Description: Returning from a long hiatus, Cherry Aguirre has a fight against blademistress Setsuka in the Neo League. It's a nail-biting and explosive battle, one that leaves the Fighting Diva unsettled and with much to think about. (Winner: Cherry)
AMERICA.
Cherry's been out of the fighting circuit for some time now. Why? Because as awesome as fame and fortune are, she's still interested in getting her actual education; she's brash and showy, not stupid. Part of that education is the run of 'Into the Woods' the Pacific theatre department was putting on and in which she was playing a major role; thus, rehearsals and eventual performances took up all her time. At the very least, all that singing is good breath control.
But as soon as she had some free time available, it was to the Neo League people that she went. Didn't matter who she was fighting, or even where; she wanted to flex her muscles and get back into the swing of things before her muscles and reflexes went to hell. Thus she was set up with a match here in the Fighting Diva's home country, if not her home state; she is surprisingly happy to be back, it would appear, from the big smile on her face.
Currently, she is sitting just outside a roped-off area in a fountain park just outside one of the District's many skyscrapers. A number of businessmen and pedestrian tourists have accrued, and food and street vendors have descended upon such easy prey en masse. Cherry, for her part, is just grinning and sipping from a bottled water, waiting for her opponent to arrive. Good crowd, good setting... should be a fun time.
AMERICA.
A land of excess, of wild parties and sparkling lights and cities that never sleep except with each other. It's a wonderful place; Setsuka practically feeds off the chaos. Southtown has its charms, but so does Metro--and despite her elegance, Metro City is more of her kind of place.
She has often been taken by impulse, stalking the streets at night--letting the city pick its fights for her.
Amongst her skills is a command of the shadows, what an uneducated American might call 'ninja', although she hasn't had any -formal- training as such...
Cellphones are such wonderful things; the call came through and an agreement was quickly reached. The fight... is now. But where is Setsuka?
Apparently, she's making a dramatic entrance; where she leaps from, it's hard to say, but suddenly there's a cry of alarm from some of the observers and audience members; then she's plummeting through the sky to land inside that roped-off circle, kicking up a cloud of dust, landing on a foot and one knee, blade gripped in her left hand.
"I'm here," she announces, rather unnecessarily, as she rises to full height, "... let's get this done with."
Now that is interesting. The redhead is in the middle of a sip when Setsuka airdrops into the arena. However, while the crowd may gasp and step backwards, as is their wont, the American is a little harder to impress... or at least, she gives the impression of being harder to impress. Finishing the sip of water, she caps the bottle and sets it on her chair as she gets up, dusting some of the remains of Setsuka's entrance from her leather-clad legs and then tossing her hair back over her shoulder, an almost imperious gesture.
"That has GOT to be hard on the spine," Cherry comments idly, stepping over the rope and entering the 'arena'. It was an impressive entrance -- the Fighting Diva is resolving to try it herself someday -- but they can never see you sweat. Half the battle is being totally unperturbed by the things your opponent does to set you off balance, intentional or no; got to stay cool and detached. Being Generation Y, this comes a little too easy to Cherry. "I hope you're getting enough calcium in your diet."
Cracking her knuckles, Cherry gets into stance, one Setsuka might recognize as a variant of Shaolin kung-fu. Springing on the balls of her feet a bit, the redhead prepares to give it her all in terms of daring feats of speed. "I can't say as much I like the idea of a sword cutting into fantastic skin like this," she offers, holding out an arm and glancing at it appraisingly, "But I've always wanted to fight Lucy Liu from 'Kill Bill', so bring it on."
COMBATSYS: Cherry has started a fight here.
Setsuka smiles. It isn't exactly unfriendly, but it isn't really warm either--it has a rather cold edge to it, actually. Cold and sharp, just like her blade; she appears to have suffered no ill effects from the landing, though it -does- create quite a jolt from the impact. "You just have to know how to fall," she offers, placidly. It's really just that simple, isn't it? Her cool, crystal-blue eyes look over Cherry for a long moment, and then she cricks her neck.
"You'll do," she says... pauses... and smirks. "No one ever -wants- to get hurt..." Unspoken: but everyone -does- get hurt... of course... a blade -does- have that effect on people, which is at least one of the reasons she -uses- it. Lucy Liu... Kill Bill. Oh yeah, the woman who got their head cut off, right. "I'm not Lucy Liu..."
And then she's off, not even bothering to get into a proper stance. She doesn't bother drawing it immediately, instead she just accelerates forward, her right hand reaching for Cherry's throat--intent on grabbing and pulling forward and down...
COMBATSYS: Setsuka has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Cherry blocks Setsuka's Yamikaze - Nage.
