Description: SNF in the worst place possible. Hot coals, humidity through the roof, and two fighters fighting with the threat of Chaos Agent Candy at every turn!! (Winner: Hotaru)
Upon getting a glimpse of the site that this week's SNF is to take place in, Hotaru can't help but wish that she was back in Hawaii like she had for one of her previous weekend bouts. Located in the industrial sector of southern Southtown, Japan, the Coal Pits are a dark, dusty, dingy place. To spice things up, the steel-lined bed of coals the match is to transpire in has been set afire sometime earlier. By now, the coals have reduced to a bed of simmering, charred heat that is plenty hot enough to scorch even rugged fighters.
Running across the coals are a number of crossbeams of steal set in the midst of them, giving people limited places to stand. But as the beams are partially submerged within the burning coals, they're pretty hot themselves. To 'help', water is being run into the room as well, pouring over the coals on the outer edges of the enclosure. This isn't really helping so much as creating thick, steamy vapor to make the location even more miserable than it started off. It's like a SNF in a jungle situated in a live volcano. No life is supposed to exist in such a place, and really, given the conditions of the chamber, no life is going to be existing /here/ all that long either. All the more encouragement to get the match over with quickly, it would seem.
Having been warned that the match was likely to be quite /dirty/ ahead of time, Hotaru had decided to arrive in a mostly dark variant of her standard fighting attire. Dark grey pants and sleeves accompany the black, gold embroidered vest she has on over her torso. Her hair is done up in her signiture pig-tails, tied off with large, deep blue ribbons.
The heavy metal door swings open, giving the participants a chance to enter and Hotaru takes a breath and steps in, grimacing at the miserable conditions within. "One week it's fighting in a giant oven, now it's fighting in a giant grill. I'm not really liking this pattern," she mumbles.
"Out of fire.. into frying pan? Next be out all way. Good progression." Blanka claps Hotaru lightly on the shoulder as the first blast of steam and heat hits him like a hot towel wrapped 'round his face. Trying to breathe properly, he inhales deeply, then coughs at the smell of coal and heat. Ugh. "Fought in heat before, in water.. Both kinda not fun." Oh well - at least he's fighting Hotaru. He can expect a good, hard fight from her, and that really is all that matters, in the end. The green giant gives his opponent a fangy smile, and then switches to a 'serious business' face. After all, he's supposed to be the iolent, fierce beast of brazil, it wouldn't do to shake the mystique.
"At least Hotaroo have shoes. Blanka have toasty feet by end of this." He looks upwards and at the walls - the slippery sides with the water coursing down probably won't give /much/ a grip, but Blanka is already thinking of ways to get there, to get up and away that will give him /some/ chance of avoiding burning his feet to here and beyond. "Good fight, ok? Blanka promise to be careful around coals - Blanka like Hotaroo's hair." He says this sotto voice, before making a fierce growl for the ubiquitous cameras. They want a fierce fight, they'll get one!
Doesn't mean he has to be a hater, tho.
Scorch fighters..
That could feel something. Candy rests nearby, feet planted carelessly on the coal, not worrying in the least. Her attention is on the fighters as they arrive.. a piece of machinery in an arena of such. It is perfect, if only in a base sense.
Hotaru, in her rather dark clothing, catches Candy's eyes. The interesting hair, the interesting attire. Perhaps the same could be said of her style. It would only have to be seen. Silent for the most part, Candy moves with Hotaru as she walks in, as well as Blanka, but manages to walk past then, silent, but obvious, dressed as just another fighter. A nobody. A zilch.
But she does not seem to mind the situations in the least. She steps onto a burning coal, but does not really notice. The steam begins to waft around her .. and her holograms begin to slightly be effected. It's just .. a heat illusion, that's all. Dressed in a long sleeved black shirt, a hat, on backwards, and jeans, this fighter.. is from the streets! She's effectively got high-tops, as well.
"Yo. Shall we begin soon? I'm burnin'."
She is not.
COMBATSYS: Blanka has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
COMBATSYS: Candy has joined the fight here.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/-------|
As his hand comes to rest on her shoulder, Hotaru glances up at the much larger Blanka, her initial grimace replaced with a quick and ready grin. She has always considered the strange environments the SNF officials have her fight in as a challenge to her creativity as a martial artist. After all, legendary fighters of the past could hold their own in any number of extreme conditions. If she wants to continue growing up to be one of the greats as she has always aspired, she should look at these rough conditions as an opportunity... Of course, once inside, it's a lot harder to see that way. Especially when the heavy steel door closes behind the trio with a solid clang. At least she's doing this with a friend. That helps.
