Neo League 701 - #721: Hotaru vs Birdie

Description: In a ruined, abandoned ship yard in Russia, Birdie and Hotaru continue their rivalry in this Neo League! A knock down fight as any! ( Winner: Hotaru )



Up to the ever frozen northern reaches of the populated world, Russia. Given that it is summer, the Neo League officials had to go quite a ways north to find a location suitably cold for what they were hoping for, but they sure managed to find one anyway. It was once a busy sea port in years past. But a shift in climate tendencies resulted in it freezing over one winter and then simply... never thawing ever since. The match is to take place on the shore as well as over the iced over water itself.

Gigantic ships sit forever stuck in the frozen wasteland, rooted in place by the sea of ice that extends out miles into the ocean. Huge chains, even larger than Birdie's, lay settled in massive piles here and there, each link the size of a normal person. At one time they would have been used to anchor the massive ships, but considering the giant rust buckets haven't budged in a decade now, there's really no more need for that, now is there.

Standing on the packed, frozen white sand, Hotaru looks at the frozen ocean just a few steps further. The entire scene is eerily silent. No sound of crashing waves, no call of sea gulls overhead. As if the entire location decided to up and die ten years ago and has been frozen in time ever since. Pleasant place for a Neo League match, she muses quietly, blue eyes gazing at the large rudder of one of the ships sticking up out of the ice.

As the fight hasn't begun yet, she stands with a Chinese styled, blue and gold long coat covering her whole body, hugging her arms in front of her to stave off the chill a little. She wishes she had thought to wear earmuffs. Alas, she'll just have to hope the heat of battle is enough to warm her up, because this environment sure isn't doing her any favors!

The frozen northland? Birdie didn't really actually think anything of that really. What the hell where they thinkin? Birdie's got no clue, that's all that everyone is sure about. All he knows is that it's really coming to an end sooner or later. But why up in the north? What's that place good for? Birdie's a Brit. He loves Europe, but Russia never really seemed to sit well with him.

And now, well, Birdie's there, in a dead port in the frozen wasteland. Well, Birdie ain't going to complain, he brought a little friend with him as he's let down by helicopter not too far down, and Birdie comes out with a large Keg of beer. Yes, that's right. A large keg of beer he's grasping comes with him across the ground. And Birdie is grinning. He's living the dream.

But half way there he squints, looking forward towards the girl. Wait, who's that? Birdie continues to move, making his strides large and powerful as he begins to move across the field, the ice slowing him down, even the granules that are frozen are more slipperly than one could imagine. But he's right, he isn't seeing things. Hefting the beer keg on his shoulder, Birdie just grins.

"Welll welllll welllll. If it isn't my little chick-a-dee. How you doin?" Birdie snorts with a shit eating grin, "I haven't see ya in a while. You taken care of yourself? Still bat crazy? Hehehehe. You were pretty screwed up. Haha." Birdie drops the keg, some of the ice shatters. He really doesn't care. He just looks towards the girl.

Birdie wears his normal slacks, his normal vest. All of it. Birdie just grins still. "Well then, lets get this happening. Hehe."

"I sure hope they get my opponent here soon," Hotaru muses quietly, left alone by herself, the Neo League crews setting up cameras from a little ways off to get some nice wide angled shots of the frozen harbor. Teeth chattering a bit, she rubs her arms as she continues to hug herself tightly. The second helicopter to arrive comes bearing a heavy load, however, in the form of the large Brit and his new friend, the Keg, and the pig-tailed martial artist turns to watch it touch down for a landing, curious as to see who the match makers have determined she is destined to face /this/ time.

O-oh... ... him. The girl swallows, forgetting that she's chilled to the bone in light of this new development. Why couldn't she fight some dashing, handsome young man? Or a cheerful girl with whom she could become fast friends?! No, it seemed the officials very much enjoyed placing the utterly mismatched combatants up against each other, having found the tension that exists in any match that has the two of them is well received by the masses - much to Hotaru's chagrin.