"For sure," Cherry agrees. She is not Lucy Liu. She is effectively Lucy Liu on a lot of downers, or perhaps in a very dark period. "Unless Lucy Liu played that woman from 'The Hours' in something and I never saw it." Man, was that a sad movie. Poor Virginia Woolf.
But beyond egregious movie references, there's that quick and brutal throw technique to worry about. Evasion is considered as an option and then discarded; an idea pops into Cherry's head that she decides to follow through on. Steeling herself, the redhead lets Setsuka get her grip, and indeed the hand tightening around her throat does hurt... more than she expected it to, in fact. However, on her way toward the ground the Fighting Diva inverts and slaps her foot into Setsuka's grip; not enough to do damage to the blade user, but certainly enough to loosen and let Cherry roll to her feet in a crouch a few feet away.
Coming up, she grimaces, rubbing her throat, and shakes out her hands. "Not bad, Chad Vader," she murmurs. "My turn." Ducking forward, Cherry all but charges Setsuka... but at the last second she hops up and twists her legs forward. It almost seems like a wrestler's flying drop kick... but instead the goal is to wrap her ankles around the swordmistress' throat and then slam her to the ground, hard.
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Setsuka with Diva la Revolution.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////'' ]
Setsuka 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Cherry
Setsuka's arm is blown away by the kick; she stumbles backwards, unpleased by the successful defense. But if -that- was unpleasant, then what comes next is even more so--she fades backwards, attempting to avoid what she thought was a dropkick. Having the other woman's ankles around her neck is different, unusual, and unpleasant, but less so than being slammed into the ground, headfirst.
She grunts, thereafter, rolling to her left, then flipping back to her feet. "Ow," she comments; the impact tore her skin a little, a thin dribble of blood slowly dripping downwards, but she doesn't seem to really care -that- much. The roll was designed to keep her close to her opponent, the wild Cherry.
And as she rolls upwards, her blade is flashing outwards, cutting a silvery arc, the tip of the blade aimed to cut across Cherry's ribcage. It'll be a shallow cut, really, not more than an inch deep and a few inches long... barely anything, really.
Of course, that doesn't account for the deep lunge she makes thereafter, pushing to her feet, and cutting upwards as she does so, a slash intended to cut limbs--not off, just deeply.
COMBATSYS: Setsuka successfully hits Cherry with Power Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Setsuka 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Cherry
There may have been better responses to that strike than to get out of the way, but it's likely that even the most well-trained fighter sees a live blade and has some natural instinct to get the hell out of the way rather than deflect or power through. Cherry certainly does; with her own technique used against her, as it were, the cut toward her ribcage has her trying to backstep out of the way without much success; the first cut slices through the camisole top toward her midriff, and the second, much nastier lunge slices upward through her right arm just before the elbow in a spray of red.
Stumbling backwards, she's not knocked off her feet, but she does hiss in pain and bring her hand to her blood-dripping bicep, glancing at her open palm with an expression closer to 'dazed' than 'worried'. She just says, in a distracted tone: "...huh."
Taking a deep breath, she shakes out of it and gives Setsuka a grim smile. "Interesting. You don't hold back even a little bit." Pushing off the ground, the Fighting Diva drives at her opponent, twirling at the last second like a figureskater before attempting to deliver an open-palmed punch right to the face. Well, she just got cut, so all bets are off. "A shame I missed your cover of Goth Fighter Weekly."
COMBATSYS: Setsuka blocks Cherry's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////...... ]
Setsuka 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Cherry
The psychological impact of a live blade is almost as powerful as the blade itself; the weapon is returned to the scabbard in the manner of a battoujutsuka, which is technically mostly what Setsuka is--not that she ever really corrects any difference in terminologies. But Cherry has at least one thing right--Setsuka rarely holds back. If she does... it isn't out of -mercy-. Her eyes gleam, practically, a silvery edge shining in them. "Mmm? Why would I hold back...?" she singsongs. She -almost- manages to sound curious.
But she's really busy with something else--practically dance-stepping forward, in a strange, weaving pattern, she tilts her blade upwards, and practically flings the blade outwards. It's almost like she's trying to punch Cherry in the jaw, with the hilt--but halfway there it retracts.
Then her right leg kicks out, a snapping, low roundhouse kick aimed with the intention of impacting Cherry's right leg just above the knee, the toe of her boot intended to impact on the nerve cluster there...
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Setsuka's Light Kick.
