Neo League 701 - #723: Ichiro vs Mary

Description: An interesting meeting no doubt, but the fight around the pit has it's ups and downs, it's all arounds, and a few throughs to! But who can slip through the cracks in the end? Is Ichiro able to check Mary out of the fight, or will Mary somehow hang in there? Or is it just a tad too rainy for a sports day?! ( Winner: Mary )



"Does anybody here speak English?" Ichiro calls out weakly as he stumbles his way through the mass of people lining the streets of Delhi. Not much of a chance of someone speaking Japanese here, he thinks, but someone has to speak English, right? Where are all of the tech help operators when you need them?
"Darn it..." he mutters with a sigh as he turns a corner in hope that he'll stumble upon the pre-arranged stage where his Neo-League fight is supposed to take place. "...I swear the guy at the hotel said it was somewhere around here..."
It's been a couple months since his last Neo League appearance, which is too bad because he was doing pretty well in the standings up until then. That all changed when his grades started to slip. His mom said that he had to choose Lacrosse of Neo League until his grades improved, which was an easy choice, though he didn't relish turning his back on the fighting circuit for a while.
'Are you lost young man?' a polite British-accented voice asks Ichiro in perfect english, shocking him out of his introspection as he pushes his way down the street. "Ah, kind of sir, heh..." Ichiro replies as he begins to explain his predicament and ask for directions. Hopefully he won't be TOO late by the time he makes it to the fight.

The pre-arranged stage IS nearby though, and it's not quite hard to miss. It's actually a nice stage, if you count a stage surrounding by hot coals.. and then around that is a lining of those spiked boards the guys lie on. Not a pretty thing to fall hard on! Of course, the battlefield otherwise is pretty much a giant pole in the middle and a few buildings that surround it. Oh. And the free, open space in the middle that has been spaced off to the side.

Mary herself has been delivered to the fight via G-Project, which is always happy to give her the needs to 'test' others, and with that she was of! First a plane, and from there, simply a drive to the ring. It wasn't like she had any where else to be lately.. certainly, she had more than enough time for such a thing, as she believes.

And she sticks out rather poorly as well, as she makes her way, stepping carefully over the spikes and then the coals, towards the center, a parasol over her shoulder and a nice large bonnet over her head. It was kind of sunny. Which is problematic, to a point, as she is wearing .. quite a lot of clothes, very little, if any, skin showing. Including her face, which is hard to see as well.

"Wonder if they got lost." She says to herself, looking about.

Not a very .. easy to navigate place, was it?

"Ah, there it is, thanks again sir!" Ichiro calls out with a happy wave. Nice guy. Squeezing his way through the crowd that has gathered around to watch the fight (which isn't really much more crowded than the streets), Ichiro Oe, captain of Taiyo High's Lacrosse team has finally arrived.
Skidding to a stop in front of the ring of spikes and hot coals, Ichiro pauses with a bewildered look on his face "What the..." he muses as he wonders what he's gotten himself into. They really take their fighting seriously here in India! Hopping over the spikes and running quickly over the coals, Ichiro takes a moment to inspect the slightly melted tread on his sneakers once he's made it safely inside the area where the fight is supposed to take place. "Sorry about the... uhh..." Ichiro begins to apologize to Mary when he's taken aback momentarily by her clothes. Wearing THAT during summer in India?! Why, you'd have to either be crazy or... well... that's really the only option Ichi can come up with at the moment. "...uhh... oh. Sorry about the wait... I got lost." Ichiro finally finishes, a tad sheepishly. "Umm... you must be Mary. I'm Ichiro Oe, it is wonderful to meet you miss," he adds with a polite bow. "Are you ready to start?"

Ichiro falls backwards. "A's lost."

Well, perhaps today really is a bust, Mary thinks, and yet she was so looking forwards to the test to come!