He speaks as he drops the large keg of bear down on the frozen tundra and Hotaru blinks at first, then looks a little bit sheepish as he brings up her state of mind in their last few matches. Gone from swift, flighty bunny into a rampaging demon for a few months, it's any wonder that he'd notice. Especially given that he felt the brunt of her forbidden technique more than anyone else. Part of her wants to apologize for her past behavior, but it just doesn't feel right saying sorry to a thug like him. What's a little extra aggression compared to him, anyway?! Instead she tenses up, tightening her mouth into a straight line and shakes her head, "I, ah, just had some things I had to deal with. I'm not like that anymore." is what she offers as a response.

Her hand comes up to her neck to clasp at the coat she's wearing, only to unclasp the buckle and whip the long garment off cleanly, taking a step to the side to daintily hang it on some hook dangling from a frozen shack. She can't move as fast as she needs to wearing that, even if it means getting a little bit more cold having to fight without it. The lithe fighter turns toward Birdie, crossing her arms in front of her, exhaling slowly as she unfolds them and slips into her ready position, bouncing lightly on her toes, trying to get the blood flowing in order to thaw her frozen body a little. Here goes nothing, she tells herself quietly.

COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.

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Hotaru           0/-------/-------|


Well, well, well. It seems Birdie has left a little a mark on Hotaru, even if, you now, Birdie has many scars from their last fights when Birdie had to deal with terrible chi burns here and there. They're both left a little mark on each other, and now, well, Birdie wants to leave some of his own marks more on her. That's the hardest part though, she's really hard to catch. Even as Birdie stands there in the cold, he's not thinking about that. His skins pretty tough, leather thick. And it's warm too.

She seems flustered. The brittish thug seems to slump over, getting ready for battle as he shoves the keg of beer away. "Hehe. After victory celebration. You know? Gotta have a plan." Birdie snorts in pleasure over his own thoughts. He's smart all right! He brought beer to a cold place.

The frozen Tunda is really amazing. Hotaru has to wear more clothes here too, and the cold might even slow her down. Birdie's just thinking if that actually is going to work. Who knows. She might still skate circles about him and he'll fall into the water without a moment to spare, bobbing up and down like one of those cartoons.

"Haha. You don't wanna apologize or nuttin? Chick-a-dee you've changed a bit! Hahaha. But who'd apologize to me, right? Yeah, I know what you're thinking." Birdie exclaims as he hulks over slowly across the ground to the rudder sticking out of the ground, and, with his mammoth strength, manages to twist and bend it enough that it comes off in a sheet of ice. And with it, he approaches Hotaru slowly. "I guess we gotta make sure you're going to be nicer next time, huh?" Birdie calls as he makes his way towards her, moving out before simply attempting to slam the smaller girl with it, in a powerful gamble of the frozen kind!

COMBATSYS: Birdie has joined the fight here.

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Hotaru           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Birdie


COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Birdie's Random Weapon.

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Hotaru           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Birdie


He speaks about his keg, revealing his forward thinking plan of having something nice on hand for when this is all said and done, and Hotaru just manages a faint smile. She just hopes she doesn't get smashed through the ice into the water below or something, though with how the ice has held the ships in place for as long as it has, that doesn't seem too likely to her.

As he remarks on her not wanting to apology, Hotaru winces a little, shoulders slouching, head bowed slightly as she averts her eyes to the side, teeth gritted. "I- I- ah, shouldn't have said a lot of the things I did in our previous matches," she states, the stammering because of how cold it is, right! She mumbles really softly '...sorry...', her voice so low that it might not even be possible to hear her over the sound of wind blowing along the icescape. There, she tells herself, that wasn't so baaaa ACK!

She slips out of the way of the slamming rudder in time to avoid getting smashed to the ground. Given the weight of the rusted chunk of metal, such a blow would have been horribly punishing had she not escaped the path of the ice crusted weapon. "Hey!" the pig-tailed fighter yells back, not sounding so sheepish now, "It's rude to try and hit someone with that in a fight!" She buttons up immediately after, realizing that telling Birdie what's rude or not is probably a pointless waste of time. He's probably not asking, anyway!!

