Description: Who knows who the winner of this is, because people don't believe in writing descs. ALAS.
Howard Arena is packed full of screaming fans as it is almost every Saturday, and from the looks of things the people don't mind at all that the stars of todays Main Event are up and comers rather than superstars. Who knows, maybe they're getting sick of seeing Kain burn people to a crisp with his black flames?
Ok, probably not.
But today's fight doesn't look to be anything like a simple brawl, even though so many people are involved. A tall tower of scaffolding has been erected in the center of the arena, the floorboards tilting at odd angles, leading one to wonder if the contractors were drunk during their construction. And at the top is a large area filled to the brim with wooden barrels, filled with who knows what.
Kiyoko is just walking onto the stone stage, trying to ignore the cheering crowd, lest she end up too nervous to focus on actually fighting. She's gotten used to the crowds of smaller events, but it's pretty hard to ignore over a hundred thousand people screaming for blood. A look is given to the tower and she gives out a sigh of relief, "I am so glad they're not making us fight on that thing."
Mizuki had to read the card twice. A Main Event three-for-all, with... a special guest star. That's more than she usually gets--though she's not complaining. Kamigawa's been in the background of the fighting circuit for the last few weeks--taking some time off and training, teaching, living her life. Papers to write, homework to do, all that sort of thing...
But the lure of the ring is perhaps a bit too much for her to just ignore, so she signed up for the week's Saturday Night Fights... expecting, at most, a side-card one on one in some wacky venue. Well, she was half-right.
At the least, she's practiced enough to mostly ignore the crowd; the girl, dressed in her usual fighting outfit, walks out onto the platforms from a different angle, breathing outwards slowly, centering herself, focusing her thoughts on the fight.
Like most of her fights, she's familiar with some of the participants--she's fought Kiyoko Fukakami before. But Cherry Aguirre is new to her--though perhaps not new to the world of fighting. It will be... interesting, to say the least.
The main event. Now this is more like it.
Her last SNF didn't exactly go badly, but Cherry wasn't satisfied with it. She did as well as expected, but the others really stole the limelight... and she'd have been happier losing to Kain Heinlein if it meant she could have showcased a little more of what she brings to the table. Especially to, say, talent scouts or people watching for, as they call them, "rising stars." Of course, even if it has some wacky Nintendo-spawned game show condition, a free-for-all in the main event is right up Cherry's alley. She is 100% pumped for this fight. Of course, there's the matter of her typical overblown entrance...
It took a long time. Coming to the venue early. Talking with the crew. Making a few flirty winks. At least one bribe (though to be fair, it was of donuts; these people are simple folk). More work than finding the motorcycle in France, that's for sure. In the end, however, it appears to have all been worth it.
Did you know, as a musical venue, Howard Arena has a trapdoor for this sort of thing? True fact.
A spotlight flashes over to the musical stage, set apart from the fighting one. The red hair shows first, followed by the Fighting Diva's arms crossed over her ample chest, and finally the long, leather-clad legs. Cherry gives the crowd a wink, and says (perfectly audible thanks to a wireless mic): "...s'up."
The crowd cheers. They love this WWE stuff.
She begins her walk to the ring, waving left and right to the crowd, before performing a high tumbling jump right into it and glancing at Mizuki and Kiyoko. Shinto cosplay doll and Home-sewn Skirt elf girl. Awesome.
She does, at least, turn and hand the mic to a stagehand before giving the other competitors a little wave. "Evening, ladies."
You know what the first thing that Mary thinks when she arrives?
What wonderful FUN she will have with this. It's just so splendiforus. Perched far above the others, Mary's been started at the top .. and one would assume that's where she'll remain. Especially as she peeks out from behind the wall of barrels. Moving to the edge, Mary glances down to the arrivals, bursting with glee! Oh, this will be fun fun fun!
"Ya'll remember to enjoy yourselves now, ya hear?!" She calls down to Mizuki and Kiyoko, Mary's parasol closed and hanging off the tower. What's up with that? Oh.. well the fact that she's taking a different hand in what this fight will be.
Wearing a large poofy dress, it's pink this time, and she doesn't actually have a bonnet on either.. perhaps as if she was mocking something with the reference to the pink dress and barrels. Ah well!
Moving to one of the barrels, Mary hefts it up, and begins to move them about, putting a few near the edges.
Today, she won't be saving any flower girls from angry soldiers, but she'll certainly be trying to crush some plum-fighters!
It will even help her learn about some of these ... mainstays? She's not certain.
COMBATSYS: Mary has started a fight here.
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Mary 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has joined the fight here.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko has joined the fight here.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Mary 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cherry has joined the fight here.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
... right. Cherry definitely doesn't have any problems with the spotlight now does she? Mizuki regards the two people that are her opponents... and then glances upwards, at the girl up there with the barrels... riiiight... just another complication, isn't it? With a little shake of her head the redhead turns back to the other two and smiles. "Good luck to you both," she offers, simply, not expecting an answer from either--after all, the words are at least partially obscured by the klaxon alarm that wails, briefly, to mark the start of the match.
And with that, the redhead is off; making her way around the tilting stage, she moves swiftly, but carefully. Her choice of target is... well, it's somewhat random--but as she goes, she alters her direction to head for Cherry Aguirre. As she approaches she suddenly stops short, halting her charge...