And then a boy comes, sliding to a stop before the battlefield. Well. That just must be a tourist! A tourise who leaps over the spikes and the coals and makes it inside. Blinking, Mary resides that the boy is actually her league competitor, which is solidified once Ichiro comes forwards and apologizes to her. Smiling, perhaps if only due to the apology, Mary shakes her head. "Ya'll were late, but I'm not one to nip at you for that, darlin'." She starts off, taking a step backwards, and spinning the parasol in her hands, as if fanning herself. "It's an odd place. Why if I didn't have my tour guide I'd be stuck in the mud like a pig! Y'know, it ain't that bad of a place though." She adds, "And I'm just rarin' to go."

She laughs, before above them, clouds begin to form, spiralling outwards slowly from above the two .. and mainly over the battlefield that has been designated. It looks like whatever Mary has, she certainly is planning on using it. She doesn't seem to mind him being late, "But you better keep up! We're going to be having a lot of fun!" She comments. "I'm going to be sure of it!" And just how is she going to be .. sure of it?

Well, as she leaps backwards.. she takes the parasol, and suddenly slides the J part of the handle backwards.. before thrusting it around, and bringing it to wrap about the middle! "Teehee.. lets have a swinging' time!" And she does just that, pulling herself in .. and towards Ichiro!

COMBATSYS: Mary has started a fight here.

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Mary             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Ichiro has joined the fight here.

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Ichiro           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Mary


COMBATSYS: Ichiro endures Mary's Light Kick.

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Ichiro           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0             Mary


Squinting slightly in the bright sun as he strains to get a better look at the woman he is about to fight, Ichiro's gaze can't quite pierce the shroud of lace and cloth that the woman is thoroughly wrapped in. He skin, what little he can see of it seems very light though. Maybe that's why she wears so much clothing.
Blushing softly as the woman addresses him in her southern dialect that so many men find irresistible for some reason. Ichiro can't help but wonder about this strange woman. She definitely seems older than him, that much he can tell by her voice, clothes, and how she carries herself. Sufficed to say, you don't run into many southern belles in Japan.
"Oh, don't worry about me keeping up... ma'am," he replies with a small smile, settling on that honorific over the 'miss' he used before. Hopefully she won't take offense. "I'm a quick study," he adds with a grin. Pulling a lacrosse stick, also known as a 'crosse' from the duffelbag over his shoulder, Ichiro quickly follows with a cageless hockey-style helmet which he plops on his head before tossing the duffel away. His slim shoulderpads are already worn under his light nylon practice jersey.
Giving the umbrella a quick appraising eye, Ichiro pulls his attention away from the likely weapon and focuses on the older lady as she leaps toward him. "Yah!" Ichiro exclaims as he lets the attack strike true, thudding against his well-toned athletic body in exchange for a chance to do a little damage of his own. Shooting off to Mary's side, Ichiro attempts to wack her on the shoulder with his lacrosse stick while her body is relatively close to him while he passes by.

COMBATSYS: Ichiro successfully hits Mary with Medium Strike.

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Ichiro           0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0             Mary


A quick study? While that's be something to see! Yet as Ichiro dashes towards her .. actually allowing himself to be struck as the shoulder pads absorb a bit of the assault.. and allow Ichiro to just keep going. The stick comes around and she ends up being whacked alright, the J shape of the parasol sliding back into the main body of the parasol as she falls backwards, flipping in the air from the assault, and then landing, somewhat, on her feet.

Trying to get out of the way wasn't, perhaps, the very best choice! But it's not bothering to her at all! Oh, heavens no. Not immediately. Not when there's so much to be done still. "Ya'll some kind of athelete aren't ya? .. Well darlin', it'll certainly be interestin' then!" And the parasol is put over her shoulder again as she .. moves towards Ichiro. "All full of life, aren't ya? Well that's good to hear!" Above her, the clouds begin to spread out more, beginning to actually cover the sun that is giving Ichiro a little bit of trouble seeing.

And once close enough to Ichiro, she grabs for the weapon, to wrench it to the ground, and Ichiro with it.. a bit of a flip, before driving the shoeware into his back, over and over again. It's .. not very enjoyable. Far from it, actually!

"Now.. lets start the real game!"

COMBATSYS: Ichiro blocks Mary's Steppin Time.