Relieved that her muscles aren't so frozen as to leave her unable to move, she retaliates. The match has begun, no holding back now! Taking a step forward to get closer, she ducks in low, maybe hoping to present herself harder to swing at by being so close to the ground, her arms out at her sides for balance. She doesn't maintain the stance for more than a split second, however, before she's raising up to attack the large foreigner, her small palm slamming forward with a fair amount of force as she attempts to nail him in the stomach. Well, a lot of force for some people, at least! "YA!"

COMBATSYS: Birdie fails to interrupt Medium Punch from Hotaru with Bull Spike.
- Power fail! -

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Hotaru           0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Birdie


Mind over manners! That's what they say! Wait, mind your manners? Well, Birdie never heard that before! He most certainly should have, though, seeing that Hotaru just cleaned his clock good!

Even as she bows her head, winces, slouching and all that, Birdie thinks he has her! And then she just notices, the rudder slamming into the ground, cracking before breaking across the ground itself, slipping out all over as pieces of crystal! The problem is that within this moment, Birdie doesn't even see Hotaru, much less anything else. But he planned for that, hehe. Birdie knew what was coming next.

"Yeah? And? I don't bloody care! You were almost too slow to even notice it, your fault not mine!" Birdie cries before Hotaru makes her own movements. But he almost seems to be delayed by his laughter. Rude? Rude? Birdie just breaks into a chuckle. "Hahaha. Rude! I don't bloody care, chick-a-dee. If it wins I don't care!" And Birdie most certainly does not.

And then she fires herself across, the palm striking at his stomach... and Birdie....!

Birdie bends over in time for the plam to strike him right in the face, causing him to be fired across the ice before coming to a quick stop at the end, bowled over as he falls onto his back, shaking himself a little. "W-wow. Chick-a-dee that almost hurt! Hehehhehe." Almost because Birdie is a mountain.

Almost because he did fall over, and that really did hurt. Almost.

A tiny palm strike, but with a lot of force behind it! She realizes that he was trying to get in a hit right back on her, and in some ways, she lucked out that his face ended up right in the path of her hand, the girl finding ways to surprise people with just how much force she can pack into her strikes. Of course, against most opponents, such a solid hit would perhaps be a little bit debilitating. But against Birdie, it's just the tip of the ice burg. Hotaru winces a little, glancing around at the frozen harbor. Bad metaphor. Real bad.

Still, she knows as she draws her hand back from him, she can't slow down just because she managed to hit him once! He remarks that it almost hurt and the girl shakes her head, trying to get the words out of her mind. She mustn't let herself get distracted by the words. Mental discipline and her demanding art requires that she stay focused. Don't get upset, don't get provoked. "I see how it is." she states curtly, only to mentally chide herself again for making the remark. She really is trying to be nicer!

Hands tightening, she wonders if it's time to risk her usual tactic for fighting men of Birdie's stature. He's seen her do it before, so it might not be a complete surprise as the girl darts forward, trying to slip in at his side as he gets up. The flexible fighter will try to wrap her legs about his arm to make it harder for him to get back to his feet quickly, before reaching around and trying to hook her arms around his neck from behind, releasing his arm from her legs once she's firmly in place. It's practically a match tradition by now, as young Futaba tries to ride the bull!!

COMBATSYS: Birdie endures Hotaru's Hantentou.

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Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1           Birdie


Haha tip of the ice burg. That's a good one, oh wait, Birdie, you better get back up or this could be pretty bad! And... it almost is! Almost. He barely gets a hold of the situation as Hotaru begins to move back to her normal abilities, to rely on her own strength. Birdie's not really sure that is other than hitting fast, and hitting hard now and then, but he's pretty sure it stings a good deal.

He's proof, actually. "Hahaha. See how what is chick-a-dee. What do ya mean?" Birdie asks as Hotaru simply darts towards him. The larger man is caught off guard. He's gotta do something, and he does. Or at least tries, throwing himself forward into an assault, actually getting Hotaru.. stuck on his arm? Wait a sec he pushed himself into that? That's sort of hard to do, but it begins to hurt pretty badly as she actually does that.