Jumping a little in surprise, Hotaru takes a step away from Blanka and turns to face him as he points out her shoes. "Yeah, hope they hold up," she muses, not really sure if that will end up being the case. She should have worn some kind of fire retardant /boots/. He growls a little for the cameras, but the girl knows him better than that and it makes it hard to do anything besides try to fight back her smile. For the cameras, of course.
"Yeah," she muses as he expresses concern about her hair and the girl casts one more glance at the smoldering coals as she steps up onto the steel crossbeams imbedded in the burning matter, getting off the narrow, limited lip near the door. "I hope it doesn't get singed too much." She sighs a little, chiding herself a little for being concerned about such a girly thing.
Time is spent looking toward the third participant. A chaos agent for the match about whom she knows precious little. Whoever she is, she's /really/ tough if she can weather the conditions without seemingly being affected in the slightest. "Nice to meet you... Candy is it?" the girl speaks up toward the chaos agent, giving her a nod of acknowledgement and restoring her friendly smile.
"Let's get started. Sooner we get out of this, ne?" the girl nods toward the other two fighters, azure eyes coming to rest on Blanka. "Yosh. Here goes!" She provdes warning - not one prone to taking cheap opening shots, as she sprints into action across the narrow beam. As if to give her feet a reprieve, she sweeps down into a low stance before taking to the air in a steep arc...
Her return trip back down brings her right heel dropping first, aiming to collide solidly with the top of Blanka's head to give him a good 'thunk' to start with. "KYA!"
COMBATSYS: Blanka fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Hotaru with Vertical Rolling.
- Power fail! -
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Blanka 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/-------|
Not taking cheap shots at the green giant is muchly appreciated, especially once he's walked his way out onto the steel cross beams. Already, he's half-hopping from foot to foot, the uncomfortably warm metal slowly working through jungle-toughened footies. It makes things hard to brace, hard to prepare for what comes next - and in the end, it makes him just a hint slower than he'd normally be. As Hotaru comes rushing in, he finds out just how slow the heat and steam make him.
Blanka crouches down as Hotaru's foot comes inwards, the beastman's chest very close to the burning coals indeed. This is a tactical disadvantage as he tries to ball up and go straight up, because he finds himself staring at his chest hair - which has just caught on fire. He howls out in surprise, but tries to complete the move, to spring upwards - which brushes his bright orange hair along the bright orange coals. As he goes up, he's on fire on his chest and his head, and awkwardly connects with Hotaru's foot on the top of his head and goes straight back down. His head thumps on the steel crossbeam quite well, and it's only luck that keeps him from sitting on the coals themselves. He quickly gets to his feet, trying to recover and recoup, patting at his head and rubbing his chest at the same time. Just don't... ask him to chew gum, too.
Candy takes precious little time to really respond to Hotaru, except when addressed herself. "Yeah. Pleasure in this heat. I'm really enjoying it." It's laced with false sarcasm. Something she has not ever had the effort, or programming, to do before. It is .. a reverse logic circuit. Truly interesting stuff!
"But I'd be happy to in any other circumstance." She adds, before moving towards Hotaru.. and then watching as she brings a heel towards Blanka's head. She claps. Especially as Blanka crouches down and then SETS HIMSELF ABLAZE. The woman stares impassively, shaking her head, as he connects with the foot and goes straight down.
His head hits, and Candy shakes her head. "Wow. He certainly took a beating there." She notes, "Maybe you're a killer." She points to Hotaru, before her walk becomes a sudden eruption of movement, Candy kicking off the ground, body twisting in movement, a leg whipping around, towards Hotaru, as she tries to strike her, the spinning strike.. only one of her few possible attempts so early.
COMBATSYS: Candy successfully hits Hotaru with Lay Spin.
- Power hit! -
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Blanka 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/------=|
Descending out of her steep descent, Hotaru can't really discern exactly what Blanka just went through. All she knows is that her foot connected with the top of his head like she had intended, but that he also seemed to take an unpleasant fall afterward back into the beam. Her own landing is really foremost on her mind. The beam itself is too narrow to really guarentee a sure footing...
And so, in order to prevent a mis-step, the girl brings her foot down deliberately in the coals, if but for an instant, hissing at the pain of heat that gets through her not terribly rugged footwear before she pulls it back up and balances on the beam proper, glancing over to Blanka to check on him quickly.
