Description: Finding a place where Sergio can go all out with his destructive techniques without IRRITATING someone is a challenge. But a giant strip mine might just be up to the task. Attending a long overdue rematch against the tough brawler, Hotaru Futaba is forced to pull out her A game to contend with his imposingly powerful techniques. ( Winner: Hotaru )
"I want to fight somewhere where I can absolutely wreck the place, go as crazy as I want and not worry about the consequences."
It was the line that launched a thousand lackeys.
Low level Neo League officials scrambled all over the globe to figure out the solution. Don't misunderstand. It wasn't like the person making the request was hugely important. The real reason behind the immense amount of work done was an office betting pool. It started when a young man who had been hired by his uncle let out a snort and commented that it couldn't be done at all. A paltry bet was made, and for a time it seemed like that was the end of it.
Then the ideas started to come in: a building that needed to be torn down here, a groundbreaking ceremony for a skyscraper. Good ideas trickled in from most anyone who'd gotten the mocking email, and before long it ended up being a problem as to which should be chosen. The next week things were even worse. An anonymous email circulated to all original recipients that a mystery benefactor would kick in 100 dollars to the winning idea. More people flooded the channels with places that could be completely demolished without worry- a decommissioned destroyer waiting to be scuttled, an abandoned 'ghost town' in the American West. Someone even suggested sending the guy to Antarctica- who cared if he tore up some mile-thick ice sheets?
With over seventy entries already made the real bomb hit. It was suggested that everyone pitch in five bucks to the winner, and a PayPal account was created. The bonus suddenly went from a hundred dollars to over five thousand, and it was truly off to the races. At this point even the high-ups were starting to get headaches over who should be picked, and so it got to the ridiculous point of an independent panel of experts being appointed to oversee the process.
Sometime later one of the experts actually had the bright idea to disallow further entries, much to the chagrin of everyone involved- most had put in two or three. It took many long hours of deliberation, and luckily for everyone involved a system was set up. Ideas that were too similar were lumped as a single item, and then these were voted on as a whole. Once this process whittled the number of entries down to twenty the real work began. There was an abandoned office building in Chicago that was found to be filled with asbestos- extremely costly to tear down by normal means. Vast swaths of land in Africa were littered with landmines, able to blow off the limbs of children, but only minorly harmful to someone with a fighters endurance. There was even some talk of dropping the fighters into the middle of a raging forest fire, where concussive blasts and massive damage might even help to contain the inferno.
In the end, however, it was decided that the lives of the fighters themselves could not be in danger. This, fortunately, dropped the number of acceptable entries to exactly one. The date was set and the fighters were given their tickets. Hotaru Futaba and the man known only as Sergio would fight in the El Chino open copper mine in Grand County, New Mexico. The email went through the usual channels with blinding speed, and in it was the smirking face of the same young man that was hired on purely because of nepotism, the young man who had started it all, holding a check for over twenty thousand dollars.
The quote said he was going to Disney Land.
"Hmph. I've gotta hand it to 'em, this ain't bad."
The Italian stands under the beating New Mexico sun, high summer in full swing. Silk shirt opened by an extra button to account for the heat, he can only look around at the amazing majesty of his surroundings. Yellows flowing into reds, into blues abound on the terraced hillsides, a monument to the power of an industrialized nation coupled with high explosives. On the tenth row from the bottom he stands, an unrecognizable spec to anyone around that lacks high-powered optics.
Though a thousand feet from the bottom of the gargantuan pit, he is thousands more from the top, a fall from even a single step of the mine likely enough to kill any normal person foolish enough to get too near the edge. So compact are the uniform rows that the largest dump trucks in the world, their wheels twice as tall as a man stands tall, can traverse them without worry.
Sergio could stand out here for a week unleashing his most powerful assaults, and the most he could do would be to make a scratch upon the face of the mine. Perhaps he could even manage to collapse a sizable chunk of the terrace above him, but even then if one surveyed the scenery from above they'd likely find it nothing more than a minor curiosity.
This isn't lost on the Italian fighter, dense and uneducated though he may be. "Shit. They could bring all the best fuckin' fighters in the world here and there's still no goddamn way they could do something like this without some kind of help. I feel like a goddamn speck." The Neo League camera pans out, and for a moment Sergio is but a single pixel on the Blu-ray optical disk. "I'd piss on the goddamn place, but Hotaru's going to be here any second. Damnit."
Finding venues for Hotaru Futaba to fight isn't nearly as an involved process. While she does possess a rather destructive signiture technique, and can fling around chi balls with the best of them, all in all, she's just not that hard to place. Finding her matchups to attempt isn't terribly difficult either. A popular, mid tier combatant, on call to face new faces and experienced veterans alike with little warning, it's easy to schedule the student for battles around the world. And who doesn't like a good excuse to get out of class, anyway?