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Ichiro           0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0             Mary


Blushing again slightly as she refers to him as 'darlin' (People seem to be a lot less formal in the Southern United States, at least compared to Japan), Ichiro replies to her question with a slight nod. "Oh yes ma'am, I strive to become the best athlete I can!" he replies with another friendly grin as the cloud begin to gather overhead. Giving the sky a slight glance, a frown crosses Ichi's face for a moment. Odd weather they have here in India. Glancing back down just in time to see the woman grab onto his crosse, Ichiro lets out a cry of surprise as he's flipped and wrenched to the ground. "Gah!" Quickly rolling to his side as the lady's foot begins to crash down on his back over and over again, Ichiro manages to deflect some of the pain away from his vulnerable back and onto his sides and arm. Okay, this lady means business. Rolling backwards over a shoulder and up to his feet, Ichiro gives the woman a shrewd glance before reaching into his pocket and drawing out a hard rubber lacrosse ball, which is a little smaller in diameter than a standard baseball.
"You weren't lying lady," Ichiro says with a sly grin as he bounces the ball off of the ground and catches it in the net of his lacrosse stick. "You mean business!" Tossing the ball into the air with a flick of his stick, Ichiro seems to concentrate on the ball for a moment before the rubber sphere erupts with brilliant golden energy! Scooping up the blazing ball with the pocket of his lacrosse stick, Ichiro spins quickly and sends the ball rocketing at the ground with another swipe of his crosse, where it bounces once and caroms off towards Mary where it will hopefully hit her in the pit of the stomach after coming at her from an odd angle.

COMBATSYS: Mary dodges Ichiro's Bounce Shot.

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Ichiro           0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0             Mary


It works rather well, she believes, as Ichiro ends up distracted by the clouds. Meanwhile, he's struck to the ground, and ends up putting .. just what she wants into the way! Ah, how fortunate! How she enjoys this, especially the cry of supply and the way they move. That's always enjoyable. What's .. different however is how he rolls to his feet so quickly.. and drawing a .. ball?

"What IS your sport anyways, darlin'?" She's not hitting on him, many have thought that. Darlin' just means what she believes it to.. and it's just a word to her. "Oh I would hope I did, or I'm not sure what I've done all I have for." Or gave herself up to G-Project as well. But that's another kettle of fish.

The blazing ball with energy, sticks, and balls aside, comes barreling towards the ground? "You sure you aimed that ri-Oh gee!" It bounces off the ground, but Mary is fast enough this time, .. the clouds meanwhile beginning to rain down.

Running to the ball, she just barely is able to leap over it, dress and all, before hitting the ground, as the rain hits it. And .. she slides. She's found some uses for her chi. "Well then .. I hope the weather doesn't rain out the game!" She smirks as she says this to Ichiro, before her momentum towards Ichiro is used for her benefit, her body whirling about as she barrels towards him, spinning about and about, the parasol whipping around her as she becoming a spinning .. object!

It doesn't seem to be aimed very well, sliding where he is .. but that's hardly important!

COMBATSYS: Ichiro fails to interrupt Element of Fun from Mary with Cross Check.

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Ichiro           0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0             Mary


"It's called Lacrosse, the game was invented by the Native Americans, but the western world discovered it when a French Jesuit Missionary, named Jean de Brebeuf saw a tribe of Iroquois playing..." Ichiro begins to reply with an eager grin as he's given another chance to educate a relative stranger on the history of the sport he loves, but his discourse slowly dies out as he watches the woman leap over his blazing ball nimbly. Face drooping down into a slight scowl, Ichiro grips the lacrosse in front of his chest with his gloved hands and waits for an opening to strike as he begins to blink rain drops out of his eyes.
"We don't stop games on account of weather, we're not baseball," he replies a tad moodily as his sneakers squeak on the surface of the fighting area loudly from a shuffle of his feet. His frown deepening as the lady begins to spin towards him; Ichiro gets the sneaking suspicion that this summer rainfall might be her doing. She doesn't seem very surprised with it after all.
Crouching slightly as the spinning woman nears him, Ichiro tries to time a strike just so and knock her out of her spin with a brutal strike of his lacrosse stick before she can hit him, but all his planning backfires as his sneaker slips out from under him and he's struck in the head with her parasol and sent sliding away on his back. "Nnnhh... stupid rain..." Ichiro mutters as he props his head up and kip-ups to his feet and assumes his normal fighting stance. Little known fact, all athletes try to master that move as they wait around for practice to start at one time or another. True story.