"This is even worse than I imagined it," she muses, trying to keep Candy in her focus as well, knowing that as the match's Chaos Agent, she could go for either of them at any moment. She gives the other girl a bit of a pout, however, at the accusation, "Huh? No way, I'm not a kill-" Erk, no time to talk, Candy is leaping into a spinning attack, taking to the air like a ballerina - only a lot more painful.
Trying to side step the unusual girl, Hotaru's foot comes down in the coals instead of on the beam as she had intended. Eyes widen a bit as she starts to pull her foot back out, but the mistake costs her the opportunity to defend herself at all and Candy's foot collides solidly with the fragile fighter's sternum, knocking her cleanly off her feet into an unpleasant roll through the coals.
The girl comes back up quickly, scrambling to a crouch on one of the metal crossbeams that lines her up perfectly with Blanka. "Good hit, Candy." she murmurs softly. The new girl can hit hard, that much she now knows for certain! There's a split moment of hesitation, a desire to make sure that he's okay before she charges, but she knows he wouldn't want her holding back - especially not so early into the fight. And thus it is the girl sprints forward, aiming to turn the large fighter into an impromptu step ladder, stomping up and over him with a series of rapid kicks before leaping down to land somewhere behind him. "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Blanka blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Blanka 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/------=|
"She not killer!" Blanka's own vehement statement on the fact comes out at almost the same time that Hotaru's does, amusingly enough - the overprotective beastman a bit tense and slightly rattled. Somewhere, some SNF announcers are probably laying odds about this fight ending up like the one that Hotaru and Blanka had with Eiji involved - but they shouldn't worry. Yet.
unable to capitalize on Candy's attack of Hotaru, he merely has to wait for the girl to close the distance. Luckily, she does so more than eagerly, trying to run up him with stomp after stomp. As the gentle giant is climbed and stomped 'pon, Blanka's forearms move to guard and protect himself, blunting the blow. Gold eyes narrow, and then he moves!
It's a simple move, really. As Hotaru tries to flip away from Blanka, one of the green giant paws comes out, and he tries to latch his hand around her ankle. If he can, he'll grab and throw her towards one of the walls - he /could/ have tried to chuck her onto the coals, but that's not his style - no, no, he'll get her drenched first, at which point the coals should not burn for a second or two.
Watching as Hotaru is knocked straight off her feet, Candy lands on the same hot coals, but isn't at all bothered. There's a hiss of smoke, but Candy does not seem too effected. Especially as Hotaru rolls through the coals. "Of course.. you ain't the only one who can hit hard." She adds, tilting her head a bit. The bending sound is .. muffled. The metal shall not be heard for now.
It's as Hotaru charges towards Blanka that things change a bit.
"She is not? Noted." Candy adds, shrugging. "Guess I'm wrong." Yet it's as Blanka moves to grab the ankle and chuck her on the walls, Candy moves behind Blanka. But she does not move .. too close.
"Ha... AAAAAAH!" The already bending air, due to the steam and smoke, is bent oddly. The light itself, fiery light turning it a red color, erupts from behind Blanka.. and eruption of white bend light, turned red from reflecting flames, attempting to thrust itself straight into Blanka.
"Lets see.. what you can do then!"
Thankfully, it won't knock him TOO much around.
Unfortunately, Candy never did care about Blanka's health. Or anyone elses.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Blanka's Medium Throw.
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Blanka 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/-------|
Stomp, stomp, sto-, er, no, Blanka's large paws manage to intersect each of the swift kicks, leaving him much better off than he would've been had the hard-kicking girl managed to actually connect with her attack cleanly. She attempts to spring to safety all the same, hoping to use his shoulders as her launchpads, but the jungle-raised fighter has another idea. Maybe he had to deal with too many little monkeys trying to climb on him in the jungles of Brazil because he seems to know exactly what to do about the smaller girl scrambling over him with that swift reach for her ankle.
His hand gets a tight grip, making it easy for him to stop Hotaru's ascent and whip her toward the opposing wall. But the girl is sometimes at her best when in the air, and this moment proves to be one of those. Spinning around with a certain amount of grace and obvious control, the young fighter impacts the wall feet first, landing in a three-point crouch, one hand touching the heated wall for just a necessary moment as water splashes over her legs and arms.
