Description: Both the Dancing Spider and Red Cyclone square off in a modern day David and Goliath match-up. Can Aranha duplicate David's success or will Zangief win the day?
Southtown mall. It's lunchtime, and it's bustling. Not just because it's a beautiful day, or because of the incredible deals on offer at very reasonable prices... but because there is a large promotional wrestling ring set up in the middle of the mall, and the unmistakable, hulking form of the Red Cyclone himself is standing in the middle of it, waiting for his opponent.
It's not that Zangief wasn't looking forward to the fight- he is. He always looks forward to a fight, another opportunity to prove the superiority of Mother Russia. But... in truth, fighting in the middle of the mall wasn't quite the high-powered kick off that he'd been hoping for. But. What it did do, was announce to the whole world that he is back, and looking for more challenges internationally. So he couldn't fault the arrangement too much.
Still. The massive Russian looks down on the crowd, and sees a pretty even mix between those who were obviously looking forward to seeing him fight... and those who didn't -quite- know what to make of the situation. He's huge! Scarred, and scary! Not exactly the most poster-friendly person in the world.
So... lets get the crowd warmed up a bit. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!" He bellows, punching one meaty fist into the air, suddenly. "SOUTHTOWN! ARE YOU READY FOR BLOOD?!"
Aranha has been established in the international scene and has a bit of a reputation as an up and coming fighter and while he doesn't have the reputation of Zangief, he has a small following himself. However he has been out of the mainstream for some time and so he figured he get back into the swing of things.
It was when he saw that Zangief was looking for challengers, Aranha jumped at the chance. The Red Cyclone was kind of a big deal and it was so different a fighting style than Aranha was used to that there would be some growth to come out of it. Plus the match-up was compelling in other ways. Brains vs. Brawn, David vs. Goliath... etc.
When Aranha comes out it makes for a startling comparison. The capoeirista is a little under a foot and a half of the larger Russian's size and while fairly meaty himself in comparison to other fighters in his height range, he clearly has nothing on Zangief. Really the only thing the two fighters have in common are the massive amounts of scars.
Aranha answers Zangief while he's pumping up the crowd with a smile on his face and calm, poised tone, "I know I'm ready for blood, and I'm pretty sure they're ready for it."
Zangief has a wild grin on his features as he turns to face his opponent. The large russian claps his hands together, then. "Good!" He booms, squatting down a bit so that he can take up his usual stance, closer to the ground and with his hands up, booted feet planted firmly on the mat with the kind of weight which implies that they really aren't going anywhere unless he wants them to, the Red Cyclone is not renowned for his patience.
"I'm going to teach you why they call me the Red Cyclone!" He declares, loudly. The large mans lips twisting up into a smile. "When I get my hands on you, it's all over!"
That said... he's not in a hurry to rush in. Instead, he gives a nod, and a man to the side rings the bell...
It's a sound that fills Zangief with expectation. A sound that he loved, perhaps, more than any other... the sound of a fight just beginning!
Ding ding ding!
COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zangief has joined the fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
When the bell rings, Aranha begins his dance, swaying in ginga as he approaches the much larger man carefully sizing him up as he moves in. A large smile is plastered on the capoeirista's face as he dances around the wrestler. "Don't put the cart before the horse. You still have to get your hands on me first."
Then capoeirista hops forward suddenly covering what precious little distance was left between the two men before he lashes out with a snap kick to test the waters.
Even as he's delivering the kick he's thinking about how previous fights he saw Zangief went hoping to glean some insight into how to handle him.
COMBATSYS: Zangief blocks Aranha's Medium Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief steps forward into the kick, one meaty arm comes down to take the blow, and the impact thuds dead against his arm. The large Russian grins. "Yes. I do!" He replies with a grin, from this position... his intent is pretty simple, he aims to haul himself forward, and scoop Aranha up. If he can manage that, he'll literally hurl the younger fighter at the right hand corner of the ring. It wasn't much as these things go... but he wanted to get a feel for the level of talent he was dealing with here. He was never too strong to be surprised, after all!
... but the kick has done a lot to improve his mood, that much is for certain. Aranha was going to need to do a lot more than that to get a rise out of the Red Cyclone.