Slowly getting up as she wraps herself tightly about his neck as a choker. Well, some people would even wonder how this works, but you see, it's a lot easier to move people about when they're stuck to you, and Birdie? Birdie has a Hotaru choker. And he sure is choking. "Hah... hah..." Birdie manages to get out as she holds on, "Hold on tight, chick-a-dee."

And then the train leaves the station, Birdie running forward with Hotaru in tow, moving towards the hull of a mammoth ship, attempting to stop feet away to try to fling Hotaru off before pinning her with his hair!

COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Birdie's Bull Head.

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Hotaru           0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1           Birdie


Fighting someone as fierce and violent as Birdie really is a nerve wracking experience for a fighter like Hotaru. She likes martial arts to be 'clean', matches of technical skill as opponents who have trained for years in a certain discipline face off against each other, representing their families, their dojos, their honor. But with Birdie, she doesn't get any of that. She gets a man so large that just one of his arms is practically the size of her body and he intends to use every bit of that destructive force he can bring to bear to crush her as painfully as possible!

Case in point, the terrifying ride that is The Birdie as Hotaru clings onto the back of his neck for dear life, knowing full well that when he gets her loose he's not going to be the slightest bit happy. She's got quite the strangle hold on him, but she knows full well that it's not going to be enough to determine the outcome of this fight by itself. All she can do is just hang in there and see what happens!

The angry bull goes charging for the side of one of the gigantic sleeping giants, only to stop early, leaning into the motion, imbuing Hotaru with an insane amount of momentum that sends her flying against the hull where she lands with a light thud. Fortunately for her, being a featherweight keeps the impact from hurting too bad. Oh, no, the hurting is what comes next as Birdie charges in with a follow up!

He doesn't get to hair-spike her cleanly, fortunately for the girl's sake, as he smashes into her, as she manages to pull her arms up, turning to the side to have her shoulder absorb some of the impact, bracing for the crushing force he's going to be delivering. It smacks her against the hull solidly, provoking a gasp as his hair gouges her shoulder some. Okay, maybe she should have tried to move in time. Maybe not.

As he presses her against the hull, however, he'll hear an intake of breath, a soft growl, and then it comes as Hotaru pushes off hard from the hull into a backwards flip kick, attempting to crush her feet against Birdie's chest then jaw. More forceful than most of her strikes, she must really be hoping to force him away from her in hopes of having some room to breath when she comes down for a landing. "KYA!!"

COMBATSYS: Birdie blocks Hotaru's Strong Kick.

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Hotaru           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1           Birdie


Birdie charges across maybe a yard or so of frozen tundra, and it always surprises him when he manages to make it that far. In this case, that isn't even an issue, with Hotaru on his back he just charged. And when she's stuck against the boat, pushing against Birdie, the large man knows only one thing. He's going to use his own force to force Hotaru! And he almost makes it, but she fight back valiently. Strong enough to deter him without detering him completely.

He's almost surprise nothing lurches from the impact. The ice remains sturdy, keeping everything entirely in its grasp as it does, holding tightly the surroundings yet still. Only small sheets are broken, and they had very little sway over the entire status of the behemoth anyways.

But Birdie doesn't care for how cold it is, or how the huge ships shouldn't be touched! If he can use them against Hotaru then he'll even drop an anchor on her. Though, she'd probably see that coming. It's really hard to miss those things.

But even as he's pushed back, Birdie falters if only for a moment as the kick comes up, striking towards Birdie's jaw. And almost makes it, except the powerful hands come up, stopping her entirely. Well, from getting to his face. It still pushes him back, giving her some breathing room.

But Birdie soon attempts to destroy that advantage too. "Hehe. You're comin' with me, chick-a-dee." Birdie announces in the rather silent wasteland, forgetting her ancient technique, her agile nature and anything else to simply grab her leg and then toss her across the ice into anything she may strike.