It's enough, apparently, because as Ichiro tries to strike her.. her rain gives her another bonus. Others probably aren't able to move with her chi as she is.. and it turns out that Ichiro isn't very good with it either, as he slips.. and is sent backwards. But she can't exactly slow down very well.

The parasol switches up once again, and the J shape is sent, whipped, towards one of the spikes lining the battlefield. Pulling back, she reels herself a bit, slowing her motion while staying moving.

"Ya'll scertainly not .. and thanks for sharin' that, darlin'. Always happy to hear of others games while in my own. But I don't believe I'll ever be tryin' one of those if you understand.." Mary trails off as she slows, finally, sliding around the pole in the middle with the chain before she comes to a stop.

"Stupid? Now, rain's necessary for the plants ta grow.. can't live without it either." She chides. "But you can try this... Rain rain, go away~" She sing songs, before pulling on the whip, freeing it from it's wrapped up present.. and sending it streaking towards Ichiro.. and towards his leg. "Ya'll just need to get a feel for it .. lemme help ya darlin'!" She aims to pull, like if she was fishing, and heave him upwards! .. And back down.

If he isn't fast enough!

COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Ichiro with Snare Whip.

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Ichiro           0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0             Mary


Ichiro... isn't fast enough.
Glancing downwards and the chain whips towards his leg and snares it good, giving Ichiro just enough time to look back up at Mary and gulp pathetically before being yanked into the air and slammed back down onto the wet ground. "Phhhhhuuuuhh..." Ichiro gasps as the wind is knocked from his lungs violently, causing him to clutch his midsection and gasp for air with rasping breaths.
"Nnnhh..." he groans as he pushes himself up to his feet. "...plants ain't that great either," he replies moodily. Aww, he doesn't really mean it plants, he's just sore. Honest.
Taking a few stumbling steps as he braces his head, Oe manages to shake the cobwebs loose and fix his gaze on the strange woman standing before him. "Alright... the game didn't start off too well. Team Oe has some catching up to do, but the match ain't over yet!" he exclaims, his tone rising as his adrenaline begins to build. If he's going to have a chance at winning now he'll need every ounce of burning spirit he's able to muster!

COMBATSYS: Ichiro gathers his will.

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Ichiro           1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0             Mary


It's not all bad. Ichiro might not be fast enough this time, but Mary hasn't been fast enough .. well, except this time.

With Ichiro yanked up into the air, and then slammed into the ground, Mary is just having far too much fun to stop already! And with him on the ground, wind knocked from his lungs and all.. Mary doesn't think he really has much left.

But that's far from true, and a smile is brought to her face as he gets back to his feet. "Nah? Ya'll like the darker meat then, don'tcha.. well they gotta eat plants to one way or another. You're a cityslicker ain't ya!" She tries to hit the nail on the head as she steps forwards, but he stumbles back.. and then seems to get his head back into the game! Especially as she notices.. things might just get a bit difficult!

But there's always a way around it. Spinning the parasol, and sliding the chain back in, she points it right at Ichiro. "Beg your pardon, really I do .. but I ain't one to put the cart before the horse .. I'm sure ya have it in ya!" As she presses the button, that's what she says.

The button on the parasol.. which fires out a few spinning tops, bladed, like some kind of weapon. They aren't accurate, oh no.. but there's quite alot! "Ya'll .. JUST SIT STILL!"

COMBATSYS: Ichiro interrupts Long Shot from Mary with Cross Check.