This isn't her first trip to a giant strip mine, having had a SNF in one almost a year ago, fighting alongside her sensei at the time, Ryo Sakazaki. But this time she's on her own. And this time she's facing off against one fo the most destructive fighters she's seen shy of Kein Heinlein himself. This will be a challenge, of that she's certain.
Her trip to the site is uneventful, the girl being driven down the winding side roads into the giant mine in a white SUV. Staring out the window on the side, she gazes at the giant pit as they circle around... and around... and around, gradually getting lower. The vehicle comes to a stop a short ways off, the driver letting her out from the passanger side. "Good luck," he bids the Kenpo artist, "This guy is some kind of monster!!" The SUV whirls around, tires slipping as it loses traction in the driver's hurry to vacate the canyon as swiftly as possible, leaving Hotaru standing in a cloud of dust.
A sneeze announces her presence as she steps into open view. Well familiar with the nature of Sergio's chi use, she's come clad in black pants and blouse, with a dark red vest in place of her standard blue one. Giving the Italian a grin, the girl clasps her hands behind her back as she strides closer to the European, "So I've heard you're dangerous," she remarks wyrly.
As Hotaru approaches Sergio a change can be seen about the man. Standing serious with his back turned, no doubt contemplating the task at hand and preparing himself for the fight that's to begin shortly. Ki energy slowly rolls off of his body, distorting the air around himself and creating the effect of wavering. Hotaru speaks to him and his head turns towards her, that hard, cold expression set upon his face.
And that's when the illusion breaks, the heat distortion from the hot sun overhead creating differences in air pressure diluting greatly once someone is closer, the Italian's face turning into an easy grin now that he's thinking about the fight to come, rather than how this whole place seems to be mocking him as he was before. "Hey!" He lets out a hearty laugh at the remark, "Dangerous, eh? I guess there's worse things than to be considered dangerous." Like being considered puny and weak, for instance.
As he gets his first really good look at her his eyebrow quirks up, "Hey, what's with the new getup?" His hand goes to rub at his chin for a moment before he pauses, and then bursts out into laughter.
Hold on, it's going to be a moment.
Ok, there we go, "Aha... yeah, you're a pretty smart cookie, but I don't think that's anything you need to worry about. I mean, if it was a problem the whole freakin' world'd have the pictures up by now, right?" That Sergio, ever the gentlemen careful of faux pas.
She walks slowly, feet shuffling through the dust of the hewn mountainside, reminded how much she dislikes fighting in dirty places combined with how much she keeps getting sent to fight in them. Merely a peeve of hers, hardly a significant distraction by any means. Sergio stands tall, an impressive figure reaching nearly a foot and a have taller than the girl he's slated to match. The pig-tailed fighter pauses for a moment as he turns to face her, the grin on his face setting her at ease for the moment.
He neither confirms nor denies her remark about him being dangerous, and that equivocation provokes a smile of amusement. But when he takes notice of her darker hued attire and asks about it, the teenaged fighter blinks, mouth opening as if ready to answer, but no words are immediately forthcoming. On some level it's for the best that he figures it out for himself, since it spares her having to explain the awkwardness she feels fighting water chi users clad primarialy in white clothing. On the other hand, that laughter isn't helping a lot.
Quiet as the Italian has to catch his breath from laughing, she glances to the side, folding her arms loosely over her chest, cheeks tinted just a little red - and not from the heat of the desert-like environment. He points out that it shouldn't really be an issue in his own way, and the demure girl glances back toward him, looking just a tad flustered, "A-ah, right, I just, it's really because," she unfolds her arms, waving her hands in front of her, "I mean, it's just because of all the dirt," she finishes, gesturing to the powderized rubble at her feet. "I'd just end up dressed in brown anyway." she finishes, managing to compose herself to the point of smiling back, even if she's really just presenting an excuse to try and change the subject matter.
But an even better way to get Sergio's mind elsewhere is quite likely to roll this encounter on into the combatative stage of the match. Blue eyes glance him over from head to toe once more as she breaths in deeply then exhales softly, turning one shoulder toward him, one foot out a little bit in front of her other one, her hands raised, palms open. "Well then." She takes on a more serious air now that she's shifting her own thoughts to trying to plan ahead for contending with the likes of Sergio. "Shall we begin?"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sergio has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
It's up to Hotaru to decide if she thinks he's the dangerous type, or such is the thought of Sergio. He also figured she was simply joking around, and didn't require a response more than the one he gave. And aside from all that that he got a little distracted by something else, and he's not exactly known for being able to keep multiple lines of thought going at the same time. He asks a question which he answers for himself, and Hotaru seems embarrassed for it.
A part of the man feels bad for embarrassing her, but a much larger one says he couldn't help it if he thought it was funny, so he simply won't let it bother him. "Dirt?" He considers this a moment, and then gives a nod, "Makes sense, but I hope you'll be alright in the heat. Black ain't exactly the best thing to wear on a day like today." Yes, he'll give that sage advice even though he knows that isn't the real reason. Whether it's because he wants to help her cover story, thinks she needs this information, or is just spouting something he happens to know will forever be lost to history.
