Description: If you are a teenage (maybe) ninja (certainly) with a chip on your shoulder after getting shown up on international TV, what are you going to do? You're going to pick some random schlub and beat the snot out of him until you feel better. As you can see, that plan worked out really well too.
It's winter in Southtown and it is cold as all get out. In the North Western forest all is quiet and nothing around. Not even Justice Students want to be out in the forest in this weather. Only the mad would be out here in freezing weather.
Enter the traceur/capoeirista Aranha. His sanity levels are debatable which is probably why he's out in the elements training. His training consisted of leaping from branch to branch, tree to tree as he moves about the forest refusing to travel the road oft tread upon or the road less traveled for that matter. The most impressive part is that he still manages to pull it off without making a sound. Ninja he is not but he still has his experience as a Second Story man to call upon.
Out-sassed?! Nagase wouldn't admit it even under torture, but her recent battle against Alan in SNF has left her in a very bad mood. On the one hand, she won... of course, in the egotistical ninja's eyes, THAT outcome was never in doubt. But in the war of zings? Let's just say she's not going to show up on the deck of any aircraft carriers with a big banner reading "SASSIN' ACCOMPLISHED" behind her. And she takes being out-sassed about as well as you'd expect, which is to say: not at all.
Even Chae Lim showed her up! ...once. ONCE.
This cannot stand.
The nice thing about her job, though, is that the Iga ninja can go out and pick on people at random for no forseeable reason and still be earning a paycheck. And Nagase's ability to keep tabs on fighters' locations in Southtown is second to none... or at least, second to a very few. Earlier this fine cold day she was lounging in her 'office' -- one of the many server rooms in Geese Tower -- sipping hot cocoa and letting her fingers run over the keyboard, checking websites, webcams, and other web stuff to find a nice victim. When one of her taps into the traffic cameras espies Aranha heading toward Justice High, the fox-haired girl's face spreads into a wide grin. Paydirt!
Cut to Aranha's expert leaping through the trees when, of all things, his cell phone makes the sound of an incoming text message. Should he stop to check it, there's a note from UNKNOWN SENDER reading the following:
"Duck XD"
The text message is timed to coincide with the fact that Nagase, hiding on a tree branch not that far away, just flung a shuriken at him.
COMBATSYS: Nagase has started a fight here.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
COMBATSYS: Nagase successfully hits Aranha with Thrown Object.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha muscles himself up on onto a branch the moment the text comes. He looks down and finds something leaving his lips in an almost reflexive, "D'fuck!?" Unfortunately his body's reflexes aren't quite as quick.
The traceur doesn't quite try to duck as leap out of the trees but his movement is too late and he finds himself catching a shuriken to the side. The thrown object sends him off his planned path and instead of finding temperorary safety in another tree, he finds himself plummeting towards the ground.
Upon impact, Aranha's parkour comes to the fore and drops into a roll preventing his miscalculation from becoming tragic.
Unfortunately because of his fall and recovery. He doesn't really have a chance to do anything but ask questions. "What the hell is it with ninja? Can't they say 'hi' like every body else?"
COMBATSYS: Aranha takes no action.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
Of course not. That's why they're ninja.
"Hey, no griping!" comes Nagase's voice from up in the branches, and if Aranha looks up he can see her hanging upside down by her knees from a nearby branch, her clothes somehow staying miraculously in place despite the pull of gravity. When and if she finds the capoeirista's gaze on her, the Iga scion waves her fingers and unhooks her knees, dropping toward the ground but, much as Aranha did, inverting herself before she falls and landing in a crouch in a spray of snow. Standing up, she dusts herself off and waves a finger in admonition. "After all, I gave you plenty of warning."
What does it say about Nagase that she considers a text message 'plenty of warning' for an unprovoked shuriken attack?