The nice thing about Cherry's fighting style, from her point of view, is that she's trained to keep moving no matter what. Thus even as she feels her punch impact on the hilt of Setsuka's blade rather than flesh, she doesn't stop to reconsider things or suddenly go on the defensive; she keeps moving, as if the intent had been to brush past the black-clad fighter the entire time. Thus her kick finds only air as Cherry circles around, giving herself some distance again. At least she's not bleeding so much now, but the owners are going to bitch about the line of red dots along the park grass afterwards. "For your own safety," Cherry says cheerily, in response to Setsuka's question.
She'd like to take a break, honestly, and make sure that's going to heal up right, but sadly that's not in the cards. Instead she decides to keep the offensive pressure up, kicking off the ground and practically skimming across it as she flies at Setsuka, fist first... the problem is, if the blade user is focusing on the *fist*, she might not be able to defend properly against the real attack: a sphere of red-gold fire that explodes around it like an aura, looking to slam into Setsuka at stomach-height.
COMBATSYS: Setsuka fails to interrupt Heartbreaker from Cherry with Yamikaze - Doku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////.. ]
Setsuka 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Cherry
No, she doesn't miss it--not at all. But she's willing to take a gamble... even as Cherry charges forward, Setsuka does as well. The energy... she intends to meet it with her own. It's a good plan--a trading of damage for damage. A good plan...
If it works. It doesn't--the girl's chi impacts first, and it is -one hell- of an impact... the explosion of fiery chi seems to engulf Setsuka, and her body shoots backwards out of it, landing awkwardly, and tumbling, once, twice.
She's a fraction of a second slow to get up, but when she rises, she's still smiling... even through the pain. Perhaps -because- of it.
"Very good," she murmurs, resuming her stance. "But you really should worry more about your -own- safety. My blade is thirsty..."
It's probably for the best that Cherry seems to have avoided a grim fate, because she did something she tries not to do except in specific circumstances: she overextended herself quite a bit. Thus rather than keeping on her feet and moving after that strike, she skips back a few steps and stops, tapping her feet against the ground and eyeballing Setsuka carefully. She is grinning, though, despite herself. It's a challenge, facing that sword... but a challenge is what she wanted, after all.
"My point being, you go all out with a deadly weapon, people aren't gonna take it lying down. I mean, my options are getting cut up and swimming in Neosporin for it doesn't scar, or hit you so hard and so fast you don't get the chance." She taps the tip of her foot against the ground, like a soccer player or track runner, and drops back into stance, getting ready to be on the move again. "I'm more the latter type, myself."
There's an opening here, but the Fighting Diva isn't sure she wants to take it... but in truth, her options are fairly limited and she'd like this fight to take as little time as possible. Thus she decides to drop back on the offensive, running at Setsuka in a sort of crouch and snapping out a hand for her wrist; if she can get it, she grins. "Thirsty blade? Drink up, then," before spinning and attempting to hurl the blade user into the nearby fountain.
COMBATSYS: Setsuka counters Quick Throw from Cherry with Oborozuki.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////............ ]
Setsuka 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Cherry
Setsuka stills, almost completely. It's hard to tell she's even breathing--though of course she is, and rather heavily. It's just pure muscle control that makes her so still. Cherry has, in fact, hit upon a point. The fear of the blade often makes the opponent fight all the harder, all the more desperate. That fear and desperation, they're like candy to her--she eats it up.
"Oh?" she says, suddenly, as her wrist is gripped; suddenly, Cherry is gripping nothing but cool blue-purple energy, that winks out of existence. Suddenly, Setsuka is standing behind her opponent, her right hand raised, clenched, a blazing purple blade of Psycho Power flashing outwards--a blade cut diagonally across Cherry's back, raking explosive pain along the cut, but leaving no physical injury.
"But I want you to struggle. Live food is so much better than dead, don't you agree?" Probably, she's certifiable, but aren't most people who carry live steel around?
It's her first encounter with Psycho Power. It will be a memorable one, too, in the sense that she'd prefer never to encounter this particular kind again. The blade's cold touch and the pain are one thing, but just the... fuzziness, the ache that goes with it that is something other than physical is quite another. Thankfully she is facing away from the cameras when she stumbles forward, eyes wide and pupils dilated in the process.
She actually, *stupidly*, stands with her back to Setsuka for long moments, at least enough for her to deliver that entire spiel... but somehow it's creepy and weird enough to trigger Cherry's inner bitch circuit, the one that lets her shrug off strangeness and keep her composure even in the face of the fucked up, as this fight is rapidly turning out to be.