Hotaru changes the subject then, and he gives a wide grin, "Hey, great idea. We're here so we might as well go ahead and get things started." He pulls his arms back and then slams his fist into his hand, pumping himself up. "Awesome!" Were he a wiser man he'd probably take notice of how she holds herself, of how prepared for everything she looks right now.
He is not a wiser man. He is Sergio.
And Sergio doesn't care much for things like planning ahead and overall readiness. He cares about massive destructive force and being able to withstand massive destructive force- which makes this the perfect place for him to fight.
Seventeen out of twenty expert committee members agree!
With a huge grin on his face he charges, not even bothering to move into a fighting stance because he's running in anyway. All he's trying to do here is get in close to Hotaru, and once he does he'll drop down in to a low crouch, his right fist dropping nearly to the ground itself before rocketing upward with incredible power, his body twisting around as he leaps into the air. A stream of water flows out behind his fist as he raises into the air, the man choosing to begin this fight with one of the most blatantly and often stolen techniques in fighting history. "Water Dragon Punch!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Sergio's Strong Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sergio
"Well," Hotaru replies with regards to the heat of the hot summer day beating down on the two of them in the all earthen environment, "I might have to let you get a free hit in at some point to cool off," she finishes with a grin, fingers closing and opening as she starts to bounce lightly on her toes, ready to kick into action. Of course she's joking about the free hit, knowing full well any pain from a strike from Sergio isn't really worth a brief reprieve from the heat. No, she'll be fighting him as seriously as she can, remembering how his explosive approach to fighting easily bested her the last time they fought.
And then he's coming her way, ready to wreck destruction upon this landscape that has the gall to dare him to leave his mark. But Hotaru isn't interested in being part of that destruction, blue eyes staying focused sharply on his approach, up to the point where he crouches low, powering into an extremely forceful attack. She knows an uppercut when she sees one, and also knows she doesn't want to get hit by that!
Her left foot slips backward, her right foot pushing off to give her just a bit of extra distance to make sure that she's out of the way of any shift in striking that he might try to pull at the last moment. While Sergio is hardly well known for being the most deceptive fighter around, anyone can come up with a clever feint now and then.
With her evasion kept minimal, the girl drops into an extremely low stance, her arms out at her sides, her leading right foot a ways out in front of her as she demonstrates some of that flexibility one would expect in a girl her size. The shift in stance is held as she attentively watches Sergio drop from the sky.
When she moves, it's swift, springing forward out of her low stance, converting all that potential energy into kinetic power. She might be borrowing a page out of Jiro's book with how she tries to hook her arm around Sergio's torso in a manner not unlike the Kasagi boy's frightfully successful clothesline attack. Of course her impact is softer, slanted more toward trying to plow the Italian to the ground, her own feet kicking off the ground as she adds that last bit of momentum before trying to hook the brash European. "YA!"
If successful, it's then simply a matter of rolling cleanly out of his fall and readying herself for whatever might come next.
COMBATSYS: Sergio blocks Hotaru's Medium Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sergio
A grin surely would have formed on the Italian's face at that comment, had he not already been grinning in the first place. He doesn't think for a moment that she's serious, but he easily appreciates the humor. Heck, he'll probably find a way to immerse himself in his own chi at some point, if only to cool himself down. It's not like it hurt's -him-.
The powerful, all out assault uppercut blasts through the air and misses cleanly as Hotaru steps deftly out of the way of the blow. As he reaches the apex of his leap the water evaporates away in the air, leaving him hanging there with seemingly no protection.
But he isn't known purely for being offensively minded, no, he's also quite capable of defending himself, something learned way back in the days before he had access to his potent chi when his loose lip would earn him beatings for expressing his unpopular opinion. All this would be irrelevant, if he hadn't learned from these beatings, and it's knowledge he puts to good use against Hotaru.
As soon as she's clear of his attack, Hotaru is counterattacking, something he couldn't have helped but expect. The arm makes it's hold on him while he's mid-air, and there's little he can do to help that. But as she moves to slam him to the ground, leaping to aid in the process, his body twists. It's subtle at first, almost seeming to be caused by the initial impact itself, but as the motion completes the reasoning behind the movement is shown. Sergio hits the ground on his shoulder, and what's better he hits on the front of his shoulder.
Now, were he facing forward he could perform an awesome shoulder roll and get himself right out of trouble As it is, however, he hits the ground and loses control, tumbling. But while he tumbles he's active.
Lets be honest, Sergio tends to rely on his upper body for most of his combat prowess. Punches, grabs, throwing things. Even channeling chi is almost always done through the hands. But that doesn't mean he /can't/ use his legs. He can, in fact, kick rather powerful when need be, it's just that he can -feel- the impact on his fist so much better.