The Syndicate ninja walks toward Aranha nonchalantly, but slowly, shrugging her shoulders in a what-can-you-do? sort of gesture. Yes, she's here to beat him up because she's in a nasty mood, but no reason to let HIM know that. "Not my fault you suck!" Coming to a stop, she sighs and brings a hand to her head. "And people've said such nice things about your skills, too!" She lets a sardonic, knowing smile filter onto her face at that last. Whether she knows something, or is merely implying she knows something, is a mystery. "Too bad, so sad."
COMBATSYS: Nagase takes no action.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aranha
And Aranha shrugs when she goes on about his skills or lack there of. As the powder from both of their landings settle on to the ground, Aranha slowly approaches. He let's his lips curl into a smile that's a bit hard to read. But his voice seems to say everything that his smile doesn't with enough sarcasm to seem to be holding a promise that underestimating him will be a big mistake. "I'm so sorry to have disappointed you. Will you forgive me?"
And then all of a sudden, his body is in motion tilting himself into a handstand as he whirls around with legs wide open to smack the ninja in the face with his boots.
COMBATSYS: Nagase interrupts Inverted Tornado from Aranha with Nagase Spiral.
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Nagase 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Aranha
Spinning, eh? Well, two can play at that game, Nagase decides, and as Aranha comes at her feet a'flying she steels herself, despite the cold and the snow, to weather the proverbial storm of the Inverted Tornado. The first kick actually slams into her shoulder, perhaps because she didn't really move out of the way... the Iga ninja's body is carried along in the momentum of the first blow, spinning her around, but she's ALSO getting a grip on Aranha's exposed waist as she moves. The second kick scythes through the air where her head was just as Nagase plants her feet just long enough to leap upwards, carrying Aranha with her, the pair still spinning.
Usually, in midair Nagase has to flip her victim head-down. Aranha, however, is ALREADY head-down... so the fox-haired fighter simply twists and sends both of them toward the frosty ground at speed, her trademark Spiral ending up more like a certain Russian's trademark bodyslam, in the long run.
Bouncing away from the impact, Nagase stands and smirks at Aranha, tapping a finger at her amber-colored shades. Nope... his readings are still good. Could be the weather? Or... maybe Nagase herself is stronger? Either way... "Wow. If you really want my forgiveness, you could try not being disappointing."
Of all the responses he could've predicted, he wouldn't have expected that since his Inverted Tornado was one of his faster moves in his arsenal. To simply be gripped up? He just wasn't prepared for it.
It takes a bit of time but eventually he gets back to his feet dancing to her in a slow, wobbily ginga. It looks almost punch drunk but then he steps forward and performs a side kick to her body before dropping back into his almost stumbling dance.
However Aranha refrains from talking trash. He tries to keep himself aware trying to make sure that he doesn't allow himself to get desperate. In each of those scenarios, he finds himself making his big mistakes. And with all ninja mistakes aren't a luxury he can afford.
COMBATSYS: Nagase dodges Aranha's Medium Kick.
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Nagase 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Aranha
"Oh, so close!" Nagase singsongs, nimbly ducking around the side kick and lightly hopping off to the side. Of course, it really WAS close; arrogant as she is, Nagase makes it sound easy but in fact mere centimeters were the only real difference between taunting, laughing Nagase and coughing, ouching Nagase. Her smile is genuine, though. Like all arrogant bastards -- and there are more than a few of those, among ninja -- nothing makes the fox-haired fighter happier than the feeling that she's in total control of the situation... that the dance the capoeira fighter is doing, he's doing to her tune. It's almost enough to make her forget about that fight with Alan.
Almost.
"I can tell you're having trouble with this stuff, so let me remind you of some of the basics," Nagase says cheerily, ducking forward and adopting a highly exaggerated, kung fu-style pose with one leg raised, almost like a crane stance. "This is the kicking leg. I can see you've got that part. What you've gotta master is the part where you stick it in the other guy's... face!" And with that she ducks forward, pivots, and tries to give Aranha a boot right in the jaw, much as he tried to do to her earlier.
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Light Kick from Nagase with Bad Beat.