Then again, this too might also be an ancient technique of Hotaru chucking. Just maybe.

COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Birdie with Hakki Shou.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-

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Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1           Birdie


She has a plan coming out of that desperate flip kick to force Birdie back from her. She sees him back up a little bit, it seems she packed just enough punch into the strike to see to that. And he's coming back in, intending to get close as she lands. She'll be ready for him, to give him a taste of that potent chi of hers. Her right forearm flares to live with a vibrant blue are as she descends gracefully...

But the environment works against the small fighter this time, her left foot slipping out the instant she touches down. Slipping out and right into Birdie's powerful grip. The back of her head bangs against the hull of the ship she was just trying to get away from and her small little chi ball goes hurtling off into the sky only to smash into one of the distant cameras mounted on a tall pole.

At the mercy of the much larger fighter - as if there was mercy to be found - she finds herself up and hurled across the ice like a Futaba Missile, no control whatsoever over her landing. Still dazed over the hit to the back of her head, she doesn't even possess the wherewithall to recover and take control over her trajectory in time, smashing instead against the wall of an old shack that used to house the dock master decades ago.

Breaking through the wooden wall head first, the girl just ends up hanging there for a moment, stuck in the wall from the waist up. If she weren't just seeing stars at the moment, she'd probably be frightfully embarrassed to end up such a predictament. But as is, she barely even knows what just happened. "...oh... is it time to go home yet?" she murmurs softly, slowly starting to try and pry herself out of the wall.

Futaba missiles huh? Birdie should invent that move some time. Maybe by throwing Hotaru at someone, if the need ever had arrived. It worked with Momo, so certainly it has to work with Hotaru. She's small and can fit between his two hands. Obviously it was meant to be.

And just look at that test run! Birdie isn't so sure he just got lucky or what, but there is only a simple thought. He watches the camera way up there get nailed by the fireball as he hucks Hotaru away. "Woah. Haha! Chick-a-dee did-ja just see that shot you made? Wow, one in a million! You nailed that camera into oblivion." Birdie cries with the excitement of a schoolboy. He loves when things explode.

But, he simply finds out that the girl her chucked isn't anywhere near him anymore. He just scratches his head, looking at a trail that Hotaru had left as she skidded across the ice. And as he turns, he follows it, slowly but surely towards the now Futaba'd wood shack. But even there, it's going to take him a little time. He's completely lost Hotaru from where she went. Maybe it's the elements, maybe it's her trajectory, but Birdie cannot find Hotaru for the life of him.

"'EY! CHICK-A-DEE. WHERE'D YA GO?" Birdie cries to the tundra. It chuckles softly but doesn't respond. Birdie, however, will be ready when he sees her! Yeah! You just watch.

COMBATSYS: Birdie focuses on his next action.

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Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1           Birdie


By the time Birdie draws near, Hotaru is no where to be seen. The hole in the wall that represents where she crashed is now empty, opening into the blackness of the old, dusty shack. Finally having come to her senses, she ended up pulling herself the rest of the way in rather than trying to pop herself back out only to risk landing right into Birdie's hands again. Still reeling after that last attack, she really can't handle that right now.

The next time Birdie becomes aware of the girl she's up on the roof of the old hut, having found a hole worn the ceiling by years of harsh weather and decay. She's covered in dust from the inside of the shack, her normally white clothing a distressing shade of grey and brown, small clouds of powder shaking off of her as she moves. "What a mess," She mutters, one hand coming up to rest against the back of her head. She's going to have a headache after this fight /already/, let alone with whatever happens for the remainder of it.

Idly she glances up to see the exploded camera, realizing at last what Birdie was talking about. HUH. That wasn't in the plan. Shaking her head to clear the last of the cobwebs, she makes a brave leap into the abiss, jumping down from up top to try and simply kick Birdie in the side of his head, kiai'ing with a sharp cry as she descends! "YA!"

COMBATSYS: Birdie blocks Hotaru's Light Kick.