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Zangief's Medium Throw.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Zangief
Aranha doesn't quite get away from Zangief's grab. At best he only had time for damage mitigation and so as he's being tossed he twists at just the right moment so that he can hit the turn buckle with his feet instead of his body and grabs the ropes upon impact before pulling himself up on the ropes.
He then runs along the make-shift tight rope before launching himself at the Red Cyclone, feet first right for his head. Regardles of whether or not he lands the kick, he'll drop into a roll the moment he hits the ground to distribute the impact of landing and move him further away from the Russian.
COMBATSYS: Zangief Toughs Out Aranha's Sky's the Limit!
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief doesn't move as the attack comes shooting in for his face. Quite the opposite, in fact. He simply stands there, and the blow slams into the side of his face. ... Unfortunately, the blow doesn't seem to have quite the desired effect, and though it brings the taste of blood into Zangief's mouth, the Red Cyclone is not one to be put off so easily, and as Aranha starts to come down from the kick, he's already moving. Both arms are stretched out, fists clenched, and the mammoth Russian spins in place!
His intent is simple- using the momentum from the kick to his advantage, before his opponent can hit the floor, he aims to slam one of those powerful limbs into his mid-section, and plough him bodily into the mat. Definitely an unpleasant move, if he could time it just right, anyway...
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Double Lariat from Zangief with Malicia EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Zangief
Aranha is observant, and the moment he sees that Zangief, isn't moving and that his foot feels as though it hit an iron wall he knows that something is wrong. The capoeirista has only an instant to react and he chooses to brace for impact as he tries using an alternative plan seeing as he won't be able to propel himself away from the Red Cyclone's Red Cyclone.
Aranha attempts to shoot out a glowing blue foot however his timing isn't where he wants it to be and he gets batted out of the air, off the ropes and then he drops into a roll like he had originally planned. Unfortunately it's not as controlled as he would've liked but that roll had also saved him getting more hurt than he would have before. It just has an unpleasant side effect of him staring at the sky
Zangief is quite satisfied as the blow connects, though he didn't miss that there had been an attempt to turn it around on him... that glowing blue foot would likely have been a pretty unpleasant surprise. He was learning more about his opponent, and he was enjoying it, too! It looked like there were some tricks up his sleeve, but he didn't want to press just yet. He wanted Aranha back up on his feet and ready. There wasn't going to be much sport in it if he pressed the attack immediately...
Then again, he had a reputation to uphold. And Zangief hated to let down his fans. So he turns to address the crowd, keeping half an eye on his opponent, of course, but still bellowing to his adoring public. "You see what happens when you go up against the Red Cyclone?!" He shouts to the adoring cheers of the crowd, "YEAH! If that's all he's got, there's no way he can stand up to the Red Cyclone! He might as well back down right now!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief gathers his will.
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Aranha 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Zangief
Aranha quickly pulls himself to his feet and shakes the cob-webs out of his head. Before looking at the large wrestler. His dance is abandoned for quick staccato footsteps as he makes his way over to Zangief. He gets closer and closer and then he's suddenly past him and hitting the ropes before letting the ropes add further momentum as he launches himself forward with a powerful front kick to the body.
"Now now, comrade. This is still anybody's fight." While that statement was true, Aranha had to openly admit to himself that if he didn't start bringing the pain that Zangief would walk away with this fight. And Aranha was not planning on jobbing to Zangief.
COMBATSYS: Zangief interrupts Colossal Kick from Aranha with Atomic Suplex.
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Aranha 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief turns around as Aranha launches himself at him, stepping forward into the powerful blow, the mammoth Russian feels the impact, but tenses with it, and though it scrapes across his torso, he refuses to allow himself to be slowed. The large man doesn't say a word in reply, instead, he grabs that outstretched leg, and hauls Aranha into the air.
The impact as the man is swung around, and brought down with brutal strength onto the mat draws a gasp from the onlookers, shaking the arena with the force of it. The large Russian picks himself up again afterwards, dark eyes waiting for the next move... that one, he had actually felt. Perhaps there really would be more of a challenge to this fight than he had given him credit for.
