Description: The Hibiki Dojo hosts a preliminary round match for Strolheim that pits the Ikari Warrior Leona Heidern against the relatively unknown Isamu. The fight ends up being alot closer than many would expect due to Isamu pulling out several tricks to almost beat Leona before she finally manages to take him down. (Winner: Leona)
It's approaching the afternoon in Southtown. The weekend is abound. The large expansive square room is the Hibiki dojo, wide-spread of tatami mats at the center and a lot of solid, soundproofing tiles, covered by bright colored sheets.
The lack of a trophy in the dojo is apparent, yet this is where the legendary school of Saikyo stands. There is quite a crowd of people standing around, cheering for the match to begin. It was said that it was Leona against an upcoming fighter who is still quite unknown to the public.
In the middle of the ring is a man in his early twenties, a mass of purple hair running down his face while he looks at the opened cieling, the only source of light. He takes a deep breath. "...Okay, I can do this." Isamu shakes his head, then he flips the wrist to extend the staff.
The young man isn't without supporters. First off is a young black-haired girl in her early-teens, wearing a Seijyun High uniform. "Go dad!" The youth cheers. She turns around to tap at the wall inspectingly at first, but she turns around to tug a red dress. "Do you think dad will win?"
The dress tugged belongs to a brown haired woman, who frowns at her adopted daughter, "...I don't know." She looks at the man with a frown. Must he really fight in these things?
Strolheim is a place that only holds mild interest for Leona Heidern. Mostly because there is one man she wishes to cross paths with the head of Strolheim's security and finally defeat Eiji Kisaragi. If she can get inside she has a feeling she will run into the ninja. Still that is more a rare personal goal than why she is really entering. Word is NESTS is getting involved with things and the Ikari are trying to keep tabs on the organization since they seem to have been more active than normal as of late.
She is pretty sure she can get in, but the problem is after this portion she is going to have to be teamed with people at some point once she gets to Strolheim itself which could make her investigation a bit more difficult. Her opponent is also someone she is not familiar with. She has done a little research, but even so there wasn't too much to dig up on Isamu at this point. She is prepared as much as she can be for this fight and she has been in the dojo for the better part of the day training on her own and the past hour or so she has been letting herself relax and rest up before the fight proper.
She finally rises from where she is sitting when the time comes to do battle and she reaches to pull off her dogtags and starts to use them to tie her blue hair up into a ponytail as she steps forward, those dark eyes scanning over the room before coming to rest on Isamu for a few brief moments. She straightens up and then raises her hand to offer a salute to the other fighter before lowering her hand. "I hope you are ready for a fight." she says in a reserved and rather monotone voice.
COMBATSYS: Leona has started a fight here.
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Leona 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Isamu has joined the fight here.
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Isamu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Leona
Other than that the man runs a new age shop in Southtown and is a family man, there is nothing really notable about him. Of course, some fighters are able to get away with living a normal life. At the same time, there is some sort of yearning for something more. Or at least, Isamu owes himself to try to fight against Krauser once more. He was not at his best at that previous fight. Now? He wants to make up for it before he regrets not doing anything about it.
While the woman uses the dogtags to tie her hair together, Isamu twists the staff and he shifts his stance to face her direction. The right hand holds the staff against the shoulder, parallel with the arm. His left hand is leading forward, opened palmed. When he faces Leona, who gives him a salute, Isamu returns the respect by bringing his feet together and his arms together. Still holding the staff, he places the staff horizontal and his left palm pressed against the staff near the right hand. Tilting his body in a bow, Isamu returns to the previous fighting stance with the left hand leading.
"I'm ready."
As the match pretty much starts, Isamu lunges forward to meet with Leona's path, sweeping the staff out towards the side of Leona's ankles. He makes a twist to position the tip behind her leg and pulls to draw a sweep.
COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Isamu's Quick Throw.
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Isamu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Leona
The officials here to observe the match give the go ahead for both fighters to start and it seems like Isamu is more than ready to start things off quickly. The mercenary keeps her stance and lets the other fighter come right at her with that staff strike. While he manages to hit her with the staff he probably doesn't expect is the force doesn't really budge the Ikari nor does it really elicit much from her other than a slight grunt as she then begins to start moving, her feet shuffling quickly as she starts to go on the offensive now.