The speed of the impact leaves a vacuum in her path, causing a small cloud of burning smoke to billow up from the coals around the teenaged fighter. She's there for only an instant before she pushes right back off into the opposite direction, flying through the smoke on a collision course for Blanka, or, rather, somewhere on the beam in front of him. She quickly executes a pair of windmilling palm strikes, attempting to draw his guard high, before landing...
The real attack is what comes next; a single, solid one handed palm strike with her right hand, aiming for his torso, coordinating every muscle in her body for that final strike after having hopefully shifted his defensive attentions elsewhere. "HAAH!" Her left hand slams out in the opposite direction, providing perhaps crucial counter balance to keep her from simply tumbling into him with so much forward momentum!
COMBATSYS: Blanka endures Candy's Critical Shoot.
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Blanka 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Blanka interrupts Soushou Shin from Hotaru with Wild Fang.
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Blanka 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/------=|
For the record, contrary to what some think - Blanka is not a killer, either! He is a giant monstrous beastie, but still not really one to do horrible things for no good reason. Some good reasons like 'people trying to beat him up' or 'trying to knock him into red-hot coals' are acceptable though! As he recovers, he feels the buildup of energy behind him, the Chaos Agent taking her place in preperation for attack. Blanka could move to intercept, but the fighter he's supposed to /really/ battle is still standing, and actually repositioning for a speedy attack. What's a jungle man to do?! In the immortal words of Dan 'The Man' Hibiki...
'Go for broke, Jungle Buddy!!'
Blanka spreads his arms wide, and focuses his entire attention on Hotaru as she comes in. The flames that Candy urges on hits his back, knocking him forwards in something akin to a fall - a fall that catches him /just/ as Hotaru closes with her zoomy palmstrikes. As that windmilling strike comes in, the momentum of Blanka's back-hit sends him /over/ the girl, one giant hand catching her ponytails and using them to arrest his momentum. He comes down behind her, and his arms go about her biceps, trapping her in his grip. His jaw opens wide, and there is a fierce (careful) awm-nomming, using pressure to try to sap her will to fight, to knock her out. He won't be able to hold it forever, but it's certainly long enough to give her something to think about!!
As Hotaru strikes, Candy moves to assault Blanka.
The Beastman seems to be a strong one. He moves into her assault, and the machine can only speculate. "Odd." She notes, before Blanka moves to .. bite Hotaru. How effective! How simple! How .. crude. This is noted especially, as Candy ignores Blanka for the moment, and moves onto Hotaru, who is being AWM NAWN NAWMED.
"That doesn't look too comfortable." She notes to Hotaru, "So why do you put yourself into such positions?" As Blanka holds her there though, Candy aims to .. help Hotaru. It's not really helping her. "So let me get you out of there."
The barrier around Candy intensifies for a moment, before spreading outwards.. focused on where Hotaru is.
Blanka may have to learn about the redefinition of FAST FOOD, because the barrier acts like a hammer of light, the woman thrusting her hands forwards.. and light creating like a piston to knock Hotaru .. INTO THE COAL.
She doesn't see why they dislike it -Oh right. Nerves.
Oh well!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Candy's Counter Shot!
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Blanka 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/-----==|
Her palm strikes connect, but it seems that Blanka has something else in mind than just getting plowed over by the Kenpo artist. As she coils up for that brief moment, getting ready to unleash her finishing palm strike, Blanka is no longer in the path of her intended attack. In fact, she isn't even entirely sure where he's gone and she's far too committed at this point to change course anyway. It all starts to make a bit more sense the moment his hands clamp down on her pig-tails and her forward momentum comes to a jarring stop - the surprise provoking a yelp, her composure fractured, her arms flailing for a desperate moment.
But he's got her securely the moment his hands seize her biceps, locking her place, her back to her opponent. The girl starts to look up, both wondering and dreading what could possibly be in store for her now that the larger fighter has a tight enough grip to keep her from going anywhere only to stare at a wide, opening mouth lined with teeth. For one moment she marvels at just how big Blanka /can/ open his mouth. In the next moment she realizes his mouth is descending onto her as the green beast applies his exper skills in applying pressure with his jaws, pinching nerves and mucles and putting strain on her collarbone to boot.
She starts to struggle, feet kicking, arms wriggling a little, eyes closed through the ordeal. When she watches the footage later, it will probably seem pretty funny to her then, but right now she just wants /out/! Her eyes squint open between awmns just long enough to see Candy sending a pulse of concusive force her way in the form of powerful energy manipulation.