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Ichiro           1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1             Mary


Just sit still? JUST SIT STILL?! Ichiro doesn't know the meaning of the phrase. I mean, he does, technically, but allow him some artistic license. Regardless, Ichiro is already dashing towards Mary even as the final sentence was being uttered, the fast-twitch muscles in his long muscular legs twitching... fastly as he blazes towards her, not even batting an eye as the wicked looking tops fly towards him like something out of a batman comic book.
Grunting softly as he grips his crosse in both hands, Ichiro hops up without losing any of his sprinting speed and plants his foot on the first top, then continues to charge by stepping on top after top as he charges at the woman like a man trying to cross a river by running on the backs of crocodiles. It's all very showy and cool looking, and the crowd certainly appreciates his show of athleticism, but one or two of the tops does manage to slice up his lets a bit as he runs. Still, it looks pretty cool.
"HAH!" Ichiro shouts as his foot plants on the last of the tops and he gives one final leap towards Mary, lunging for her head with the metal shaft of his lacrosse stick and plants the pieces of sporting equipment against the side of her head with brutal force as he passes by. "How's that for darker meat?" he asks smugly as he skids to a stop. Okay, so he's not very good at one-liners.

As Ichiro steps up to the challenge.. and certainly does... His quick stepping earns him much, much better than she had expected!

Mainly because she didn't expect him to actually break it. "Wh-" And then suddenly he's leaping at her, lunging, the metal shaft and the equipment slamming soundly into Mary, and causing her to clatter to the ground, rolling, her dress getting wet .. as well as also slightly dirty.

Now that just WON'T do! In the darkness.. the clouds spreading outwards and eating the rest of the light, Mary isn't quite happy at the moment. Far from it. The contrary. Her eyes, which the bonnet somewhat covered, are pure white.. as she looks at Ichiro with them. "Ya'll just had to .. get my dress all mussed up, didn't you?.. But it's .. certainly something. Maybe you really have it. Maybe.. But maybe not."

"How about you keep that up .. or you gonna WISH you did!" She exclaims, before she throws herself completely at Iichiro. He might not expect the parasol to actually close. But it does, and this time, she's just aiming to slam him with the metal middle.. first simply to the side in a heavy swing, and then something of a golf swing to his solar plexus, following with a swing to the knees, attempting to strike either them or his calves, the lady simply trying to bash the parasol against Ichiro over and over.

But with each swing is a heavy, aimed blow, attempting to seek something deeper than just the skin. Oh no. She can see something of the boy. He's clearly done alot of running.

She aims to see if he can really give it his all. "All's fair .. ain't it?!"

She's having fun, however. It just may not seem like it.

COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Ichiro with Practically Perfect.

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Ichiro           1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0             Mary


Yes, all's fair in love and war. Yeah, this feels a lot more like war.
Recoiling slightly as the lady's scary white-eyed gaze, Ichiro starts to wonder if maybe his first assessment of this woman's sanity wasn't that far off base. "Hey, sorry about the dress, but if you didn't want it messed up them maybe you shouldn't have... wait, have what? What do I maybe have?" he asks curiously, his eyebrows knitted with confusion and slight annoyance. He's not really given much of an answer, not yet anyway, because it's all he can do to keep from getting knocked unconscious by relentless umbrella strikes as he's driven backwards by the barrage through the rain.
Finally the brutality subsides as Ichiro is sent skidding prone on the wet ground where he lays silent for a few fleeting moments. "Nnnnhhh... ...I'm not done yet... the game's not over yet..." Ichiro growls as he stirs back to life and pulls himself to his feet, leaning slightly on his lacrosse stick as if it were a crutch. "I can't give up until the final whistle blows, and lucky for me, there's time left on the clock..." he continues with the goofy gaze of a punch drunk boxer. Shaking his head slightly, Ichiro thumps the side of his helmet with the heel of his hand and forces his eyes to focus on the odd woman before him.
"I don't really understand... well... really anything you're saying lady, but you're a pretty good fighter. Thanks for the match." With that said, Ichiro let's go of his lacrosse stick with his left hand and lets it lower to his waist as if he's done fighting, though it is apparently that this isn't quite the case as he quickly dashes in towards Mary and attempts to shoulder tackle her around the waist football-style and drive her to the ground, where he'll straddle her waist and begin to wail blow after blow on her chest and head with his crosse held in a two-handed grip. Yeah, it's kind of a brutal attack, especially when used against such a refined lady in a pretty dress, but to hold anything back would do both fighters a disservice. Plus, it's kinda hot in a cougar-kinda way. Ahem.