She eyes the staff for a moment while calculating her next move then decides to come in from the right and feint a right cross aimed for the face of the fighter, but while she spins about she leaps upwards and raises a leg upwards before bringing it down quickly on the top of Isamu's head.
COMBATSYS: Isamu blocks Leona's Strike Arc.
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Isamu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Leona
@emit
"Come on, dad!" shouts the little girl.
The butt of the staff strikes against the leg, yet not the expected result. Isamu was actually expecting that to happen. That is why he motions to recover, bringing his right hand back to bring the staff forward as she brings her fist out towards his face. That causes Isamu to twist the staff vertically and shift his stance enough to set him to the side. However, that spinning kick coming down towards his head causes him to become more alarmed.
Reacting quickly, he brings his staff upward, using the other hand to support him. The weight of the staff's collision with her strike causes a vibration to ring forth a bit of pain from the impact on his hands. Quickly, however, Isamu steps forward while twirling the staff, pressing on to put pressure on Leona. Mind, it is not just fancy twirling, but it is actually an upward strike with each movement, as if it was a dance of steps that Isamu performs.
COMBATSYS: Isamu successfully hits Leona with Zetsu.
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Isamu 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Leona
His reflexes seem to be much better than she expected. She will have to be sure to keep note of that and not let herself get overconfident when dealing with this fighter. She briefly glances to the child that calls out to Isamu and there is a slight quirk in her lip as if she almost allows herself a smile before her attention turns back to the fight. She prepares for the incoming staff strike, though her movements aren't quick enough to get her arm away from the strikes that end up striking against her torso and knocking her back a few steps.
She steadies her footing once again after taking several steps back to put distance between herself and the other fighter while reaching upwards to pull free one of her earrings. She then gives another smirk and gives it a quick toss towards Isamu. The amount of explosive used in them isn't enough to do alot of damage, but it will be good enough to possibly daze and distract so she can get the upper hand. Be it hit Isamu or the ground it will explode on impact.
COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Isamu with Earring Bakudan.
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Isamu 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Leona
The strikes are fluid and steady as Isamu proves his worth in his skills as a staff-fighter. The young martial twists the staff back and he takes his stance once more. And as Leona distances herself against Isamu, the young man blinks and he watches her remove an earring.
"Huh?"
Something looks quite odd. When she releases the earring, Isamu stares down until it is too late. As the earring releases an explosion, Isamu immediately plants the staff to the ground, but he's immediately blasted back, "Argh!"
"Isamu!" cries out the brown-haired woman. She looks a bit stressed in this match.
"Eghn... I am okay, Rini..." Isamu utters once, trying to drown out the sound of the cheering fans in his head. Hearing 'crush the newbie' tends to be a tad disheartening, but easily ignorable. Collapsing the staff to a small nightstick, he puts it to his side and he moves in towards Leona.
Pressing out at her, he brings his right hand out towards her face for a chop across the eyes. Only to bring it back before it even gets near her face.
Why?
Both palms press forth towards her solar plex, attempting to send her back.
COMBATSYS: Leona interrupts Strong Punch from Isamu with Grand Sabre.
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Isamu 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Leona
It is amazing that somehow Leona manages to keep from letting her facial expression from changing at all despite the surprised cry from what appears to be Isamu's wife. Perhaps a slight bit of guilt can be felt, but this is a fight and she cannot just stand back and play nice because the man's family is watching on. She steps back when he comes in at first then she swings back an arm as she steps forward and into the strike which elicits a low growl from her as she brings that arm around quickly, hand slashing and actually cutting cloth and leaving a surface cut across the chest of the other fighter from the force of the blow despite her not holding anything sharp.
"I apologize, but there are people involved in this tournament far worse than me. Don't forget how dangerous this can be for a family man like you." she tells him as she steps back. She relents on her strikes for just a few moments, though she remains prepared with arms raised and ready to retaliate in case he decides to press on in this fight. "If you are ready for that then don't let me stop you. Fight with everything you have."
For the most part, Isamu was working on conserving his energy, trying to find a good opening in the match. However, he made the mistake of letting his guard down for a pre-mature attack. That, or she was more alert than he expected. Either way, Isamu was careless and he is paying for that.