...and then she sweeps her right hand forward, flattened into a knifehand. She's still several meters away from Cherry, but her right hand glows with a cold, blue-white chi, and as she swipes she leaves behind a line of chi that suddenly extends forward into a thin, triangular slash of chi whose point seeks to be found inside Cherry's abdomen.
The fun thing about SNF is that it can help you meet people you've never met before and get back in touch with those you do. Well, okay, only the people who /fight/, but it's still nice! Mizuki gets a friendly smile and wave from Kiyoko, "Nice to meet you again. Good luck!" A moment of pause and she notices something, "Hey, you don't have your baton with you- have you started fighting without it?" She looks up as Mary calls down to her, and gives the woman a small wave. She's not entirely sure what to think of that one yet, but though she seems a bit eccentric she's nowhere near is off-putting as some people she's met.
And then Cherry shows up, making a grand entrance and walking onto the stage amidst a roaring crowd. Kiyoko tilts her head, unused to such displays, "We're having a live announcer? I've never seen that before." Well, she should at least be friendly, "Hi!" The alarm goes off and she looks momentarily confused, wondering where the fourth fighter is supposed to be, right up until Mizuki rushes off towards Cherry and starts trying to slash at her with ice. "Oh." She blinks for a moment, "...They put me up against three redheads? Oh jeeze, I'd better be careful."
In the spirit of fairness the Tai Chi artist decides to target Mizuki, and in that same spirit decides not to try and smack her in the back while she's attacking Cherry- she does like the Miko, after all. She'll instead approach from the side, dashing in most of the way and then sneaking in low for the last quarter before leaning forward and trying to latch onto her arm, pull her in close and execute a simple hip toss, twisting around and trying to ground the other fighter before backing off, making sure to keep Cherry in her peripheral vision. ...how is she supposed to keep track of what Mary's doing, though?"
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Mizuki's Hyouryuu no Kiba.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
"I make my own luck," Cherry says confidently, wincing a little bit at the alarm sound for the start of the match and inclining her head out toward the audience. "Christ, why not just use a foghorn, or maybe a THX sound test? Or you could just punch us directly in the damn ear canal, how about that." And then she's in stance -- recognizable as a kung fu variant, though with some considerable differences.
And then a blade of chi is whipping through the air at her. An eyebrow goes up, but the Fighting Diva will not be kept pinned down by such a strike, or some other suitably overblown I-Damaramu-Will-Regret-This style statement. As the frost slashes through the air at her, Cherry leaps forward AT it rather than back or to the side. It's not exactly the best angle -- she's in no position to capitalize on the momentum when she lands -- but it has the pleasant benefit of keeping her from getting a rather nasty case of frostbite.
Kiyoko might have morals when it comes to not ganging up, but Cherry does not... or rather, Mizuki just tried to chi her in the exposed midriff, and the Idahoan feels this is perfectly reasonable justification for attempting to brain her in the face. With that cocky grin still in place, she ducks forward and then looks to smash her foot into Mizuki's shoulder with a high, forceful snap kick just as Kiyoko drives in for the hip toss.
Looking down, well, Cherry certainly .. is something. Right. That Mizuki is kind of homely looking, and she's actually met Kiyoko before, so it's not very important, since she's already got an interesting sight on her already. But then, she's not here for such things. She's more in here for fun, and fun she will have.
Especially as she watches Mizuki and Kiyoko go off after their respective assaults, and come on Kiyoko, she's got orange hair! Not that's truly important right now.
"Look at that." She mentions, as she picks up one of the somewhat larger barrels, hefting it up to her shoulder. "Just leapin' right out at each other!" She doesn't need to say hello or the like to them. She's perfectly fine where she is, as she brings the barrels upwards.. and waits for Cherry to make her move!
And with that.. she tosses the barrel down, as the woman crashes towards Mizuki!
She might end up with a barrel.. on her head.. since it bounces and rolls downwards!
COMBATSYS: Mizuki dodges Kiyoko's Quick Throw.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Mizuki with Light Kick.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
One supposes it's only natural for both opponents to come after the aggressor--Cherry, naturally, would want to retaliate upon Mizuki, and it's easier to doubleteam an attacker than to try to sandwich someone else. So Mizuki is hardly surprised to see both girls attempt to take her down and out early in the fight. Mizuki is alert--she knew this would happen, if not earlier, then later--and in a free-for-all one has to be careful.
So it is that Kiyoko's attempt to grab is escaped, Mizuki shifting her weight, springing to her right--and right into Cherry's foot. The impact, combined with her momentary airborneness and her linear movement, serve to floor her; the miko lands hard, sliding past Cherry on the planks of the platforms. Fortunately this carries her past the falling barrel location... something of a minor joy, as her shoulder still aches terribly. Nh. Right. Mizuki picks herself back up, grimacing... and then clasps her hands together, index fingers joined and pointed up and out a little.
Then she concentrates--and chi wells up out of the ground, lapping upwards in a circle around her, blue-white-silver tendrils lashing upwards like solar flares.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gathers her will.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
Kiyoko misses her grab as Mizuki hops sideways, but Cherry capitalizes on the movement and comes in to kick her while she's airborne. And for the moment the purple haired youth doesn't seem to have anything to worry about other than avoiding the barrel that Mary tossed down from above, so she's free to act as she pleases. So it's time to switch targets and see what Cherry is all about, other than dramatic entrances.