Yikes! The impulse is just the catalyst the girl needs to break free at last just before Candy would have connected with her attack, using the opportunity to slip down and to the side, a small, angled pain of dark azure chi left in her wake as if having provided an instant of defense against the incoming attack, "I get to improve," she answers the Chaos Agent's question about why she ends up in these all together punishing situations, "And make new friends with interests similar to mine," she continues, ducking down into a low crouch, standing in the coals but ignoring the burning sensation in her feet or the smoke risking off her smoldering footwear as an impressive amount of cerulean hued chi builds up around her.
And then she attacks. Going for Blanka with the most powerful technique she's got to her name. "Tenshou...!" Launching into a devestatingly strong, chi infused flip kick, the teen fighter attempts to heft Blanka into the air from the force of impact. If she proves successful, she'll pull him right back out of the air on her way down, landing along one of the beams, her hands already pressed against his huge, muscular chest. "Ranki!" Gritting her teeth, a sphere of that same blue chi builds up immensely around her before the girl allows all of it to collapse through her, down her arms, and into her opponent and friend for this bout with a an attempt at potentially finishing combination!
COMBATSYS: Blanka fails to interrupt Ten-shou Ranki EX from Hotaru with Direct Lightning.
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Blanka 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Hotaru
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Candy 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Blanka can no longer fight.
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Candy 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Hotaru
She escaped! Could Blanka have held on a bit longer, he perhaps could have wrassled the young oman into submission, but no - no she escaped, and now he has to prepare for what she has left. With the rather brutal conditions, Blanka's in no shape to actually endure the incoming attack, a fact he knows with very real certainty. However, he can still throw himself into the fight - and so he does. As Hotaru leaps back into the fray, he looks for his moment - knowing that getting there will be painful in many many ways.
Kicked, he's chucked up into the air, his body twisting this way and that in an attempt to guide himself down. Dizzied, it's not perfect, but as his back hits the steel, he realizes he's in the position he needs to be. Looking up at Hotaru, gold eyes, dazed and hurt open wide - and that fangy grin becomes a bit more feral. Warning sights for the girl, to be certain - as well as the sudden flash of blue and white electcity that sparks along his frame.
Frame.
He's on a steel crossbeam, isn't he?
The electricity passes /through/ the beam, down into the coals, causing them to shoot up all the more powerful - and leaving Blanka defenseless for the last sphere of chi that Hotaru slams into his chest. His eyes go wide, and then his head thumps back against the metal, obviously almost unconcious. He's weakly suffering through the last of the attack, then makes a dramatic 'flop' with his hand, making sure it doesn't land in the coals. It's enough to get the referee to call the match, to get Hotaru and Candy and himself outside of the hot room - and really, he needs that - right now, he's not sure how deeply he can breathe. Ow.
Kneeling over Blanka, Hotaru doesn't really hope to keep him pinned down so much as simply just position herself to deliver the highest concentration of concussive chi she can muster before he's on the move again. And, positioned as she is, she sees that look on his face. That feral shift, those fangs sticking out just a little... and she realizes that such full bodied contact with the man who can cover himself in electricity might /not/ be the smartest course of action...
She lucks out, the environment turning against Blanka more than it has her, a flare of fire disrupting his defenses at a crucial moment. The blastwave shoots out from ground zero, blowing out the fires around them as Hotaru exhales softly, only to cough a couple of times herself, the combination of smoke, coal dust, and suffocating humidity combining to leave her feeling utterly miserable.
Blanka's hand flops back down as Hotaru starts to push herself back to standing wobbly, summoning what remaining strength she has. Studying her friend's condition, she drops back down to her knees, however, hand resting on his chest, "Blanka? Let's get out of here. Next time we fight - no coals." she musters a weary grin, wiping her arm across her damp forehead before pushing back up to standing as the staff rush in to help the poor, abused fighters out of the chamber.
She glances at Candy as she goes, pondering at the unusual girl, but offering her a smile as well, "Thank you for participating, Candy. I'm sure we'll meet again if you have decided to make showing up to these things a regular habit. Maybe you'll come to learn more about why some of us do it..." Dusting herself off, she limps out of the room, wiping... dampness off of her shoulders with a sudden grimmace as she realizes what it is. "...ew!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
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Candy 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Hotaru
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has left the fight here.
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Candy 0/-------/-----==|
Log created on 21:36:20 11/09/2008 by Blanka, and last modified on 12:31:20 11/10/2008.