That hand makes a sharp chop against the body. Or rather, it is more than just a chop, as it slashes through the section of his hoodie-shirt opening a hole in it as well as making a nice blood-mark from a slash. His eyes widen to see blood splatter against the air.
Rini immediately covers the little girl's eyes, "What's going on, mom?!"
"Rggggnnn!" Isamu turns his head away, then he clutches onto his chest. "...I know... It's why I've..." He shakes his head. No point in explaining. Isamu has always been relunctant on these tournaments for that reason. Looking at the face of his worried wife, Isamu faces Leona once more.
"...Alright." He will, at least, attempt to get to Krauser to try for a rematch. Isamu moves the hand from the wound, and then he moves towards Leona. His feet shuffle together in a movement like a dance as the chi resonates from the ground. He manifests the chi and he launches it out towards Leona.
The ground undergoes a sudden shift of currents as the wind manifest itself in sharp edges. The gust bursts from the ground in the form of a ethreal blade to pierce upward against Leona.
"Nagiha!"
COMBATSYS: Isamu successfully hits Leona with Nagiha.
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Isamu 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Leona
Another facet of Isamu's style is soon discovered by the Ikari that she wasn't expecting. He shows mastery with the staff, but the the manifestation of chi that he uses to attack her was something she was not expecting. She starts to step back at first, but ends up deciding to try to stand her ground which isn't as good of idea as she thought. The force of the blast is more than she expected and it knocks her back a few steps at first, but then she leans forward and starts to dash forward to close the distance between herself and Isamu. She is letting herself perhaps get a bit careless, but right now she should see about taking down Isamu quickly if she can help it. Hands grasp forward to grip him by the shirt and then spin on her foot to try and use her momentum to lift him upwards and throw him across the floor.
COMBATSYS: Isamu interrupts Quick Throw from Leona with Asanagi no Kokyuu.
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Isamu 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=------\1 Leona
After the movement of the gust's blade strikes against Leona, the wind dies down from the young man. Now taking a stance once more, he brings his right hand back, stepping his left foot back and he shifts his stance; the left hand is shot upward and away from him while the right hand leads at the same path as his right leg.
When Leona reaches over towards the shirt, the young man immediately finds himself off of the ground, but he shoots both hands out at her chest, suddenly unleashing a burst of blue energy. The energy surrounds himself and Leona inside a dome. A flurry is born as the gust becomes like a hurricane, pushing against Leona's form and sucking her back in before the burst releases once more.
That grip that she had on him, however, sends him on his back before he rolls back up.
The carelessness shows once again as Leona runs back into the fray perhaps a bit half cocked. She pays for it in spades when she finds herself caught in that whirlwind of chi that takes the Ikari woman off her feet for the first time this whole battle and sends her tumbling away from Isamu and comes out of the roll resting on one knee and looking to get herself reoriented with her surroundings. She slowly gets back to her feet and she takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes and attempts to take a few moments to relax and let herself grow calm again. She has to remember why she is fighting and stay focused on the rest of this fight.
"Impressive. You put up a good fight." she finally says as she reopens her eyes and she nods her head ever so slightly. "I shall not take you lightly again if our paths cross in the future." She holds back for now, taking some time to catch her breath. Time for her to get back into to this fight and finish it if she can.
COMBATSYS: Leona gains composure.
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Isamu 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Leona
Isamu's display of power was a surprise. Not to the people, who had no idea that the young man had the capability do perform such feats, but his family, who finally get a chance to witness what Isamu can really do when he puts a large effort in his fights.
"...Isamu..." utters Rini. Even though she hates the idea of him fighting, she smiles, "You can do it. Just remain strong."
"Go dad!" cheerfully shouts Hitomi.
After the burst of energy and the recovery, Isamu looks a bit energized, even if his body is more worn from the beating that he has taken. He grits his teeth once more, wincing at the burning sensation from the large cut that Leona gave him. At the same time, Isamu notes the condition of Leona as she takes the moment to regain her composure.
"Thank you. You are an extraordinary fighter yourself." He smiles once more, twirling the nightstick out of the holster and he twists it to the staff once more. "I had a feeling that you're tougher than me, but... I can't let myself get counted out just yet!" Isamu immediately sprints towards Leona, then he suddenly takes off from the ground.
"...Even if I don't plan to fight publically... I will at least show what I can do this time!"