Not wanting to get hit by that barrel herself means she needs to strike on the move, which lucky for her shouldn't be too big of a problem. Coming out of her low stance she rises up and spins, hopping in a direction towards the redhead but just off to the side. As she lands she whirls around and her right arm whipping out while using the circular momentum to try and land a powerful backhand chop directly to the throat. "Yaah!" And unless Cherry does something to stop her passing she'll jump once again after the spin, complete her 'don't let something heavy fall on your head' objective.
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Mary's Power Shot.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry parries Kiyoko's Strong Punch!
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Mary
Rebounding off Mizuki, essentially, Cherry hops back and away, keeping in motion and letting her only real and true battle skill -- footwork -- do its magic. And magic is certainly what happens, as the faint but detectable sound of a large, falling object suddenly becomes the sound of a large object clattering onto makeshift girder platforms. Yes, Donkey Kong has begun his assault. Cherry has a second or two to look surprised, but she isn't going to be taken out by some barrel. Just as she's about to move, however, she sees Kiyoko approaching her from the side, and gets... an idea.
The barrel is the first priority, and in typical style, rather than dive away from it the Fighting Diva rises to meet it instead. Leaping up and *over* it, the Boise Brawler spins and *slams* the barrel to the ground where she just was... effectively shattering it.
Landing in the cloud of debris, she snatches up a chunk of wood and, at snakebite speed, snaps the barrel chunk between herself and Kiyoko, totally redirecting the girl's punch into the wood harmlessly. Grinning wildly, she drops the wood, shouts "HEADS UP!" and then launches into a flying kick, from a standing start, at point blank range... extending her foot -- surrounded by flames in the shape of a dragon's head -- right into Kiyoko's face.
Mizuki stays still.. the barrel targeting of someone standing still? Not very interesting. Kiyoko meanwhile is in full motion, assaulting Cranberry, or whatever her name is to Mary. Why do people name people after food, anyhow? She'd love to meet a Corn or an Asparagus though. Imagine the people with such names!
But still, with the barrel failing, Mary hums to herself, skipping over to pick up another barrel and look at Kiyoko. Well, alright.. she's assaulting Cherry!
And suddenly, Mary chucks the barrel straight down. Rolling? SISSIES.
Kiyoko may have to be fast to avoid the barrel, since it's a bit faster.. just smaller, though. Oh well!
Getting a little break is always nice--even if it is just because she isn't a threat to anyone at the moment. Mizuki -could- press that advantage and continue building her power, but... well, she's reached her limit anyways; the flow of energy is shut down, and Mizuki finds herself regarding her two oppponents, both in front of her... with a mindful thought for the girl droppin' barrels from above.
Well. Mizuki is the only one to have taken damage so far this fight; she barrels forward, pardon the pun, but with Cherry attacking Kiyoko head on, it's difficult to really get past her. So Mizuki has little choice but to try Cherry again--putting on a burst of speed to reach the girl, then stomping, to ground herself, and redirect all her momentum.
It's all put into Mizuki's body--and then released via the simple expedient of Mizuki throwing both her palms forward, for Cherry's back. Of course, with Cherry's speed, she's unlikely to get there before the other girl finishes kicking at Kiyoko...
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko just-defends Cherry's House of Ninja EX!
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Kiyoko with Medium Shot.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Mary
Kiyoko's spinning attack is smacked out of the way by a board, causing the girl to blink at Cherry, "Who are you, Jackie Chan?" That's some crazy wild talent at work there, to be able to just whip the board up and knock her hand away, to say nothing of smashing the barrel fast enough to do it! And the very second lands after hopping away Cherry is all up in her face with a flying kick- and a flaming one to boot!
Gritting her teeth slightly from concentration she lifts her hands, a green glow suddenly surrounding them. She might be able to stave off the kick, but the fire is going to be a bit of a problem- a thin barrier of her own energy should give her what she needs to protect herself. She jumps backwards as Cherry jumps in, and holds her hands out towards the foot and seemingly catching it between them.
She's not going to try and grab hold, but instead just lets herself get shoved backwards by the force of impact, landing a short ways away. Attempting to capitalize on having the energy out and usable she starts swinging her right arm in front of herself- just in time to have a barrel land on top of her head and knock her clean to the floor. Where did /that/ come from? Oh, right.
Her left hand lifts to her head while she uses her right to push herself back to her feet. Yep, there's going to be a nasty bump there in minute or two. Deciding against trying to fling energy at Cherry for the time being she simply backs off while Mizuki attacks her, instead just trying to get a better picture of the battlefield as a whole, lest she get blindsided again.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko focuses on her next action.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry fails to interrupt Strong Punch from Mizuki with Strong Punch.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Mary
Well, that's a surprise. Both eyebrows go up at Kiyoko's adroit defense even as Cherry's blunted momentum puts her back on the floor. Still, that was pretty skilled, all things considered, and the redhead smirks, starting a response to the girl's excalamation. "Please. I'm much tall--"
Then Kiyoko gets beaned with a barrel, bringing the conversation, such as it was, to a screeching halt. "...alright, then."