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Nagase 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Aranha
Just as the foot is about to connect with his face, Aranha tilts almost lethargically, letting the foot connect with his shoulder as he weaves and tilts forward leaning his head forward before his head connects to her stomach and with a sudden whip of his head upwards to catch her chin with the head whip upwards before dropping down low to catch her legs and then pull them from under him.
If it wasn't for the fact that he wants to keep silent in the face of his opponent, he'd say, 'Nem tudo que reluz é ouro. Nem tudo que balança cai.' A capoeira song that for all intents and purposes translates to 'Not everything that shines is gold, and not everything that stumbles falls.'
It's perhaps because he realizes that fact that he stays silent.
She'd LIKE to say: just as planned, haha! I have goaded you into attacking! Perhaps for the well-being of all involved, however, Nagase does not reveal that Aranha just played her trap card in a loud and obnoxious voice. The truth is that she expected him to get mad and whiff, which the lingering pain in her abdomen proves he did NOT do; the gold and black-wearing ninja exhales sharply at the blow and stumble-fall backwards as her legs are cut out from under her. There's a cracking sound as her protector-clad right hand slams into a nearby tree trunk for support, the sudden heavy weight cracking the frost-brittled bark.
Her other hand comes up, her fingers drifting under her somewhat runny nose thanks to the cold, but the fox-haired Iga ninja is determined to keep things in control, here... *her* control. "Not bad, not bad... you kinda confused your foot for your head, there, but it's progress!" That stung just a little bit, Nagase considers, and thus she keeps her distance for now. Pressing a finger to the side of her amber-colored shades, the insides pop up the display HUD that only she can see, readouts on Aranha's condition and known fight data scrolling by in her cybernetic sight. "Let's see what else you got."
COMBATSYS: Nagase focuses on her next action.
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Nagase 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha is not stupid. He knows that this situation is a trap as well. But he finds that he has the choice of either riding the rhythm created by landing the attack even if that situation was also trap as well or he can back off because he knows it's trap.
The capoeirista chooses to go forward into the trap anyway. If he doesn't try to keep up the momentum, he knows he might not get another chance and so he slides forward as he swings an elbow across her face as he attempts to gain enough position to drop low and forward and strike her in the face with a heel that looks almost like a scorpion's tail striking.
COMBATSYS: Nagase endures Aranha's Short Kick!
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Nagase 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Aranha
Is is a trap? The initial contact of Aranha's foot certainly suggests it isn't, because Nagase has a look of total surprise on her face, perhaps even panic, as the heel comes toward her. She even gives out a little "Wh--" right before the heel slams into her jaw. She's hoping that Aranha, in his desire to really land that quick attack on her and foil her plans, isn't watching her right hand, held backward and slightly behind her body.
She's entirely through the final kujikiri finger sign right as his blow connects. The look of pain on her face contorts into a really predatory grin. Her voice is a little strained, but she does say: "...gotcha."
Then the world explodes into fire.
Quite literally, actually. Chi flame bursts outwards from where Nagase's body just *was* in concentric waves of heat and force, as if she were a bomb that Aranha's kick had just set off. Presumably, SOMEWHERE in that sea of flame is Nagase's actual body... but finding out where she IS in the lingering tongues of fire is going to be a challenge and a half.
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Nagase's Stealth.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha sees his foot land and he sees that she isn't quite moving away but the awkward angle of his kick doesn't quite give the view point needed to see the hand signs. But what does tip him away is the 'Gotcha.'
First thought inside the capoeirista's head? He's actually quite helpful in voicing it. "Oh heeeeell naw!" And then he's gone in the figurative sense as he launches himself away in a relatively desperate looking back flip which puts himself out of the flame's reach. But once he's out of the way. He seems much more poised as he bounds from tree to tree taking to the air where he positions himself right above Nagase's hellish flames, hugs onto the tree, and stomps hard upon a large branch, sending it crashing down upon her. Kicking into the flame ranks up there in bad ideas. Almost as bad an idea as telling Rugal to kiss his ass.