She turns, and is grinning. Somehow. Brushing dust from her forearms. "No, I don't agree. You ever try to eat a live cow, Cruella de Vil?" the Fighting Diva asks nonchalantly. "Or are they too hard to get into the crypt?" And then she strikes, not waiting for a pithy response. It's at a full run, and perhaps a little telegraphed as Cherry flashes out a flat-handed chop to Setsuka at neck height. But if that dizzying blow connects? It's followed by a torrent of fist strikes to the torso, before the redhead grips Setsuka by both arms, turns, and flings her away, adding a final upper kick to speed her along that path.
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Setsuka with Wild Cherry.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////......... ]
Setsuka 1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1 Cherry
Setsuka licks her lips. "Oh, I have..." Well, she doesn't -actually- get to finish the sentence--suddenly, she's being chopped up and hashed out. The torrent of strikes forces her back, stumbling, never actually quite able to fall, a critical impact flinging her this way and that, until she's gripped--and kicked right in the chest as she's flung away. Suddenly, she's impacting the fountain with her back; suddenly, the statue of the peeing Cupid explodes, as Setsuka goes through it. An immense cloud of plaster dust is raining down, slowly... but Setsuka isn't coming through it.
She's there, somewhere, though--her voice echoing oddly, as if she were throwing it, making it sound like it were coming from multiple places. Quite the trick.
"As I was saying... before I was so rudely interrupted... I have eaten blue steaks... and yes... they are quite tasty." The cloud of plaster dust moves, suddenly--shifts. And Setsuka is right in Cherry's face, her right hand glowing, reaching out to slap Cherry in the stomach...
COMBATSYS: Setsuka successfully hits Cherry with Yamikaze - Kuu.
*SLAP* The slap itself would just sting; but a glowing purple-white ball of that Psycho Power, situated right above her bellybutton. Setsuka isn't there, though... she's ten yards past Cherry, already turning around, blurring forward, reaching out to slap Cherry in the back, leaving another one of those balls of power... blurring to a stop, turning, and driving forward one more time, reaching out to place a third one right over Cherry's heart.
Then she comes a stop... snaps her fingers... and each one explodes, in turn, like a bomb of Psycho Power.
Well, that's an interesting technique, and the considerably unorthodox delivery method makes avoiding it effectively impossible. There's little the Fighting Diva can do but stand there and blink a few times... and while the attack is mercifully brief, it is ridiculously powerful; the psychic exposion sends the Diva back into the fountain, which shatters in a spray of water and ceramic shards.
It's a few moments... more than a few, in fact... before Cherry pulls herself out of it, lacerations across her arms; not from the psychic explosion but from ramming through a monument at high speed. Perhaps the only good thing is that the water is making her shirt clingy and showing off her impressive curves to a large televised audience. At least, that's what she's telling herself, because thinking about anything else is much, much too weird for her.
Dripping wet, eyes glazed, the redhead walks toward Setsuka. Not running, more like a stroll. "For the record, blue steak... is still dead," she says evenly. And once she's close enough -- not for real combat, but just so that Setsuka is nearby -- she holds out her hand, palm up, and whispers, "Also: boom."
The world is filled with red-orange flame, after that, a massive spherical burst encompassing Cherry, Setsuka, and much of the park. Looks like the blade user's not the only one with energy bombs.
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Setsuka with Cherry Bomb.
[ < > /.................. ]
Setsuka 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Cherry
... Boom, indeed. Setsuka shows no shock--no surprise--that Cherry pulls out such a technique. She has, in fact, expected such a thing... her resistance is token. All her concentration is on focusing her mind, preparing for the moments just after the explosion. The mind is a wonderful thing; it allows her to keep moving, on autopilot, even after her mind should be shut down.
She slams down fifteen yards away--pushes up to her feet--and rushes forward again, closing in on Cherry as best as she can, her vision clouded by creeping black and red tendrils... Her lunging grip is almost pathetic, really, but if she makes it... she'll find the strength she neds to continue the attack.
COMBATSYS: Setsuka can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Setsuka's Yamikaze - Kama.
Unfortunately for Setsuka, Cherry is heavily injured, practically exhausted, but she has just enough in her to notice the rush and back step. It's clumsy, not perfect, but it does keep her out of the black clad fighter's grip. A good thing, too; from the stumble she makes afterwards, it's evident that Cherry is in no position to take any more punishment than she already has. She doesn't bother with pride, and instead stumbles back until she finds a clear spot and slams down on the ground to rest.
The applause of the crowd brings a smile to her face, but it's a bittersweet smile... those psychic attacks, something Cherry has never quite experienced before, have left her feeling unsettled. In that regard, Setsuka is a clear winner, probably greater than her expectation. These two... will probably fight again.
Log created on 22:54:02 08/17/2008 by Cherry, and last modified on 20:53:01 09/11/2008.