Then Cherry's spider sense starts tingling, or her danger sense, or whatever, and she whips her head around just in time to see Mizuki bearing down on her. Probably not enough time to get out of the way, but if she can slam her palm into the girl's shoulder just as she strikes, it might work out in Cherry's favor. Sadly, she realized all of this a little too late, and instead of palms to the back she gets palms to the *stomach*, which really isn't a lot better, and sends her stumbling back a few steps before she gets back into stance, frowning at Mizuki. "Oh yeah... suppose I forgot about you, Bigpants McFrostalot."
Ah, the sounds of barrels impacting onto the heads of the young. Now that's a sound she could get used to!
And it apparently just may be,as Kiyoko takes one .. head on. Smiling, Mary decides to try and pull one of the bigger ones this time, it takes her a moment, but Mary pulls the barrel around .. and then puts her shoulder into it.. and then pushes with all her might.
Budge.. Budge.. Budge.
With one final HEFT, the large barrel goes bounding down.. very slowly. It leaves Mizuki plenty of time to move out of the way! ... Because it's pretty MASSIVE.
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Mizuki with Long Shot.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Mary
Any response Mizuki may have had to Cherry is... well, is obliterated. Much as Mizuki herself appears to be. Because there's suddenly a *SLAM* and Mizuki isn't where she was. It might take a few seconds for her to -be- found; and when she is, at least by the cameras, she's not really moving. It's hard to tell if she's bleeding from a wound to the head--after all, her hair is red--but there are splotches of a darker color that suggest at least a superficial headwound.
Then, she stirs--groaning, she pushes herself to her feet. And she looks positively drunken. Maybe the barrels -weren't- such a good idea--a couple of officials start to approach, but Mizuki waves 'em off. "I--I'm okay," she says, thickly, putting her hand up to her head. Sticky, and warm. Blood. "I'm okay," she repeats, softly. Trying to concentrate enough for a heal, she... she'll need a moment longer for that, though her natural healing skills do start to kick in, helping to knit the worst of the wound together... but it might be a bit longer before she can truly join the fight again.
Time she wants to ask her opponents for--but she won't. This -is- a fight, and the purpose of their being here is not to be nice--but to win. This is, undeniably, an advantage to be pressed, if her opponents are up for it...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gains composure.
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Mizuki 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Mary
Advantages can be pressed, but for Kiyoko you generally don't go running after people who just had gigantic barrels come crashing down on top of their heads. She thought the one that hit her hurt, but the one that landed on Mizuki was /way/ bigger! And the way she was watching the field she had a perfect view of the whole thing. Jeeze. Well, at least she managed to smack Cherry with her double palmstrike, right?
The fact is, though, that Kiyoko mainly fights to have fun, and the idea of beating on someone who just got hurt that bad isn't her idea of fun- besides, even if she /could/ knock Mizuki out of the fight early that doesn't necessarily mean she'd have a better shot at winning, anyway.
A quick shake of her head brings the girl out of her reverie, and she moves up towards Cherry, who's close enough to the site of the impact herself. Rolling up onto her hands when she's close she reaches out with her legs and tries to bind them around the American's neck before throwing her weight backwards, trying to pull the young woman off her feet and then slam her down to the stone floor back first.
COMBATSYS: Cherry blocks Kiyoko's Harvest Moon.
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Mizuki 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Mary
Apparently Cherry's eyebrows are getting a super workout this fight, because really unbelievable shit just keeps happening over and over again. She expected some sort of response from Mizuki from standard trash talking, and instead is front row center when a barrel the size of Missouri clocks her right in the face like an errant meteorite strike. Although she's not exactly high on empathy or sympathy, the Fighting Diva still winces and even cringes a little bit. That... looked really damn painful. "Jesus," she breathes.
And then Kiyoko's at her, which is expected; if Mizuki needs a moment, that's fine with Cherry too. She frowns a bit at the slightly unorthodox throwing technique, which gives Kiyoko plenty of opening to get that ankle grip on her throat. However, the resulting back tumble slam is not as successful, the Idahoan thrusting both palms into the ground and effectively vaulting backwards out of Kiyoko's grasp and away from her. She comes to her feet, rubbing her neck a bit, and mphs. "Not bad, but I'm totally not into erotic asphyxiation," she says with a smirk.
Bringing her hand up, she kisses the tips of her fingers, then brings her hand forward... where that 'kiss' becomes a burst of scarlet fire. "Still, let me show you some love." Without further ado, she reaches back and then slams her palm into the floating burst of flame... turning it into a wildly spiralling ball of fire looking to give Kiyoko a new meaning for 'hot lips'.
Wow. Did that just really happen? Would you LOOK at that! As Mizuki ends up squashed, the woman above just starts laughing! You can certainly hear her as she laughs, and that's obvious. Mary isn't leaving such a hilarious, to her, happening to just pass by! But she can't neglect her duties, either, and at this point, it involves grabbing another barrel.. somewhat large, but certainly not small, and roll roll rolling it to the edge.
"Darlin', how was the present?" She asks below, before kicking the barrel down towards Cherry.
She's certainly aiming for her, as she sends a spiralling ball towards Kiyoko! .. But maybe she's just too love struck to notice BARREL.. even if it isn't love.
Oh Cherry how you are using poor Kiyoko.
... once again, she gets her moment of rest. And while she appreciates being allowed to 'get back in the game', so to speak... she wonders if she shouldn't actually be a little annoyed that her opponents didn't come after her while she was vulnerable! Then again... there is such a thing as looking a gift horse in the mouth. The ache in her head fades, and her vision clears, so she's ready to fight again... inasmuch as she can move and she can think.