Right now? His arms aren't an option, so its time for plan B. As he tumbles over he makes a wild grab, simply attempting to put a deathgrip on Hotaru's left leg with both of his own. If he makes the hold? They're both going for a nice spin along the terrace, a spin that'll smash them right into the back wall, an eruption of water exploding out from the surface upon contact, almost exactly as if they'd splashed down into a lake while falling.
COMBATSYS: Sergio successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Sergio
He takes the fall a lot better than she had anticipated, rolling with the momentum rather than getting planted flat on his back. That doesn't mean she isn't quick to try and recover for it, planting her left foot against the ground in preparation for springing backward and gathering enough distance to prepare for her next plan of attack against the durable brawler.
But his legs hook her foot solidly just before she can leap, catching her in a scissor lock that has her flailing as she's taken to the ground and along for the tumble that follows in its wake. Her fears about getting dirty are both validated and made irrelevant at once as the two kick up a literal dust cloud enroute to the wall of the terrace. The girl rolls with the worst of it reasonably well, tucking and curling to keep herself from taking any nasty dings, leaving her with nothing worse than a few minor scrapes and scratches right up until she gets planted against the solid rock and a light gasp escapes her lips just before the powerful chi explodes out from the point of impact, leaving her hurt far worse at the end than from the rollling itself.
Dust turns to mud quickly but that's hardly what's on her mind as she immediately attempts to retaliate, using the wall behind her for support, springing forward in an attempt to catch Sergio before he can recover from the trip over the rocky road. It's a moment of aggressive lunging as she goes for his hands, knowing that the Italian's arms are powerful but hoping to catch him off guard enough to let her own inititive give her just the edge she needs.
The attack is complex, difficult to predict compared to some of her more straight forward techniques, but it's one she's practiced and honed as well as nearly any other technique she's got. "Ya, ya, ya!" Should she get a tight enough grip to twist his guard open, the rest of her momentum will be converted into a series of rapid stomps as the girl tries to get the better of him and spring from his shoulders in the end, leaping off the wall, then landing a little ways off, brushing moist dirt from off her face as she lands.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Sergio with Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Sergio
Slamming into the wall isn't so bad for Sergio since he has Hotaru to pad the blow. Even if it doesn't hurt it is still a bit jarring, but at the moment that's the least of his worries. As soon as he can untangle from the Kenpo artist he's attempting to get back to his feet, ready to go back to a standard striking assault, even if the impromptu leg grapple worked out well.
It's as he's getting back to his feet that he realizes something's up, Hotaru being fast enough that she's already recovered and on the attack. The hand grab leaves him not having any clue what she's going to attempt, so he goes for the only thing he feels he can do in this situation: try to take the pain of the attack while preparing to blast her with water.
The part, however, doesn't go quite as planned. Guard thrown open he expects, but jumped on and walked up he does not. Had she thrown a punch to the stomach he'd have been fine. A kick to the head would have gotten him groggy, but otherwise ready to attack. Walking up him and then kicking off the ledge next to them means she's immediately out of his range, and all he got for his effort was kicked.
"Nngh, shit. Guess I should have just tried to punch you in the gut while you were in front of me, eh? Ah well. There's always next time!" He turns to face her and then cracks his knuckles, bursting forward again at relatively high speeds- really it probably looks like a gentle lope to someone like Hotaru. Still, she has to take /some/ time to set herself after landing, right? So assuming he can even get close he sends a hard palmstrike directly at her chest, a scandalous maneuver that she can probably read instantly. It stops short of course, he's not /that/ desperate, and a powerful blast of water at point blank range sprays from his palm, proving that red on black is fashionably in when fighting Sergio. "Hah!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Alpha Release from Sergio with Tanshou Shin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Sergio
She's landed, ready for him, turning around to face Sergio as he recovers from her quick stomping attack and escape, blue eyes staying focused on the older fighter's movements, trying to predict what might come next from him. She remembers well his abilities to attack without even getting in range are formidable, so just keeping him at distance is hardly an indication that she's at all safe for it.
She braces herself as he takes a moment to speak, shaking her head with a faintest flicker of a smile. Everyone seems to be out to gut her, it seems, but with the way her own palm strikes tend to be aimed lower rather than high, it's probably only fair, all things considered. Next time indeed, she ponders, trying to keep her focus and watch for the incoming attack.
He doesn't catch her by surprise by speed, the girl tensing up, preparing to spring into one of her harder hitting techniques, turning her shoulder into his hand, thinking perhaps he was intending to make good on his threat. She springs then, realizing only in the last moment that he isn't trying to strike her directly, exactly, but rather letting his chi do the work for him. The change might not have mattered anyway, but Sergio's brand of chi usage packs enough of a punch to stop her forward lunge short, sending the smaller fighter tumbling backward over the rubble before coming to a rest in a low crouch.
Her right hand comes up to brush at a bruise to the side of her right temple where one jagged rock got her good in her less than controlled landing, but beyond that, she merely focuses on clearing her head of the pain she just suffered for misreading the Italian once again. Her left hand comes up, wiping across her mouth as she exhales, "Or that will work well enough," she states calmly, trying to keep from getting flustered at the intimidating prospect of trying to avoid stumbling into another strong attack like that.