COMBATSYS: Mary blocks Ichiro's Unnecessary Roughness.

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Ichiro           0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0             Mary


Just a bit.

"Can't tell ya... not yet." She exclaims, as Ichiro is sent skidding back. Mary comes to a stop as Ichiro explains it's just not over, and pulls himself to his feet. And then just comes after her. She has a few moments, but she deals with it as she sees fit. First, by sliding the parasol back once more, over her shoulder. "Ya'll don't need to worry, darlin'. I'll tell you everythin' you need to hear in a lil' bit. I enjoyed myself as well. Been quite fun! Always enjoy a little rough and tumble..." But suddenly, he's on top of her. She's stalled too long. This time, she moves, and as he dashes towards her, it's caught by the chain she slides out of the parasol.. the J hanging for the moment.

She's driven backwards as she tries to prevent the shoulder tackle, but ends up with her shoes driven through the coals and almost straight through the spikes. The pain is rather terrible, and she actually ends up back against a building, but refuses to fall back. His shoulder nearly drives straight through the chain, she notes.. just darn tootin' strong!

"Hah... ya'll .. really goin' to make me work for it .. here ya go!"

And she attaches the J to his helmet... which might be slightly bad, in retrospect. Dashing away from him, leaving a trail of blood, she pulls.. and hard.. on the chain, attempting to huck him up and up into the air before spinning him around. The rain about them would begin to grow heavier, and as Ichiro may learn .. actually have something to it. As it begins to eat into him, and the battlefield, it growing slightly caustic on command.

He'll end up in a growing puddle of it if he doesn't break free!

COMBATSYS: Ichiro dodges Mary's Singing in the Rain.

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Ichiro           0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0             Mary


Everything he needs to hear? Why is it that this feels less like a neo-league match and more like an audition? Ichiro is a pretty laid back kid, but at the same time he's a very straight forward guy, and being kept in the dark doesn't really sit well with him. Frowning darkly as he's not quite able to get the woman onto the ground, Ichiro seems about to respond to the lady's comments when part of her parasol is suddenly attached to his helmet. "What the..." This ain't good. Painful recognition grows in the young man's eyes as he watches her begin to dash away from him, and Ichiro does the only thing he can think to do...
Grimacing as he feels the first tug of her pull on the chain, Oe reaches up to his chin and unclasps the helmet with a press of the plastic clip holding the straps together. POP. The helmet flies off of the Lacrosse captain's head and said through the air towards the pale lady. Grinning with a tad of self-assured smugness, Ichiro reaches up to muss his short helmet-hair into something a little less dorky, letting the rain wet it into spikes. As he brings his hand down from his head he notices something peculiar on his fingers... "What the..." he starts, his eyes wide with shock as he tries to process the clump of brittle hair in his hand. It's just then that he notices the slight sizzling sound coming from the nylon jersey thrown over his sleek shoulderpads as the caustic rain works its magic, starting to turn the artificial fabric into a sizzling gooey mess. "What the hell IS this stuff?" He asks in disgust as he starts to regain his breath a bit.

COMBATSYS: Ichiro gains composure.

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Ichiro           0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0             Mary


And Ichiro unclips the helmet, which he allows to somewhat burn. It's not that bad, and it'll still be in one piece, but you know how it is. "Ya'll got out of the way. Pretty impressed." She claims, at least, before he comments on the rain. "Y'know, I'd think you'd know better than anyone. It's energy, darlin'. Just .. mine."