Kiyoko... Kiyoko Fukakami... girl hasn't had any attention from Mizuki in a while; summoning her strength, she charges forward, circling around as Cherry attempts to treat Kiyoko to some cinnamony fire. Well, maybe it isn't cinnamony. And where cinnamon goes, there needs to be something to cool the flames as well--Mizuki can provide that.
If she gets close enough, that is; she comes in, foregoing her usual attempt to open Kiyoko's guard, and instead just slashes out at the girl with three chops of her hands, glowing with that blue-white icy chi, leaving brief trails through the air...
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko blocks Cherry's Burning Love Breakdown.
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Mizuki 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Kiyoko with Kouryuu no Renda.
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Mizuki 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Mary
Cherry slips Kiyoko's grasp as she's slammed to the ground, bounding away with what seems to be fairly minimal harm done to her. The girl rolls upon her own landing, rising quickly up to her feet. The comment from Cherry gets a blink from here, and an annoyed look. Somehow she never realized that that little maneuver might be considered 'edgy' when she practiced it with her trainer.
She has bigger things to worry about than just that as Cherry sends her the blown kiss of flaming death, and she brings up her arms to cover herself up as the ball of fire comes on, not wanting to try anything risky.
But while she manages to stave the flare of burning chi off it's just the opening Mizuki needs to get in and strike at her, her positioning opened up by the blazing attack she had to defend against just prior to the miko rushing in. The chops smack home and the chi is delivered with a startling amount of force, knocking Kiyoko backwards and sending her stumbling away, only able to stay on her feet because her back slams into the tower in the center of the arena.
"Jeeze..." Taking no time to lick her wounds she shoves off from the tower and moves right back towards Mizuki, a green glow surrounding her hands as she drops down low and begins swinging her arms in slicing, rhythmic motions. The attack is actually rather similar to what Mizuki just did to her, only Kiyoko isn't trying to chop her with her hands, merely graze them close enough to let the chi do the work for her.
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Mary's Strong Shot.
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Mizuki 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Mary
It appears as if Mizuki is back in the game, which is good... it also appears she and Kiyoko are going at it, which is also good; even high-energy, assault-type fighters like Cherry need a second now and then to gather their thoughts. Thus as the girls go at it in a totally platonic way, the Fighting Diva decides to hang back, bouncing on the balls of her feet and ready to go when an opening presents itself, but also thankful for five seconds to catch her breath.
Out of nowhere, and seemingly without thinking, the Idaho native suddenly stops, and steps twice to her left. A barrel proceeds to crash down right where she just was, shattering on the arena floor.
Looking up, Cherry gets her first glance of the dress-wearing nutjob playing artillery. Did she say something? At the difference in height it's hard to tell, and so Cherry simply shrugs, then tosses off a jaunty salute, shouting "Things are just fine down here, Petticoat Junction."
COMBATSYS: Cherry focuses on her next action.
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Mizuki 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
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Cherry 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Mary
Well, that didn't quite work! And Cherry seems to just be doing quite well! "Ya'll certainly seem fine." She exclaims, but Mary is .. always a bit of an annoyance at times. Especially when she sees Cherry attempt to stay out of it.
Another barrel miss! It's not too bad, but it's going to be a bother to Cherry when Mary takes the smallest barrel she can find, hefts it up, and just bitches it towards the girl!
"Ya'll need to be bothered then!" Because like heck if she plans on letting Cherry have her time to focus that she needs!
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko successfully hits Mizuki with Summer Breeze.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Mizuki 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Mary
Mizuki tries to avoid the slashes of chi--unfortunately, they're just too much, and they cut into her, sending her staggering back. Maybe she's been away -too- long... instead of listening to her instincts, she's hesitating, making the wrong moves. Backpedaling even more, she puts some distance between Kiyoko and herself--can't account for Cherry just yet, although she's trying to stay aware--and, perhaps a little reluctantly, turns to that ability of hers...
Her chi flares, at first invisibly, but as it grows, it becomes almost tangible, the girl crouched slightly, in a steady position... and then her power builds to the breaking point, and it's like a flood of blue-green, luminous water is pouring over her body, engulfing her... fading out moments before it would hit the ground, flaring outwards and upwards into faint sparkles...
Kiyoko's counterattack seems to have worked- and quite a bit more than she'd expected it to as well. She blinks a little when she sees how much of an affect her energy assault has on Mizuki, and tries to remember if she'd managed to land any the last time they fought. With how much of the stuff she throws around herself she'd have thought she'd be used to getting bombarded by the stuff!
Both redheads seem to be taking time for themselves now, and Kiyoko is rather close to Mizuki... but then Cherry hasn't been getting any love lately- at least not from anyone other than Mary, and that's just not very nice. Besides, she shouldn't just wear herself out fighting Mizuki so Cherry wins by default! She breaks away from Mizuki after giving a quick grin, and then rushes towards Cherry as fast as her legs can take her- which is pretty quick. Shooting in at high speed, she doesn't go for anything elaborate, instead trying to throw a simple, fast punch to the stomach while she's composing herself. It's kind of hard to catch someone off guard when they're being careful, but not impossible!