The water is what does the trick for him, and happily enough- it's almost always the water that does the trick for him. He isn't exactly /feeble/ when it comes to attacking physically, but even when he smacks you in the face it's more likely that the orb of water around the fist is what's really aggravating you.
He's about ready to feel a whole bunch of pain when Hotaru begins turning her shoulder into his strike, the motions not meant to take the blow on a tough area, but rather to begin the motions for putting him into a world of pain. It's this ability of hers to power through even his attacks and lay on the smack down that caused him to fight such a defensive battle the last time they met. This time, however, he wants to see if he can win without having to take breathers.
He'll have to pace himself, something that goes through his mind as Hotaru is tumbling after taking the waterblast at full strength. He's... not very good at pacing himself. Better than some, maybe, but he'd rather keep on an all out assault. It's a minor conflict within himself now that is easily beat out by a single simple thought. He needs to press his advantage.
As she comes back up to her feet he gives a grin, "Heh, yeah. I got you that time. Wonder if I can do it again?" It's a curious question that he asks, and one he intends to find the answer on. And find it now.
His body posture drops, his legs spreading and his hand moving up in front of himself. A poor imitation of a Karate stance that would have masters shaking their heads with annoyance. But for him it works, and that's what matters. His right hand draws back, and a wide grin crosses his face. She'll know what's coming. There's no way she can't.
Power builds inside the man as he holds his power stance, his right arm pulled fully back for almost a full second. Then things get weird. "HAAH!" That's normal, of course, the fierce kiai of focus, a yell that's use he doesn't even really understand, other than that it feels right. But this time his hand doesn't slam forward. Instead his elbow pivots around fast until his hand now points directly behind himself. The earth rumbles, and then sunders.
This is, of course, the very reason they're at this location, his ability to manifest energy outside of his body and send it ripping up from the ground and creating a localized river. It doesn't appear in front of his feet this time, however. It appears behind Hotaru, rushing towards him. Maybe it'll be enough to catch her off guard, maybe not. He's pulled off tricks like this before, and maybe she's seen the footage.
As the ground crumbles huge chunks of it tear free and travel along for the ride, a massive onrushing torrent of water ripping from behind the young woman and seeking to blast into her while she's unaware. As for Sergio? It -should- peter out before it reaches him. He's really paying more attention to Hotaru, maybe it'll bite him in the ass.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru full-parries Sergio's Whitewater!
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Sergio
He wonders out loud if he can hit her again, but Hotaru is quiet, lips pressed tightly together as she forces herself to regain her focus, to not lose her concentration. The Italian's force is impressive, and trying to power through it directly might just not be the right direction to go. She's going to have to be smarter than that, she tells herself, sapphire blue eyes fixed on the European brawler. It's quite a feat to chip away at his tough nature, honed by decades of reckless fighting, but she's got to step up to the challenge.
Rising out of her crouch into standing upright, the pig-tailed fighter begins to bounce lightly on her toes once again, having cleared her mind of uncertainies and doubts that might have her hesitate at a key moment. She keeps her distance, not ready to put her speed to the task of charging back in at Sergio, hands closing and unclosing, the heat bearing down on the black and red clad girl as the watery chi of his last attack evaporating away quickly.
He adopts a stance, his broad grin cluing her in as to what he's probably thinking next, and the girl's expression stays just about the same, but for the slight furrowing of her brow. As it turns out he's blindsided her with that destructive attack of his on more than one occasion. This time she has got to be ready for it, no matter the direction. Behind her? Beneath her? Or any other direction... she has to stay ready!
And then the earth behind her errupts, fissures unleashing torrents of powerful water chi, carrying with them rocks and boulders hewn from the ground, plowing through the distance toward the small statured fighter. Her defense is razor sharp, the Kenpo artist sweeping her right foot back into a reverse kick, leaving a swath of chi in its wake. "KYA!" He's seen it before - her ability to manipulate the chi of others in a way not many fighters can. And now he gets another demonstration, it appears, as the girl spins out of the kick to face Sergio directly.
At first it may appear that she's simply going to be struck, bowled over and battered by the powerful attack. But that blue wall of chi behind her forms a sharp angle right at her back just at the right moment, causing his signiture technique to splash out to the sides of the girl, rushing forward but leaving the small notch of ground she stands upon unscathed, having parted the attack like Moses did the red sea, like a boulder rooted in a river bed that forces the tide to swirl around it rather than budge.