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Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1           Birdie


By the time Birdie's there, he's noticing something. This place has been banged up recently! Dust is missing! And a Hotaru. Could they be working together in some secret plan? Well, obviously, as Hotaru is missing with it. But how much Birdie will never know until he ventures to the door, not going in, but looking in just the same.

"Hey, you in here?" Birdie asks as Hotaru comes down, just at the right time. Unable to really catch her himself, he simply backpedals, raising his hands up to try and stop the decending Hotaru, he manages it somehow, backpeddeling something whicked. Birdie shouldn't have had to back pedal or even be driven back, but he is.

"Wow, you got some kick to you!" Birdie calls with a snort, "I like that! But let me show you a real kick!" Birdie cries, picking up his leg in an odd, rather ineffective way as she begins to land, and then, he kicks forward, a mightly mandible of meat connected to Birdie, striking out with powerful shoes right towards Hotaru! Birdie hasn't used his chains yet.

Something is a miss!

COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Birdie's Strong Kick.

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Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1           Birdie


Her jump kick delievered, the spry young fighter lands swiftly, and this time manages to keep her feet from slipping out from under her. Blasted ice!! She's starting to really feel the chill set in as well as this match continues on. She'd like to go get her coat back on, but she can't risk the slower movement against Birdie. One false step and she's a Futaba Pancake!

Of course, leave it to Birdie to show her what a real kick looks like, pulling his foot up and then slamming it forward, threating to smash her right back through the flimsy wall of that old shack at this rate! Lucky for her, she gets out of the way in time, moving swiftly, ducking low and under his leg to avoid the punishing boot. "I can do more than just kick!" she states, determined to show him just that.

And once she's under? She tries to use her newfound angle to her advantage, springing up with everything she's got, attempting to wrap her arms around his extended leg and push up, up into a forward leap. If she's successful, she might make the larger fighter fall over in the process. If she's really lucky, she might be able to wrench his leg a bit further even after he falls over, to really slow him down. Of course, she doesn't want to think about what will happen if she isn't successful. This is no time to let doubts slip in!

COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Birdie with Quick Throw.

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Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1           Birdie


Birdie is surprised. He's stuck between two different things, and he really isn't sure which to do. He's only certain of a single thing right now. And that is Hotaru is keeping him at bay. Even as he moves back, he doesn't get no Futaba pancake. Instead, he gets only the cold, hard ground to stomp about. And no Hotaru.

"Hey! You stop that!" Birdie calls with a snort, even if that is what she does. "Hah! I don't believe it!" Birdie cries, and, to his own surprise, wel, she does do more than just kick. Even as he's still recovering, Hotaru attempts to wrap the other fighter up, being wrenched up and about as he goes, finally coming to a quick end at the end, falling face first as he does, slowly pulling himself up. "UGh, you're getting annoying!" Birdie calls, slowly pushing himself up again. Wow she's quick. But, Birdie just needs a chance. And he'll get it sooner or later. Oh yes! For now, he just bides his time. "I can do more than kick too, watch!" Birdie snorts, rearing back a massive fist and letting it fly right towards the girl, a large black comet that homes in on Hotaru's!

COMBATSYS: Birdie successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Punch.

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Hotaru           1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1           Birdie


Having escaped the intended stomping, the agile fighter manages to snag that hold of Birdie's outstretched leg and use her entire body to budge him just enough to have him falling forward again! It's quite the feat and not one she takes likely, exhaling after she lets go. Time to get ready for the expected counter attack. Or so she had hoped.

"I'm just trying not to get hit," she replies with a shake of her head as he comments on how she's getting annoying. "What do you expect!" What he expects is to punch her, apparently, because that's what he does. His fist comes swinging in, promising pain and bruises, and the girl attempts to slip out of the way like she did when he came at her with that giant boot. Not so quick this time, though, the force of his fist catching her in the cheek and sending her stumbling off to the side from just a single hit. The ice might be partially to blame too. Maybe.

Flailing her arms, she nearly falls forward, only to catch herself with her bare hands against the frozen ground, glancing at the larger fighter over her shoulder for a brief moment. Gritting her teeth, one hand comes up to rub at her cheek. That hurt! Though at least wasn't as dignity-jarring as getting hurled through the side of a wall. That was pretty bad.