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Cherry with Quick Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry fails to interrupt Quick Punch from Kiyoko with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Mary
She had this great plan: Cherry knew, relying solely on the principles of narrative causality, that saying word one to the psychopath up there with the barrels would make her the next target. And sure enough, the bell was rung and Pavlov's dog began to salivate. Unfortunately, getting things to go your way is rarely as easy as step one. The *goal* was to grab the barrel as it came down and quite frankly shove it right in the face of anyone who decided to pick on her.
The fact that rather than catching the barrel Cherry sort of pulls it into herself, making it hit *even harder* than it was supposed to, is where the process begins going wrong.
After that, it's all downhill. Yes, there is Kiyoko as expected, and yes, here is Cherry sort of holding the REMAINS of a barrel rather than an actual object, but because of dogged persistence the Fighting Diva simply turns and looks to swing part of the leftover wood into Kiyoko's head. Sadly, the other girl goes slightly low to get in that stomach blow, and thus the Boise Brawler swings *right over her head* instead. Thankfully, at least, the punch doesn't knock her over or stumble her; it merely seems to annoy her. "That worked so much better in my head," she mutters, tossing a chunk of barrel over her shoulder.
The barrel striking it's mark, or well, the remains of one, Mary smiles to herself, smug in this job, and with a new outlook on apes and their barrel antics. However, this time, Kiyoko is on the menu, as she's assaulting Cheery once again, and leaping straight at her!
So it's clearly time to see her once m-.. Oh wait, what's that?
She can see the glowing energy about Mizuki, and biting back a sharp laugh, kicks off the edge and slams her heel into a barrel. Which totters.. and falls towards Mizuki, somewhat slowly, rumbling and rolling .. but painful! "Now, must you hold back darlin'?"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Mizuki with Iki no Nagare.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Mizuki with Power Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
That healing energy--well, it sure does a lot for Mizuki. That is... until the barrel comes crashing down on her -again-. She's a little more prepared for it, this time; at least, in her bid to get out of the way, she was able to not take the impact -straight- on her head, but in her body... so she lands in a sprawl but she isn't sporting head injuries. Gah. Dusting herself off, she gets back to her feet... she's not going to respond to Mary. She really can't afford it right now.
Looking back and forth between Cherry and Kiyoko, she shrugs a little; lunging towards Cherry, the miko feints a high knifehand strike with the left hand, but that, at the last moment, comes up short; instead the real attack comes from her left knee, as she spins into a roundhouse kick, like something out of Muay Thai, though she keeps the leg bent, due to the short range.
"Don't... don't count me out yet!" she cries, though she sounds winded, simply from the amount of pain she's taken already.
Kiyoko's low punch does it's job well as Cherry endures an orbital bombarded by Mary, the barrel streaking down and smacking her even as she tries to catch it. It's good news for the Tai Chi artist that it was so hard to catch, too, because taking smack to the head by one of those things isn't something she wants again anytime soon.
And rather than simply being left on her own as she focuses her chi to heal herself Mizuki gets smashed by another large barrel. Mary seems to be her ultimate nemesis, today! She's not out of it yet though, and goes in quickly to attack Cherry, prompting Kiyoko to get the heck out of the way so she doesn't end up as Cherry's shield. And so it looks like things have come full circle, because as the miko goes to attack the American Kiyoko's moving to attack the former after moving out of the way.
She's not quite so nice about it this time, though, and rather than going for a grab and throw that's easier to see she drops low and kicks out with her heel for the side of Mizuki's ankle, trying to destroy her balance while she performs her roundhouse.
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Mizuki's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
"Be careful," Cherry says with good humor as Mizuki comes at her. "Head wounds' making you delusional." The knifehand isn't recognized as a feint straight off, but perhaps to her advantage, Cherry doesn't throw her whole body into evading it; she simply turns her head to the side to let it slice past. Of course, this means when the kick followup surprises her -- and from the sudden flash in her green eyes, it DOES surprise her -- she has the leeway to just... toss herself out of the way, somersaulting backwards. When she comes up, though, she's laughing. "Haha, maybe I made that joke too quick. Nice one."
Then, of course, she notices Kiyoko going for Mizuki, and decides to keep the merry-go-round twirling. Rushing in, she shouts "HEY! Respect the infirm!" before looking to get a grip on Kiyoko's arm or wrist, whatever's handy. If she can get that grip? She *heaves*, spinning the girl away from Mizuki (though probably too late to save the miko) and then delivering a high-speed barrage of punches followed by a rising kick that effectively leaves Cherry doing a standing full split... and would send poor Kiyoko skyward and away.
Oh, now that was amazing. She actually got UP. "Ya'll really surprise me darlin'." She calls down, before sliding over to the other barrels. Why, she's almost running out of them! Look at that. And Cherry is pretty light on her feet still, which is something to see. Eyeing down, it looks like it's Kiyoko's turn for another barrel, and boy, Mary is happy to oblige.
Lining up another medium sized barrel, Mary suddenly pushes it over, sending it rolling rolling rolling down!
It's gaining speed too, so watch out!
And seems to be lining up with Cherry's assault. UH OOOH!
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko successfully hits Mizuki with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
Pretty much, at this point, Mizuki doesn't -have- a nemesis--she's something of a punching bag. Already off-balance from missing her kick, it's relatively easy for Kiyoko to just trip her up; the miko lands on her ass with a 'whouf', and just sits there for a moment. Contemplating, perhaps, what she can do to actually -affect- this fight as opposed to just... being in the way. It isn't a pleasant feeling, being like this, particularly in front of a huge crowd--even if they don't know her, no one wants to look this bad in front of a live studio audience.