But Hotaru isn't idle, drawing her right hand out to her side as rocks and water smash down around her. It is easy, with so much ambient energy in the air around her, to power that vibrant, blue projectile of hers. And such she does, taking a step forward as she swings her right arm, energy visibly drawn out of the cascading Whitewater into the aura along her arm even as it moves. "HAA!" The projectile is unleashed, sent hurtling back toward the Italian, its speed having received a gift from hiw own dispersed attack!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Sergio with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Sergio
That she's ready for it doesn't bother Sergio in the slightest. Being ready for it doesn't necessarily mean she can handle it when it comes. Oh, she's definitely managed to handle herself well against the attack before- even so much as to sending part of it back his way. But that doesn't mean things can't go terribly horribly wrong if she tries to do it /this/ time.
Of course it doesn't mean it will, either. The long startup of the attack means she has all the time in the world to pull herself together get back to her feet. It just causes the man to grin, wanting to see his signature move plow through her even when she's at her readiest- what better proof of it's effectiveness could there be than that?
The man pulls back up into a normal stance as the ground behind Hotaru explodes into fragments and a hellish rush of water, ready and waiting to see what happens. And when Hotaru defends against the attack, his face falls into a look of shock and dismay. His powerful attack isn't just escaped. It isn't bounced away. It's /cleaved in two/ and passes harmlessly around Hotaru as if it was merely the gentlest little brook diverting around a fallen log. "Ah man, what the hell."
The destructive power of the attack was completely lost when it was split, and it doesn't even mange to scour a very large path in the ground, petering out and stopping before it even reaches him. He's normally tired after using that move, and this time is no exception. Before he even realizes that her defense wasn't going to wear her out she's flinging a bob of bright blue energy at him. And it's partially made up from the water he used to attack her? Oh man.
Sergio's defense... well, it isn't much of one. He tries stepping to the side and getting out of the way halfheartedly, and the blast smashes into him, leveling him and flattening him to the ground. "Ow, that hurt." Even that's muted. It's like his pride has all been cut out of him, severed in two just as his whitewater attack by this small young woman.
And so it's with a heavy sigh that he drags himself back up to his feet, not bothering to brush the dust off of himself. "Looks like we might not have needed to come out here anyway." A hand goes up and fixes his hair with a single motion.
"Well," He states, "Better get busy." And that's when Sergio charges Hotaru, fist pulled back and then slammed forward once he's close in a wild haymaker, water draining liberally out of his fist.
"ORRRRRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Fierce Punch from Sergio with Tanshou Shin.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=======\======-\1 Sergio
Sergio may be disappointed at the lack of destruction of the brittle earth beneath their feet, but Hotaru is just relieved to have slipped by that threat unscathed. This time. Drawing her right hand back as her Hakki Shou blasts swiftly through the distance between them, catching Sergio in his somewhat sloppy attempt to get out of its way, the girl releases a soft exhale of relief. Not getting bulldozed with the landscaping project that Sergio has made this match into isn't high on her list of experiences she'd like to have in this lifetime!
The chi defense she had made is already gone by the time the attack splashes down to the ground, the girl quiet as her eyes settle back on Sergio. He sounds a little downcast by this turn of events. And really, who can blame him? But downcast and chiballed alike doesn't mean he's going to be any easier of an opponent to deal with. Deciding to hang back and let him come to her, Hotaru shifts her posture once more while the rugged brawler gets to his feet. Her back is mostly turned toward him, her right hand placed against her left knee, her head turned to watch him over her right shoulder. Her entire body tenses up, the girl readying to spring one of the hardest hitting techniques in her arsenal. "It's not over yet," she replies as he muses that the remote location may not have been necessary after all, her mouth a faint grin. Count Sergio down and out already? Not a chance.
He comes charging and Hotaru braces herself. She has to correct for what she did wrong last time. Needs to make sure to not repeat the mistake of misjudging just how hard he can hit. Needs to commit herself entirely to this next course of action at all costs. Breathing in then exhaling slowly, she remains tensed up, like a compressed spring ready to be sprung. And when that powerful, chi laden fist comes swinging her way, that moment has arrived. Holding her ground instead of leaping into the strike, the girl shifts her stance just a little so that instead of catching her in the side of the head, his fist glances off her back at an angle that leaves her harmed less in the end in spite the lingering sting left by the contact.
But that shift was also to unleash her attack, the girl lunging forward into him, driving her shoulder into his chest as her feet leave the ground. The force of the attack comes from her entire body being committed to it, legs and torso lending strength to the strike, her inner chi control aiding her as she lands out of the forward lunge and slams both of her palms out, one forward, aiming for Sergio's stomach, one in the opposite direction to behave as a counterbalance. "YAA!" If Gato could see her now, perhaps he would see his sister in a new light, a bit stronger than he remembered, less deserving of derision... nah, probably not. Drawing her hands back slowly, the girl takes in another breath then exhales. The evaporating water chi along her back feels good in spite the bruises inflicted, perspiration rolling down her cheeks and temples. He wasn't kidding about black clothing being questionable in this weather!
Outright brawling doesn't work terribly effectively against Hotaru- despite her looks she can, unfortunately for the large man, out punch him when you get right down to it. Well, maybe not just punching, her form isn't nearly as crude as that. His rush in with his screaming yell might be dangerous if he manages to land his blow, but that's only if he makes it in unmolested. This time, that is not the case.