But she's working on taking him out, finally. But can she really do it? He's certainly got quite a bit of energy left, at least, that's as it seems. She has a moment of introspective.. and tosses it out of the window. The chain's flipped around, towards the top of the pole in the middle, "I'm just makin' sure you're up to snuff.. there's alot of people out here I feel sorry for, darlin'.. they ain't ever gonna feel like this... But lets enjoy it while we can!" Pulling on the chain, she pulls herself up, the chain retreating back into the weapon, Mary flipping.. which is slightly difficult with the closing, and also just almost out of question.. before driving the parasol open.. and aiming it downwards, the rain still raining down, wetting her hair, seemingly sliding harmlessly off her and her clothing, as she dives down to Ichiro, almost attempting to impale the boy. It's far from that, that's for sure, but she's planning on making contact with the parasol alright, blade first.. and with all that corrosive energy dripping off it, and around it.

"But how much more do you have in you? Eh, city slicker?"

COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Ichiro with No Explanations.

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Ichiro           0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0             Mary


Yeah. Probably not much more. Ichiro just doesn't have much left in the tank. Anything really. The kid just keeps on running till he's empty. But that said, one of the things that Ichiro holds most dear is the idea of good sportsmanship, and he knows when he's beaten. This would be one of those times.
Looking up and gasping is all Ichiro is really capable of doing as he watches the woman actually execute a -flip- in that huge dress of hers before bearing down on him with the point of her parasol and spiking him into the ground. "Gah!" Ichiro grunts painfully as he's driven to his back and Mary bounces off of him. "Hhnn... Okay... ya got me..." Ichiro groans as he lies on his back and lets the gross water pelt his face and eyes clenched shut. Sighing softly, Ichiro pushes himself up on one elbow and considers Mary from his spot on the nice hard wet ground. "So... what was all that talk about?" he asks, still not quite sure if it had a point or if it was just the ramblings of some crazy albino American lady.

COMBATSYS: Ichiro takes no action.

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


COMBATSYS: Ichiro can no longer fight.

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


As Ichiro hits the ground, and admits defeat.. Mary lands on her feet, the parasol returns to her shoulder, and she doesn't look at him immediately. "So.. you admit defeat...." She speaks slowly, the rain still coming down, but not corrosive anymore. Simply more like rain. It was over. There was no need for any more violence.

"Ya'll .. done then?" She asks, but already knows the answer. Turning about, she leans forwards, looking to the boy on the ground, before shaking her head. "It won't do. It just won't do. You're strong .. but you just didn't pass the test. It wasn't good enough." She exclaims, tapping the ground with her foot to make a point.

"So in order to be where you need ta be darlin'... I'll have to visit you in a few weeks, to check up on ya'.... how 'bout that? No, you don't have a say .. he's certain to agree with this, so ya'll probably will have to deal with me .. or him, but he's a busy man.. so ya'll .. just stay in shape .. ya'll be seein' me again.. you can count on it.. darlin'."

And with that, she straightens up, and begins to walk away.

Just like that, too.

COMBATSYS: Mary has ended the fight here.


"Wha- what?" Ichiro replies as Mary walks away. "Wasn't... wasn't good enough?!" he calls out, a touch of defensive astonishment in his voice. He didn't fight that well, granted, not as well as he usually does, but still... he's got to be good enough... for... for… for whatever it was that she was looking for... right?! Yeah, of course he's good enough; Ichiro is ALWAYS good enough! He was just having an off day! That's all.
"Uhh... yeah, a few weeks!" He'll be good enough then... did she say for what? Wait, stay in shape? Seeing her again? Did he just agree to ...a date?! Is that why she was testing him... to see if he was good enough?! Wow, wait until the guys at school hear about this! Sure, he wasn't really up to it this time, but this sort of thing happens to all guys at one time or another, right? At least, that's what they said in health class, or something like that, anyway.
Grinning from ear to ear, Ichiro's bruised teenage male ego begins to feel a little better as he pushes himself to his feet and slowly begins to walk over to reclaim his gear and stuff it back in his duffel. "REMEMBER, A FEW WEEKS FROM NOW!" he yells out one more time, though the woman is long gone.
Wait, what was that part about a busy man? Did she say something about a guy? Nah. He probably heard wrong.

Log created on 23:43:58 07/01/2008 by Mary, and last modified on 12:28:56 07/02/2008.