pipe section before leaping off to grab some chains suspended from the ceiling and using them to swing to the top of a tank dropping into a roll before climbing up a pipe extending from the tank until it connects to a horizontal section of pipes. Aranha then runs on the pipe which serves as a balance beam of sorts until he's close to Hotaru. From there, he leaps off feet first attempting to get his feet on whatever he can of the kenpoist. It's important to note that all of his footsteps leading up to the leap from up are quiet. Noisy footsteps mean he's being inefficient.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru counters Sky's the Limit from Aranha with En Un Kasou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha turns the environemnt into his friend, deciding to climb up and out of sight, leaving Hotaru recovering from her lunging attack by rising into a standing position. Once again she adopts a tight, wound up stance, her right hand resting against her left knee as she leans forward just a little and looks upward, trying to follow the silent movements of the spider as he traverses the factory. He leaps from the pipe to the dangling chains then moves across a pipe and out of sight.
Blue eyes blink slowly, the girl breathing in then holding her breath. This is it, she muses quietly. He's going to attack and she very likely won't know from where. Eyes narrow slightly as she starts to remember her training under the enigmatic Oswald as of late, the old man partially responsible for her adjusted style of Kenpo. She feels her pulse quickening, her breathing rate speeding up at the danger of uncertainty. Oswald would have her fight in the dark, throwing objects at her, watching to see if she could defend herself against them even without being able to see. It took keen listening, and a certain level of gut instinct, but she had been getting better at it...
He taught her another thing as well, in those strange ways of his. 'Power through control.' It was a lesson he had to force her to understand the hard way during her rampage against friends and foe alike, unleashing the dreaded Satsujinken at the slightest provocation. Power through control. Rather than what she was doing, which was power through reckless, careless rampaging. "Power through control," she whispers, calming herself, slowing her breaths and at last inhaling and holding it, closing her eyes completely.
Aranha descends and the girl moves, eyes still closed. Sometimes it's the simpliest strikes in a timely moment that make all the difference. She unsprings from her tight stance just in time to slip to the side of the dropping kicks meant for the crown of her head. But this isn't simple evasion, her right arm raising up, pushing out to smack against Aranha's shin, the girl about to turn his downward momentum against him.
Eyes snapping open, the kick that comes next is so fast as to be a literal blur as it sweeps along the dusty floor and strikes right into Aranha's ankles. Her right arm shoves hard at the same time, toward his side now, intending to complete the remarkably fast turn of events by driving him soundly to the floor. It all happens so fast that she barely even knows what just transpired herself, taking a few steps backward, the tension bleeding out of her as she at last releases that held breath calmly. It would seem Oswald's lessons are paying off...
Aranha honestly thought he had her and then he notices a sudden change in the situation. While Hotaru may barely have knowledge of what happened, Aranha knows exactly what happened and the worst feeling of all is knowing that there's nothing he can do about it. With his body falling he can't do anything about the deflection of his kick from above and he's able to actually read her movements before they happen.
Aranha has trained his body to drop into a roll after dropping from that height and it becomes automatic to preserve his body though it does nothing to help deal with the kick to ankles in concert with the shove. The timing and placement was just too close to perfect and he hits the ground hard.
Aranha slowly rises to his feet again. "Heh. Out maneuvered." The ginga is abandoned for a limp favoring his left leg. He gives her a playful smile. "It was fun while it lasted." And he pulls himself into a handstand before twisting himself around and tilting towards her as he attempted to hammer his heel down on Hotaru's head.
COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Aranha's Colossal Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
She drops him to the ground which gives her time to recover, adopting that same, curious stance, her back turned toward him, blue eyes peering over her shoulder toward him as she waits for a moment. Perhaps she's intending to mule kick him again, or maybe she's setting up for something else entirely. Acting partially on instinct and partially on skill and experience, she readies herself for the young man to come and give it one more solid attempt to take her down.
He's having a rougher time of it now though, that last landing seemed like it might've turned out poorly for him due to her swift retaliation. And when he speaks, she replies with her quiet, meek smile that she so often bears as he drops forward into a handstand to bring one final, punishing kick dropping down toward the top of her head. She shifts just a little, adjusting the angle of her stance to bring her shoulder into the path of his strike, her arms raising, her left forearm absorbing the impact, her right and bracing her left arm at the wrist. It's still practically enough power to floor the girl as Hotaru staggers under the force, legs bending a little to spread out the kinetic impact over her body a little more.
And then she pushes back with her forearm against his leg, attempting to give him one last topple backward as she steps backward at the same time to get a little distance from him, lowering her arms slowly and rubbing her left arm with her right hand. That /stung/ even though she managed to defend herself against such a frightfully strong kick this time. "You've gotten really good, Aranha," the young fighter speaks up, "Seeing your remarkable style in action has been an honor." she adds, not quite relaxing just yet even if she's feeling more sure that this demanding bout has run its course.
After delivering the kick, the capoeirista finds he has nothing left in the tank and collapses to the ground. He's too tired to answer the kenpoist. Instead, Aranha is gasping for air.
Log created on 00:37:22 06/25/2008 by Aranha, and last modified on 03:48:31 06/27/2008.