He brings the staff forward, then he dives down towards Leona with the butt of the staff facing her. However, the staff manifests a glowing energy as the wind-chi shapes the tip of the pole into a lance-head. The simple shopkeeper dives towards Leona with the chi-lance thrusted towards her chest.
COMBATSYS: Leona auto-guards Isamu's Shigure!
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Isamu 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Leona
The compliment from Isamu gets a nod in return, but it seems the Ikari woman is not ready to talk for the time being as she tries to get herself ready for battle once more. Talking is just another distraction she can't afford to let herself have in this fight since it has ended up being more problematic than she expected. He focus mostly stays on the staff when Isamu comes towards her and she starts to duck low when he strikes, her palm thrusting upwards to knock the staff's trajectory upwards and miss her before she steps around to get behind the other fighter.
She takes a deep breath and she pulls her hands back, her own chi manifesting for the first time this fight as she gathers a green ball of energy and then thrusts it forward, energy crackling about lightly before spiking outwards intent on impaling the other fighter for a brief few moments and give him a rather large shock throughout his body.
COMBATSYS: Isamu auto-guards Leona's Baltic Launcher!
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Isamu 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Leona
This is quite problematic.
As Leona strikes the staff to knock it away from him, the young man quickly catches himself and spins back into the position to where he can still use the staff and to keep himself from being off-balance. The flat-foot will not be his undoing!
Like a dance, Isamu brings the staff back in time to thrust it out towards Leona as she thrusts forth the crackling energy coming his way. Putting his own burst of chi into the strike, there is a flash of energy emitting between the two, almost voltage to voltage. The clash ends with the burst of energy sending the two apart for a moment, then Isamu twists the staff over and starts thrusting the weapon out towards Leona.
As the staff thrusts out, it soon starts becoming rapid as to strike against her stomach, her chest, her head, and feet once more, putting pressure towards her.
COMBATSYS: Leona dodges Isamu's Shitsu.
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Isamu 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Leona
Another surprise, but she can't let herself get too distracted by the fact. She has to keep up her offensive right now if she can help it. Even as she touches back down on her feet she dodges left and right, ducking and weaving when that staff tries striking her, as gaze never wavers and her attention remains soley on the staff and it's wielder for the time being. Her reaches out to push away the staff finally and she lunges forward, her fist pulling back as she takes a deep breath and then brings it forward to send the gloved hand right into the face of the other fighter.
COMBATSYS: Isamu interrupts Strong Punch from Leona with Rekkuuzan.
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Isamu 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Leona
Isamu, for the most part, is quite unpredictable with his movements. For someone like Leona, who seems to be a very disciplined and analytical, he has to be to stand a chance against her. That was actually what Isamu did hope for, as far as her paying attention to the staff itself. In fact, it is the purpose for the technique's pressure tactic. When she pushes the staff away, Isamu goes with the flow of her removing the staff from her presence and she launches forward.
That fist strikes out towards his face. The impact sends his head twisting to the other side, but he uses the chi to give him momentum in shooting forward. While the staff collapses to a small stick once more, he twists his hips and releases a flying round-house kick towards Leona's chest. While remaining in mid-air, his body twists for a spinning hook kick towards her face.
"Rekkuuzan!"
The unpredictable movements is the reason why the Ikari is having trouble with the other fighter. She is taking her time in trying to analyze as much as she can about his style so to be better prepared if she has to fight the staff wielder in the near future. She lands that punch, but she doesn't expect him to recover so quickly to strike back and she gets the air knocked out of her when that first kick strikes her in the chest and then goes staggering back when the other kick is delivered to her face. She regains her footing and manages to keep from falling over right now and then rubs at her chin with the back of her hand lightly.
She then lunges forward, her hand closing into a tight fist as it erupts into orange energy around it. She brings the hand back and then thrusts it forward with all her strength to slam it right into the chest of Isamu before letting out a low growl and releasing all that energy into a large explosion meant to send Isamu flying away from her with the force of the blast.
COMBATSYS: Isamu blocks Leona's Rebel Spark.
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Isamu 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Leona
After the kick strikes Leona against the face, Isamu recovers his stance and he faces Leona as she regains her footing. Looking more focused in the fight, Isamu awaits to see her next move. He has to keep with the aggression. There is no time to take a break to figure out what to do as of now.