COMBATSYS: Nagase dodges Aranha's Large Thrown Object.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Aranha
There's a crackle as the branch drops into the fiery ground, laying still. It certainly didn't hit anything. And if Nagase IS still here... she's down in that fire somewhere. Obviously she doesn't have the energy to keep up a massive blaze, but the wintery ground is now bare and dark brown, cleared of snow and charred by the previous attack. Heat shimmer is absurd, but looking down into the fire one can see flashes of gold and black, or the triple-toned, fox-fur colors of Nagase's hair. "Can't get anywhere in life if you can't take the heat," the ninja's voice shouts out, seemingly coming from multiple directions at once.
Interestingly, a lick of the flames that lasts suddenly bursts with renewed life, and starts... well, CHASING Aranha, bouncing like a Slinky as it hops across the ground and UP the tree. "Guess if I can't put the food in the frying pan, I bring the frying pan to the food!"
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Nagase's Unrelenting Fire.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Aranha
And as the flames climb the tree Aranha waits, and just as the fire is about to singe his boots, Aranha kicks off of it in a flip before kicking off the next tree and coming back down to snow covered earth in a roll to distribute his weight evenly.
After that he pops up to a standing position and cartwheels right for the ninja in a bout of what on the surface would look like insanity.
COMBATSYS: Nagase blocks Aranha's Light Kick.
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Nagase 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Aranha
There's a surprising *CLANG* noise as Aranha's boot slams into Nagase's protector-clad forearm, most of the blow's weight deflected, though it still has a bit of bruising impact. She hadn't expected the flame followup to connect, but it did flush her quarry. She doesn't think Aranha is inside; quite the contrary, he's proved interestingly challenging the last few passes. "There you are," the ninja says brightly. "I figured you'd gotten scared and ran home. Not that I'd blame you, really..." She shrugs, trailing off...
And then effectively tries to backflip over her opponent.
It's risky, this much is clear. But if Nagase can pull this off without getting shot down, she lands on Aranha's shoulders with both hands down, slams her feet onto the ground behind him, and *twists*. Extremely painfully. And if she can get that much off, she slips one hand down and, two fingers extended, jabs a very tender nerve point on the spinal cord that's going to REALLY make the pain linger...
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Quick Throw from Nagase with Malicia EX.
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Nagase 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha knew that he was in for some trouble the moment she backflipped over him. He also knew that he was going to be just a tad too slow to move out of the way and so he doesn't. On the other hand, he also knew that any of the other alternatives he had were horrible at best so he had to trust his guts in this instance.
His instinct keeps his plans and his body from falling apart at the hands of the ninja. As Nagase gets her hands on him he twists with a feint of a glowing elbow in one direction. He has no idea if she fell for the feint or not but either way that twisting motion of the feint had other purposes, it twisted him out of the grip before she could really do her damage and it also set him up so that when the real chi enhanced elbow came along, he get more power out of it as he slammed it right into the ninja's jaw.
This has really ruined her day. At the beginning Nagase had him dancing on strings. Now the strings are ropes, and Nagase herself is on them. The sudden ferocious combination slams her back-first into a tree, which is painful in and of itself. The fact that it also means she's had a lot of the fight knocked out of her isn't helping, either; she decides not to attack for now, but to stay right where she is and collect herself. Of course, that doesn't mean the trash talk can stop even for five seconds. After all, now's when it's *really* needed, all things considered. "That it?" the ninja taunts, rubbing a hand across her mouth. "Man, you got all glowy and I was really worried for a second there..."
COMBATSYS: Nagase gains composure.
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Nagase 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Aranha
Aranha smiles at the continual trash talk. And while normally he'd maintain his silence, he figures that for once he'll respond to the trash talk. "No ounce of bravado is going to hide the fact that you're hurting. I know it, you know it. So how is this gonna to go down?"
Aranha on the other hand decides not to stand around. His back is in pain and the nerves that Nagase actually managed to get to feel as though they are going to flare up worse and letting her buy some time to recover does not appeal to him.
With a slow sway he moves back in and swings a roundhouse to her side before twisting around to send a roundhouse to the head from the other direction.