Aranha doesn't so much rise to his feet as peel himself off the ground. While still able to move, the Dancing Spider was still visibly shaken by the impact delivered by the Red Cyclone.
Of course what he observed was also somewhat different from what he was expecting to see. He was able to make provisions for the two most likely scenarios out of the three that he saw in his mind, he just didn't expect for Zangief to take what he thought in his mind would take the third option. His body paid for it.
Eventually his dancing picks up speed as he closes with the wrestler before whirling around with a blue glowing roundhouse following it up by using the momentum from the first kick to whirl around with a glowing, spinning jump kick, before using the momentum of that second kick to not only turn himself so that his back is turned to Zangief but also so that he generates momentum for the back flip kick to drive it down on his shoulder near the base of his neck.
He doesn't think it'll take the big man off of his feet but it should give him something to think about at least.
COMBATSYS: Zangief blocks Aranha's Aggressive Dance.
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Aranha 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief watches the dance with his eyes narrowed. This time, he visibly tenses, drawing back and preparing himself for the attack. The roundhouse thuds meatily against his arm, and then he brings both up to cover his upper body, weathering the storm of blows with a definite, intense resolve. When it passes, he chuckles, shaking his head slowly. "You are fast... but you break easily!" He announces...
And then, with a deceptive lurch, he suddenly throws himself forwards. Both arms stretched out wide, before drawing in close. If he can manage to get his hands on him, he'll aim to crush him up against his chest, and crush him in a meaty grip, before going for, perhaps, his most unpredictable move of all...
Powerful russian jaws bite and tear, aiming to gnaw and rend at Aranha's neck in a sudden, vicious display of barbarity.
COMBATSYS: Zangief successfully hits Aranha with Kamitsuki.
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Aranha 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Zangief
Aranha had already been bitten before and quite frankly he didn't like that sensation too much. So even in the face of the low likelihood of him actually geting away he attempts to do so anyway. And much like his attempt to get away from Blanka's biting attack, his escape was doomed to failure.
"ARRRRGH!!!! STOP BITING ME!" And there goes the capoeirista's composure as it gives way to a head bite induced freak out. How does it manifest itself? Well in the form of Aranha rearing his head back before slamming it into Zangief's chin.
COMBATSYS: Zangief fails to interrupt Random Weapon from Aranha with Kamitsuki.
- Power fail! -
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Aranha 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Zangief
Zangief opens his jaws wide, actually laughing at Aranha's apparent misery and fear, the large Russian is merciless, and if anything, he actually squeezes harder, and gets ready to start gnawing even harder than before...
And then, quite suddenly, Aranha's head /SLAMS/ into his jaw. For a moment, the Red Cyclone just sort of... freezes up. And then his arms relax, and Aranha is able to slip free. For a moment, the Red Cyclone wavers on the spot, blinking dumbly. That... had actually -hurt-. He'd been hit by falling trees which hurt less!
Angrily, he moves to step forward, fully intending to mete out /horrible vengeance/ for the blow which had shaken him out of his fervor. And then he slips, balance betraying him after such a vicious blow, and he topples over backwards.
Tiiiiiimber
*CRASH!*
Apparently, Aranha had struck, just the right spot to make the grizzly of a Russian let go of him. He slowly steps back and the freeze gives the capoeirista pause. The blinking from Zangief is returned with blinking of his own as the entire situation creates an awkward pause in the action.
And then anger. He takes a step back, not to retreat but rather to get his feet in position to go back into that familiar capoeira ginga as he waits for the Red Cyclone to return the favor only to find that he never quite makes it to him and in fact falls over backwards. Aranha knows that he hasn't done nearly enough to finish this mountain of a fighter off and so he decides to keep up the attack.
Sending himself forward, he goes into a cartwheel before twisting his body around so that he lands in a crouched position as he sits on the heel of his tucked leg as he drops the heel of his extended leg on the larger fighter.
COMBATSYS: Zangief blocks Aranha's Change-Up Kick.