The wild punch comes in, and though it strikes it isn't a solid connection. Without the full force behind the blow Hotaru's able to power forward, spinning about and shouldering into him before smacking him with a devastatingly powerful double palm strike. That she can summon up that kind of force with that sort of attack is somewhat beyond his reasoning. But he doesn't have to understand it to feel it, and feel it he does.
He's blown back by the power of the strike, not only knocked backwards and to the ground but hard enough that he rolls out of control when he lands, almost immediately smacking into the enormous wall that forms the next highest terrace. It takes a few moments for him to reorient himself, pulling himself up from the ground and rolling his shoulders, "Rrrgh... Damn, your arms have gotta be made of steel or some shit. I could probably take a goddamn wrecking ball easier than that." Well, if it wasn't in full swing, maybe.
A moment of consideration is given, and the man decides to just pull out all the stops. "Alright," He says, giving a bit of a stretch, "Time to get serious!" A few steps are taken towards Hotaru, and he begins pulling out as much chi from within himself he can manage at a single time. It isn't tangible at first other than as a faint shimmering in the air, but after a few moments of buildup the water flashes into existence. Two gigantic waves form, one seeming to flow out from the wall behind him as if it was secretly a massive pipe, and another forming out of thin air behind Hotaru. Each rushes at the other, and Sergio gets swept up by the one behind him, thrusting him quickly towards Hotaru as the other threatens to drag her along for the ride.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru just-defends Sergio's Unrealized Potential!
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Sergio
Sergio probably has no idea how perplexed Hotaru was at the conclusion of their last bout just a few months shy of of a year ago. How a relative unknown could step in and bat her around like a pesky fly when she was supposed to be at the top of her game had left her stunned. She hadn't taken him seriously, thinking that his reckless, brash approach to fighting wouldn't stand a chance against her young years of focused, disciplined Kenpo. Even his frightful wellspring of chi didn't seem to explain the problems she had dealing with him. He must be a lot better than he lets on, she had concluded. And in the months that followed, she had paid attention to many of his broadcast matches, trying to piece together the mystery of Sergio's rampant success as a new name in the circuits.
When it came right down to it, not only was he damn tough, but he was relentless, charging into dangerous situations with seemingly nary a concern. Decades of brawling and a powerful potential unlike many fighters can claim seemed to combine to make him a very capable fighter in spite how he presents himself. Dealing with him in a match is more a imposing prospect to the pig-tailed girl than many other opponents deemed her peers in the world of fighting. And as he peels himself off the wall, his grin gone, his expression more serious, she is immediately reminded why. The air around her churns with energy as the focal point of one of the more incredible techniques in fighting stands opposite of her, preparing himself to launch an all out attack. Moments like this can make or break a fight, defending against techniques of such magnitude or the failure to do so having one's good health turn on a dime. But it's more concern about being swept up in the powerful assault than some match on the line that prompts her next defense.
Using chi to defend herself as opposed to simply attacking with it isn't a new idea to the girl, but the ways in which she has gone about it have expanded some over time, looking to other fighters for ideas and inspiration. That attention to others pays off now as the built up pressure of so much energy being realized at last manifests in the form of two impressive waves that come crashing toward the diminutive fighter, threatening to sweep her away with their torrential pressure. The downside to such a build up is that the clever girl is once again practically awash in excessive quantities of chi all around her.
It is that impressive quantity of chi that she draws upon for defense, tightening her stance, turning her side toward Sergio. Her right hand slams out behind her, her left in front of her, adopting a stance not unlike the one she had finished with when striking him away. But this time, small barriers of that vibant blue chi of hers are made manifest. Not unlike that steel-like strength of her famous Kobi Kyaku, the barriers serve to divert and redirect that powerful wave around her, the watery chi splashing all around in hits passing, leaving Hotaru unscathed in its wake.
She inhales then, closing her eyes and inhaling, drawing those two barriers of surplus chi right back into her, reinvigorating tired muscles and even assuaging some minor aches in her body in the process. It's all a build up for what comes next, however, the instant Sergio closes range, as Hotaru drops into a low crouch. It's time to release all that energy she's taken to manipulating into /her/ best attack. "Ten-shou...!" Instead of a shot at striking her clean, the Italian is faced with a split second to defend himself as the Futaba heir launches into a powerful, chi-laced flip kick intended to bear the force necessary to take him back off his feet. "Ranki!"
If successful, she'll dive right back into the brawler, intending to drive him to the ground, straddling him at the waist long enough for her to press her hands to his chest and unleash all of that built up energy into a point blank explosion of blue chi, leaving a crater in its wake, sending rocks, dust, and debris scattering out from them in a radius, dri
driven by an invisible blastwave.