"Okay," she replies, eyes narrowed a little. She's going to go all out with her next attack, place it all on the line. If she can get him now, then maybe she has it. And if not. Well. She's going to be in trouble for having extended herself so hard. She rises up and turns around to face Birdie directly. "Let's see what you can do about this!" she challenges, charging forward aggressively. She springs into a hop from a few yards out, letting her twirl through the air and strike out with rapid, windmilling strikes with her hands. "Soushou...!" Each strike is laced with small sparks of blue chi as she attempts to smash her way through Birdie's rugged defenses with everything she's got.

She springs into a second round of the strikes, aiming high and low, threatening to throw off his guard every which way she can. "Tenrenge!" And should she manage to strike cleanly enough, she'll continue into a rising shoulder slam into his chest before flipping forward in the air in order to dive right back down into him, her entire body covered with a flare of blue chi as she hopes to simply plow him over to the ground on her way back down! Of course, after something like that, she's going to be fairly winded, trying to get back up to her feet quickly.

COMBATSYS: Birdie fails to interrupt Sou-shou Tenrenge from Hotaru with Bull Revenger.

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Hotaru           0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0           Birdie


If there was anything you could imagine, it was that Birdie was in a place of terrible pain! Even as he watches Hotaru get up, Birdie's unsure of where to go from there. She's doing something, and he's not too sure what. That is, well, of course, until he sees it. Well, damn, he didn't expect that. Even as Hotaru rises into the air, Birdie snorts.

"Oh yeah? You think you can do it?" Birdie snorts with a grin. Even as Hotaru challenges, Birdie's unafraid of it at all. You think he is? That's loser thoughts! Birdie's a winner, and he's going to win! "Haha! I'm going to make you pay for those words!" Birdie cries even as he vaults forward, skidding upon the ice as he does, making his way towards Hotaru.

But then is where she begins the wind mill. His head is already aimed right towards Hotaru's own, only for it to be stopped by the windmill itself, the ice obviously causing Birdie a little bit of grief as he comes to a terrible stop, the chi thwacking through. He didn't really mind about anything else, this was just entirely impossible to imagine.

What comes out like a snort and a grunt may be just that. Birdie's unable to truely recover after it as she springs forward, crashing into him before her entire body lights up, and Birdie's dragged with it. Unable to really do anything but simply attempt to get up, Birdie snorts an forces himself to get back to his feet, even if he's looking worse for ware, beat up and smashed about. "Heh... heh.. Not done yet." Birdie announces. He wasn't. Well, mostly.

Landing at a steep angle, Hotaru slides across the ice in a kneeling position, one hand planted on the smooth surface, along with one knee, and one foot. She comes to a rest eventually, the chi that had flared to life over her entire body flickering out like flame starved of its fuel. The girl exhales a long breath, pushing herself up to her feet, only to wobble a little before turning around as she hurries to recover her breath.

Her hand comes up, brushing the back of it against her bruised cheek as blue eyes focus back on Birdie. She just dodged a bullet there, the two fighters having charged each other, throwing caution to the wind and just seeing what happened. On some level she finds herself looking at Birdie in a different light. She still thinks he's rude, and that his fighting style is really just being a great big brute. But on some level, she can't deny that compared to a lot of fighters she's contended with, he just keeps going like few others can. The girl huffs, shaking her head. There's something to be learned there, but right now isn't the time to let herself get lost in thought.

She's on the verge of winding herself too severely to fight at peak efficiency, but she doesn't care. She's going to give him a challenge no matter what, forcing herself to keep going for now. Again she springs into the air, again with the windmilling palm strikes, only this time without that painful chi she seems capable of dishing out now and then. But this attack is a little different - the windmilling palm strikes are simply to draw his guard high, to get him to defend himself the wrong way if possible...