Isamu is, however, becoming a tad winded in the fight. He pants, trying to catch his breath. But he knows that he is going to lose his footing soon if he doesn't pace himself.
When Leona comes forth with the orange energy, Isamu immediately brings his hands together and tenses his muscles to dull the incoming pain. The impact of the explosion sends the man back, yet he manages to keep his ground. His body is becoming more worn, perspiration building up to reveal his tired state. "Ergg..." He grits his teeth, then he looks at Leona.
"...Here I go!"
Isamu immediately closes the distance between himself and her, reaching his right fist to launch up against her chin. The chi manifests along his arm as a funnel of wind, shooting upward from the ground to help him launch her off-ground should the attack hold true...
COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Isamu's Tenshou - Senpuu Ha.
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Isamu 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Leona
She put forth alot of energy in releasing that blast, it is something that slows her just slightly and she is having to take deeper breathes to try to recover. Yet here Isamu still stands as well after her attack, though she could tell she didn't manage to nail him with the full force of the blast. She doesn't have the footing right now to avoid the other fighter's strike right now so she raises her arms to take the brunt of the the energy filled attack that is sent her way. With Isamu in this close she reaches out to grasp for him, sidestepping away to avoid any staff strikes aimed her way as she seeks to grab him by his head and squeeze tightly as she attempts to lift him off his feet then spin about and spike him head-first off the ground.
COMBATSYS: Isamu dodges Leona's Ordeal Buckler.
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Isamu 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Leona
Thankfully for Leona, she will not have to worry about Isamu striking her with the staff. Instead, she will have to worry about the next strike that he has in mind.
When she attempts to reach out for the head, Isamu actually ducks low against the reaching for his head, then he sweeps his right leg behind both of her legs. As the left leg attempts to sweep behind, he immediately leans his left leg out and his body towards the left while his right hand releases a palm strike in a shoving manner towards her stomach to trip her over his right leg.
COMBATSYS: Leona interrupts Quick Throw from Isamu with Baltic Launcher.
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Isamu 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Leona
Isamu's foot ends up planted where he intended, but perhaps Leona finally seems to be learning what she has to do to handle the other fighter. When he comes forward to deliver the palm strike to her she falls back with it while quickly pushing her hands forward as she falls back, another green ball like the one before is released much closer and making it harder to avoid. She falls backwards into a roll to put distance between herself and Isamu as he is shocked and she slowly rises to her feet.
Her breathing has grown very heavy at this point, her gaze looking intense, but also weary at the same time for the amount of energy she has spent throughout the fight. All she can hope is that last strike is enough to take down Isamu because she doesn't have too much left in her tank to continue this fight given the way things are going.
As the palm strike moves towards Leona, he finds himself caught up in what is likely a very painful experience for him. Both eyes widen as Isamu falls prey to Leona's powerful chi. Searing against his body and providing a shocking reaction, Isamu grits his teeth and he struggles to hang on.
"Father!"
"Isamu!"
Both cries of his daughter and his wife echos in his mind, but after a few moments of the shockwaves residing, Isamu falls to both of his knees... And he collapses. "Eghnnn."
Well, one can't blame Leona for going all out. Both young girl and the older woman rush to Isamu's side, Rini knocking over anyone in her way to rush to her fallen husband's side once Leona's declared the winner.
"...Why did you have to fight, Isamu?" Rini frowns, running her hand along his hair.
COMBATSYS: Isamu takes no action.
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Leona 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Isamu can no longer fight.
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Leona 0/-------/----===|
The Ikari woman isn't too quick to her feet once it looks like Isamu is not getting back up. She finally gets back up once she is declared the winner, though she would probably say differently. She was much too sloppy today and if she performs like this again she won't have a good chance against Igniz if they meet again during the tournament. "He is a good fighter." is all she has to say in response to the question Rini poses even though it wasn't directed her way. "He will make you all proud if he makes it to Strolheim."
She then turns about to wander away to let the family be as she pulls the dogtags free from her hair and pults them back around her neck and tucks them away under her shirt. One fight out of he way and who knows how many more. She still has some investigating to do around Southtown, but right now she is much too worn out to continue with that. Tonight she will rest and resume her duties as an Ikari in the morning.
COMBATSYS: Leona has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:13:42 09/27/2008 by Leona, and last modified on 01:09:36 09/28/2008.