COMBATSYS: Sergio fails to interrupt Ten-shou Ranki from Hotaru with Whitewater.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sergio can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
Fighters have their off days, and fighters have their on days. Even Sergio's dangerous style of fighting has it's ups and downs- perhaps even more than most styles. When they last fight it's easy to say that Hotaru was having a very, very off day. Maybe /everything/ wasn't going wrong for her, but quite a bit was. This time, however, she's ready for him. She knows the extent of his power, and seems to have figured out his weaknesses. He's powerful on the attack, but when his attacks are cut short there's very little he can do- almost all his techniques are completely cut out that way.
The way Hotaru defends herself... he just doesn't know how she can pull it off. One barrier of chi is one thing, but two barriers that are powerful enough to completely halt the advance of his waves is another. If it were normal water it likely would have spilled around the barriers, but due to the chi nature of it simply halts. It's that part, the deep, technical parts about chi energy that he just doesn't understand. He knows how to make his work, he knows how to control it into almost whatever shape or form he wants, from destructive waves, to simple sprays, to nothing more than an orb of watery energy surrounding a limb. But when it comes to how the energy naturally reacts to other energy he's stumped. A lot of the time it'll act like normal water, but in cases like these it's true nature comes out.
He's left standing there as the water evaporates, looking simply stunned. He has no words for what she was able to accomplish, and his brain is having a hard time even acknowledging it did. As if this wasn't bad enough, while he's standing dumbfounded she's readying herself for her most powerful assault, or at least the most powerful one he knows of. The kick flip smacks him into the air, and knocks some sense into him. Even sailing through the air as she flips he's thinks he has a plan. It probably won't work, but probabilities don't always matter to guys like Sergio.
Gathering one last bunch of energy about himself he thrusts both hands skyward. Nothing happens for a moment, but before long a massive eruption of water is exploding directly up out of the ground. It didn't occur to him, in his addled state, that the descent from Hotaru's attack would be a diagonal one. Had it been straight down? They'd have both been assaulted by hunks of ore laden rock and a behemoth of a geyser. But as it is it misses completely and Sergio is flattened out against the ground, the concussive blast of chi that's unleashed upon him sapping any remaining will he has to continue trying to fight Hotaru off. This time she was the river and he was the mountain, worn down ground to dust. His arms lay at his sides and he breathes heavily, unable to even talk, for the moment.
The blast wave ripples out from ground zero of Hotaru's signiture technique. It's the most powerful unleash of energy she can muster, and even fighting titans of the world have been confounded in trying to defend against it. The geyser errupts behind them, missing the both of them due to the angled descent, and Hotaru exhales, hands pressed against Sergio's chest as she ends up in a position that has often drawn a lot of attention in other fights.
It doesn't last, as Hotaru sighs, pushing against him to spring to her feet and hop back, landing a bit wobbly but recovering from it quickly to slip back into her ready stance. He pushed her to perform better than nearly any other opponent ever had shy of the inspirational Burning Physical Education instructor, Hayato Nekketsu. But after a few moments of being ready, it becomes clear that this battle has run its course, what destruction is going to be has had its chance to happen.
Lowering her arms, she stands up straight, taking a moment to better control her breathing, one hand coming to brush one of her pig-tails back over her shoulder. "Whew." she exhales, leaning forward, resting her hands against her knees as she squints against the perspiration rolling along her brow, eyes focused on the European. She's quiet after that statement for a long moment, mentally musing over the match she just had, the lessons learned. She used to believe that the only solution to overwhelming force was overpowering it with strength; a belief that resulted in her pursuing paths she has come to regret. It would seem that smart defense is also an option. Keeping her head on her shoulders and paying close attention to everything going on around her, the ebb and flow of energies, especially when they're handled by a man like Sergio. "Might not have got as much mining done as you would have liked... but it was a trying fight all the same. Thank you." she finishes, standing up straight in order to offer a polite, traditional bow.
It's a bit longer before Sergio regains lucidity, laying there with his arms out to the sides and simply breathing. When he finally does come to his eyes blink open. "Heh." It's with a groan that he tries to sit up, eventually resorting to using his arms since his abdomen was just ground zero for an epic chibomb, and thus not up to the task. "I think you got me. Jesus, you pack just as much punch as I remember. Maybe even more. Guess I didn't have my best showing this time, but I don't think it'd even matter if I did, you were red hot." When people are having such moments of clarity in the middle of combat sometimes it doesn't matter what you do- they'll find the path to picking you apart.
"Haha, yeah, no problem. I guess I asked you to plow into me as hard as you could, and I've gotta say- you delivered. Maybe I better be careful what I wish for, eh?" A return bow is out of the question, considering he's not even standing at the moment, which leaves him feeling rather awkward when she makes it. "Uh, same to you?" His hand lifts to scratch the back of his head, which causes a slight wince as his abs are forced to take the weight. Bah, he figures, he's tough, he can handle it. Besides, he's going to have to stand up in a moment or two or he'll look like a complete wuss, and he can't have that!
Log created on 00:38:41 07/08/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 04:37:29 07/11/2008.