Because the real attack is what comes after, should her feet touch the ground cleanly, the girl leaning forward into a powerful, single palm strike, much like the one she had used earlier on, only with all that built up momentum going into it as well. Her other hand shoots out in the opposite direction, as a counter balance to keep herself from overcommitting. Her entire body moves with that single strike, with that single purpose of dealing a hit hard enough for Birdie to take notice. "YAA!"

COMBATSYS: Birdie interrupts Soushou Shin from Hotaru with Murderer Chain.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1           Birdie


COMBATSYS: Birdie can no longer fight.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/--=====|


Birdie can just SEE Hotaru right now, Spinning towards the large brute still. Even if she dodges a bullet, he's not going to really stop trying, now is he? Naw, that's not Birdie's style, after all. Even as she makes her way towards Birdie, and the big lug knows for some reason, this girl is really just sorta powerful. It's going to be close, Birdie can feel it, but in this frozen tundra he needs to have his celebratory keg! He brought it! He can't simply just give up like that!

And, well, he doesn't entirely, at least. Even as Hotaru fires herself into his personal space, Birdie simply attempts to wait for the perfect time to step it up a little, just as Hotaru windmills herself right into him. He allows them to all strike, each one pushing him back. He snorts and grunts, but forces himself forward.

The single palm strike Hotaru fires simply ends up in Birdie's hold, the chain finding itself around her arm. "Heh... heh... I might have lost... but I'm gonna make sure you lose with me!" Birdie cries as he tightens the links extra hard, pulling them up as hard as he can possibly make it before raising her up, higher and higher into the air with a tug, before pulling tightly down, allowing the fighter to careen right into the frozen tundra. But she isn't the only one heading for it.

Birdie, all hopped up on adrenaline, simply cannot fight any longer. Stumbling, Birdie simply falls backwards with a loud THUMP, bouncing once or twice even with the substance being ice. And like it, he's out, ice cold.

His body sort of lies there for now as he breathes. He'll let the Neo League people pull him out. Yeah, that's a great idea. Why bother moving? Heheh.

She lands her first volley of strikes, expecting to be able to deliver that powerful palm strike to seal the deal. He's looking pretty roughed up and probably not feeling all that much better than she is by now. Her hand slams forward, the girl completely committed to hitting him at all costs. Only... her arm isn't going anywhere, caught up in Birdie's grip. The smaller fighter's eyes widen, mouth opening as she immediately starts trying to pull herself away. But that's not happening as the large fighter at last puts those chains of his to use in dishing out some serious trouble for the Kenpo artist. "ACK!"

The links tighten up, keeping her from prying or squirrelling her way free like she is so often wont to do, and in the next instant, she's yanked clean off her feet, the featherweight combatant unable to stop the painful ride he's got in store for her before he brings the girl crashing right back down hard against the ice with a painful crunch. She lands poorly, not doing a good job recovering with it, her natural agility, honed by years of training, doing her no good when she's being slammed around by a giant chain.

All motion comes to a rest at last as Birdie drops to the tundra along with the chain-snared pig-tailed Hotaru. The girl lies still for a moment until finally moving, planting her hands against the ground, ignoring the freezing sensation settling in over her fingers. She didn't bring a nice keg of beer to warm up with, but she'd like her coat back at least. Gasping for breath, one hand rests against her side, where she knows she's got, at the very least, a bruised rib or two. Wincing as she shrugs her way out of the chain completely, she's at last standing, albeit wobbly, glancing back toward the intimidating presence that is Birdie.

She pulled off a win this time, but with how close it came down to, it could have gone either way it seems. Stumbling over to where she hung her coat up, Hotaru takes it down off the hook and wraps herself in it, draping it over her shoulders and hugging her arms against her tightly, trying to ignore the bruises, bumps, and aches all over her body. She pauses for a moment, facing Birdie, and decides at last to treat him with the respect she would any other fighter, managing to bow politely in his direction, eyes closed in a moment of thought, before she turns to go get warmed up. "Whew... wherever he learned to fight - they make 'em tough."

COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.

Log created on 23:56:16 06/30/2008 by Birdie, and last modified on 01:29:19 07/02/2008.