But if Mizuki is anything, she's tenacious; rising to her feet once more, she utters a little growl under her breath and just goes after Kiyoko this time. If anything, her hard-won composure is cracking--maybe she'll be able to do something if she really looses the restraints and doesn't limit herself... but she won't know yet. As she rises, Mizuki leaps upwards--and whether Cherry hits or not, Mizuki is going to seek to come down upon Kiyoko with a cross-armed chop of the hands.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko dodges Mary's Strong Shot.
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Mizuki 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko dodges Cherry's Wild Cherry.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Mizuki 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Kiyoko with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|=======\===----\1 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
Now things are starting to get intense! After her kick to the ankle knocks Mizuki to the ground everyone in the world seems arrayed against Kiyoko. She seems up to the challenge though, because as Cherry reaches out to grab her she jumps backwards and manages to evade the alarmingly fast grapple attempt. And because she's actually paying attention this time she's able to notice the barrel coming in at her from above, making a short dash to forward so that it crashes into the ground, splintering and shattering upon impact.
In the end it's the miko that gets her, though, the aerial attack strikes home even as she's trying to backpedal away. The double chop crashes into her head and beats her down to the ground, her legs giving out as the impact momentarily stuns her. A headshake is given to try and clear it and she picks herself back up. No revenge is sought for the blow, however, because she seems to decide that Cherry is a bigger threat- Mizuki may have managed to smack her around both times she tried it, but so far Cherry hasn't landed a terribly solid blow- that might make her mad!
And so she springs forward flying forward towards Cherry and trying to land a flying double kick directly to the chest, seeking to twist around and entwine her legs around her neck again upon the possible impact.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko successfully hits Cherry with Winter's End.
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Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
That grip being made Kiyoko heaves what weight she has around, flipping backwards and ripping Cherry off of her feet and slamming her onto the hard rock surface below them. Though a particularly jarring material to land on there's still some bounce created by the impact, and this is used by the girl to bounce back into the air. Twisting around and flipping through the air she repeats the previous performance twice more, smashing the redhead into the ground face first and then once more onto her back before hopping up to her feet and trying to put a couple steps distance between them.
Let's just let that recap stand on its own, shall we?
Expecting more of the same from the neck grab, the Fighting Diva is a little lax on her defense, perhaps, and unsteady on her feet from the grab attempt as well. Thus her evasive action is not exactly up to snuff, and Kiyoko gets her grip. The attack is particularly painful, and for a second Cherry just sort of lies there, face-down for a second. Eventually, however, she pulls herself to her feet. Adept at taking damage? Not so much. But even if it's hard to KNOCK Cherry down, it's really, REALLY hard to *keep* her down. Brushing her hair from her face, she gives Kiyoko a wry smile. Yeah, she looks a little bruised, but she's been hit with worse in her time. "Wow, you're *persistent*. Of course, if it were me trying to get my legs around this?" she adds, pointing to herself, "I'd be pretty damn persistent myself."
COMBATSYS: Cherry gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
With all of this battle going on, Mary is just dancing at the top, skipping to and fro as the others begin to get really down to it. And this time? It's .. MIZUKI!
And it's of course .. a LARGE BARREL! Perhaps Mary just has a dislike of Mizuki, or something close, and is currently always picking the incredibly large, incredibly slow, incredibly painful hunks of wood to be rolled down onto the poor little Miko.
Or maybe she just has something against Miko's.
"Down the spout, it does roll, and the miko, it shall bowl~!"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki parries Mary's Long Shot!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 1/-======/=======|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
See, really, Mizuki -should- be going after... -Mary-. The Chaos Agent has, even more than Kiyoko or Cherry, delivered the pain... but that is somewhat against the rules. Protip: It isn't really, but going after Mary would just be a pleasure fight, and that's the kind of thing Mizuki doesn't allow herself to get involved in... She has targets, opponents, people here that she is supposed to deal with, within the confines of the fight.
And right now, both of them are proving their worth--which is all to the good, as far as Mizuki is concerned... oh hey. There's more barrels coming her way... and this time, Mizuki really -is- ready for them; the first one is jumped--and the second rolls underneath... giving her just the place to put her feet for a moment, that she can push off... towards Kiyoko. It's pretty arbitrary, actually--but Cherry just took a big hit so Mizuki feels as if she should go after Kiyoko.
After her quick leap, she lands in front of Kiyoko, her hands snapping out to grab Kiyoko by the shoulder and arm--if she grips, she'll pull the woman forward, and force her over a leg to trip--and then, following her down, deliver a chop to the back to finish out the combination attack.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Kiyoko with Hyouryuu no Koki EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Mizuki 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Kiyoko
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mary
And for Kiyoko it all comes down to this. Though she was able to get to her feet after delivering the punishing attack to Cherry, she's still a little big off guard from exertion. It makes it all the harder that Mizuki manages to shove off the barrel and shoot in towards her like a missile. Thinking she intends to actually crash into her like that, Kiyoko jumps to the side! That... doesn't really help when Mizuki lands next to her and reaches out to grab her. The trip attempt is made easily after that, and a moment later a sharp pain shoots through Kiyoko's back, the chop hitting her in the back and hurting quite a bit.