COMBATSYS: Nagase counters Change-Up Kick from Aranha with Hyperdrive Nagase Spiral.
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Nagase 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Aranha
The first roundhouse swings harmlessly past, Nagase tilting her entire body just a bit to the right to let it go by. The second, however, has a much nastier fate in store for it: Aranha's foot is suddenly caught in Nagase's outstretched palm, held fast. What the Spider can't see, of course, is the firing of neurons and the sudden 'replaying' of reflexes. She's a Syndicate employee, after all... she's seen Geese Howard fight. And while she can't exactly do this ALL the time, the girl is basically a living fight computer... and unfortunately, Aranha's about to be subjected to an extremely nasty instant replay.
"You tell me!" the ninja chirps in response, shoving forward as she lets go of Aranha's foot before grabbing him around the waist with both arms and *hauling* backwards, the force of it sending both her and her opponent through the air in a low arc, both twisting... a variation on the previous rolling izuna suplex that Nagase performed, one that is going to hurt a hell of a lot more once Nagase's leap hits the ground, the girl's entire surprising weight landing atop Aranha head first.
Once again she bounces away, landing in a crouch a few feet away. It takes her a second to stand up; she takes a deep breath or two and brushes herself off. The lenses of her amber glasses flicker and dim a bit as the Battle Disc System winds down. "But I think it's gonna go down hard, between you and me."
Aranha had never planned for the possibility of that happening. On the other hand Aranha isn't quite a living fight computer. He looks at the possibilities based on environment and his more organic perceptions of the way his opponents torso rises and fall as they breathe. The way they move, the length of their limbs.
But based on the information could read off of his ninja opponent, he didn't think that would happen. But that came from not knowing his opponent well enough.
Aranha pulls himself from the ground after so brutal a slam and then follow-up stomp. Still somewhat shaky he shrugs as he struggles to regain his own bearings and then he lashes out with a roundhouse kick before quickly following it up with a spinning back heel which instead of striking hooks around to the back of her neck and then he uses the momentum of the hooking kick to pull the ninja face first to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Nagase with Face Down.
- Power hit! -
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Nagase 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Aranha
He hit her so hard she explodes.
No, really. The first kick staggers Nagase with its ferocity, and truth be told that in and of itself is probably enough to sap the fight out of her right there. But with the day getting worse and worse, the Iga ninja is determined to salvage some of it as best she can. She might have to take getting beat lying down... but no way in hell if she going to stick around to answer uncomfortable questions or get smacktalk back at her. The kawarimi isn't her favorite trick -- and she's not that good at it -- but in this instance she MIGHT just be able to use it to her advantage. She knows what's coming next is inescapable, and tries her damndest to make this stick.
It almost doesn't. Aranha's second kick is unpredictable, and more to the point it hits harder than she expected. Nagase ALMOST doesn't make this work. But when her body hits the ground, she quite literally explodes into a burst of erupting flame, a pillar of fire shooting upward. Certainly Aranha should have plenty of time to get out of the way... but if he doesn't, well... a nice parting shot on Nagase's part for him.
When the smoke clears, she's long gone.
COMBATSYS: Nagase can no longer fight.
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Aranha 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Aranha slows Unrelenting Fire from Nagase with Web Shot.
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Aranha 0/-------/----===|
Aranha's foot came down with such force and authority, he didn't have a chance to even try to get away. So he's forced to think fast. His hand glows with blue energy as he whips his hand across his body sending a blue chi web right at the pillar of fire, in a last ditch effort to keep himself from going up in flames.
His efforts are almost successful with the blue chi web holding back the fire for a moment before it bursts through sending the capoeirista on his back.
When he rises to his feet he has no way of knowing if she's around or not but he sings anyway as his own way of smack talking her back if only indirectly.
"Cai cai cai cai
Capoeira balança mas não cai"
*Translation: Fall, fall, fall, fall. Capoeira stumbles, but doesn't fall.
Log created on 13:56:18 01/16/2009 by Nagase, and last modified on 10:11:05 02/17/2009.