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Aranha 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\1 Zangief
Zangief is... pissed, to say the least. The large man catches the heel as it comes down at him, and the light bruising his palm takes just annoys him more as he throws the leg to the side, and hauls himself up to his feet. Shaking with fury, "YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO KNOCK DOWN THE RED CYCLONE?!" He bellows at the top of his lungs, fists clenching by his sides, the large man stomps forward. Not... actually attacking Aranha, no. Not yet, instead, he was really working himself into a fury. Slamming his feet into the mat so hard that there is an ominous crack of supports, his mohawk-clad head rounds on the crowd, and he jabs his finger at the younger fighter.
"YOU THINK THIS GUY HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO TAKE ME DOWN?!" He roars, "I'M GONNA BREAK HIM OVER MY KNEE! I'M GONNA SNAP HIM IN TWO! I'M GONNA BREAK HIM SO BADLY, HE WON'T EVER KNOW WHAT HIT HIM! YOU THINK YOU KNOW PAIN, ARANHA?!"
Yup, the first time he'd actually used the mans name as he looms over him, "I'M GONNA MAKE YOU HURT SO BAD, YOU'LL WISH YOU NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THE RED CYCLONE!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief gathers his will.
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Aranha 1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Zangief
Now that Zangief isn't trying to bite at his head, Aranha can get himself back on a relatively even keel once again. In the face of the stomping and the cracking supports, Aranha just smiles. It's calm, and almost serene smile as the wrestler roars in his face. Aranha, while he has a healthy respect for the pain and onslaught the Red Cyclone can deliver, he's not exactly the most easily intimidated.
"Well if you're so sure, don't talk about it. Be about it." Famous last words? Needless to say, Aranha doesn't move in. In fact, he just stands there arms wide open. It's as if he just put on a platinum chain with the words 'Hit me' spelled out in diamonds on it.
COMBATSYS: Aranha focuses on his next action.
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Aranha 1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Zangief
Far be it for Zangief to disappoint! When he is invited, his hands lash out, the big man quite suddenly seeming to take up all available space. He doesn't even say anything, he just aims to grab the smaller man and heft him over his head with a mighty roar.
If he can manage to get hold of him, poor Aranha is going to experience the exact reason Zangief is renowned as, if not outright the best wrestler in the world, surely the strongest. As though he was handling a doll and not a person, he'll slam the capoeirista's body into the ground, swing him up, and bring him down again, spin, grab his waist, and again, into the ground...
And then, leap into the air, with Aranha's head between his thighs, before coming down on the ring with such incredible force that the mat gives way, splintering and cracking as it breaks. The full, mind-numbing force of the impact channeled through Aranha's head.
That... has got to hurt.
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Ultimate Atomic Buster from Zangief with Royal Flush.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Zangief 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.
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Zangief 0/-------/---====|
Even as Zangief grabs him, Aranha has his own plans for how to deal with the giant. He takes the first slam hard but he had also planned on kicking out with a glowing foot even he was heading to the ground to encourage the giant to release him so that he could cause even more havoc. Unfortunately, Zangief has the capoeirista locked up too tight and he can't quite get his foot where he needs it to be and so he goes on a painful ride. Before being slammed so hard through the mat that the ring actually collapses around the two.
Aranha's body hangs limply on what used to be a steel chair and the splintered remains of a sledgehammer. He doesn't even move and he barely stays conscious just long enough to say, "I've been hit harder... Not by much. But I've been hit harder."
Then the capoeirista's eyes roll backwards as he consciousness leaves him.
Zangief picks himself up in the wreckage of the ring. The crowd are, mostly, struck silent in awe. The large Russian looks down at the man, and snorts at his words. "Then you need to watch your mouth closer, friend." He rumbles, before resting his large red boot right on the unconscious mans chest. After all... there are traditions to be upheld.
So, both arms are raised up high over his head, and Zangief looks out at the stunned crowd, before letting out a loud, bellowing howl of triumph. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!"
"NOBODY! ESCAPES! THE! RED! CYCLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!"
And the large Russian finishes the battle shouting with his victory, as the bell rings again. Sure. He was going to have to pay for all the damages to the ring... but that was a small price to pay for such an impressive win!
Log created on 10:51:00 11/06/2008 by Aranha, and last modified on 11:50:39 12/04/2008.