"N-ngh. Ouch..." It's seems about all she can do right now to flip over and face Mizuki, but she does actually have one little trick up her sleeve. Mizuki's going to have to get back up after following her down, even if it's only to straighten her torso. But in that time Kiyoko can fight back. A flare of green energy forms around her hands and she makes three quick slashing motions in front of herself with her arms, three crescents of chi forming into the air and merging together into a single large hemisphere of concussive force that blasts towards Mizuki at point blank range.
She's never tried this /from the ground/ before, but there has to be a first time for everything! And besides, being able to just let her arms flop to her sides so she can just lay there is kind of relaxing.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Cherry
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Mary 0/-------/----===|
Not much for the playful banter, are they? Japanese girls are So! Serious! about this stuff. Still, that was a break that Cherry looked like she needed, and though she's slightly disappointed that Kiyoko doesn't have any taunts to throw back, she is heartened to see Mizuki really give the barrels a good once over and pull back into the fight. They're probably not going to be BFF or anything, but the Fighting Diva feels for someone who got a projectile storage container to the face not once, but twice (protip: so did kiyoko). Of course, that doesn't change what just transpired while she was taking a few seconds for herself.
"You know," the busty American says, shifting her foot a bit and cracking her knuckles. "I was just gonna let this go, but you totally stole my ideas about the barrel, and furthermore for you it actually WORKED." A wide grin follows; one hand brushes red hair back from her neck, while the other points to Mizuki. "The punishment for such infractions is death!" A pause. "Or a super-severe beating, one or the other."
And then she's off like a shot, looking to dash in and deliver one quick punch to Mizuki's stomach...
Wow.. wow! That's very interesting. But this time? .. Instead of simply tossing another odd one, Mary laughs as she takes another hundred pounder and barely is able to push it off the edge, the rumbling barrel rolling down towards Cherry as she punches at Mizuki.
Really.. Mary seems to LIKE throwing these huge things around, which is good for her, but rather poor for the others!
That don't include the audience. Guess someone wins!
COMBATSYS: Mizuki dodges Kiyoko's Vernal Equinox.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Cherry
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Mary 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Mizuki with Disco Inferno.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Mizuki 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Cherry
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Mary 0/-------/----===|
...and there's contact. The punch is just the setup; what follows is a truly mind-boggling series of palm strikes, kicks, and various kung fu techniques delivered a speed that's difficult to process without special slow-motion technology. The final blow of the series is another vertical split kick, sending Mizuki into the air... but the Fighting Diva quickly follows by launching herself skyward, back arched. The air around the two combatants suddenly EXPLODES with flame, the chi fire briefly taking the shape of an ascending phoenix before dissipating.
_Something_ tells her to backspring away from Kiyoko; those arcs of energy flash up at her but she's gone by then. Unfortunately... unfortunately. Unfortunately, that puts her -right- in Cherry's path... and she is -comboed-. The impacts are varying; at first, Mizuki thinks she might survive. Then she gets pummeled more and she realizes she won't. By the time she's thrown up into the air, she's only concentrating on one thing...
Trying to do her best to hit Cherry. Falling, knowing she won't be able to catch herself properly, she attempts to line up the other girl through blurry vision, unleashing a high-pitched roar as she pushes her hands forward, attempting, with her last effort, to engulf Cherry in a wash of icy chi... payback for the fieryness of Cherry's own energy.
Then she lands, and she lands on her back, panting, clearly out...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Mary's Long Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Cherry parries Mizuki's Hyouryuu no Fuki!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cherry 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Mary
COMBATSYS: Mary has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Cherry 0/-------/------=|
Apparently, that last burst did not leave Cherry exhausted, as many such attacks do. It left her *energized*. The massive barrel tumbling down at her is one thing; Mizuki's retributive chi strike is quite another. But she's absolutely not going to get taken out when she's come this far, no sir. The two attacks are coming from different angles, so evading them both is going to be tricky... and while she may be bursting with fruit flavor, Cherry is not exactly in the healthiest of positions; the two other fighters both have hit her with some fairly powerful strikes so far.
Deciding the best defense is a good offense, Cherry takes once more to the air. It worked once for Kiyoko, so why not for Mizuki? Rather than drive the barrel to the ground to shatter it, this time the Fighting Diva hooks one leg around the barrel and tries to drag it with her. The thing is too massive to lift, but it could be... nudged... a little into place. As both girl and barrel fall those last few inches toward the ground, with a great heave of effort, the Idahoan manages to angle the barrel right into the path of the icy blast.
As a testament to Mizuki's power, once Cherry lets go, the frozen barrel hits the arena floor... and promptly shatters, frozen solid through.
Breathing heavily, for a moment Cherry says nothing, trying to judge if more barrels are coming... or more troublesome, more attacks from Mizuki and Kiyoko. However, the two other fighters seem to be spent, and thus Cherry relaxes, standing at her full height, and then raising both hands over her head with a huge smile to receive the accolades of the audience.
Oh well.
She had fun! Mary looks as the other schoolkids fall and simply yawns, stretching out, and picking up her parasol. Opening it up, she leaps over the edge of the tower, lets herself float down, and leaves.
Really, she was only here to throw barrels at children.
Log created on 14:30:50 07/12/2008 by Mary, and last modified on 15:13:36 07/21/2008.