Description: Brett Neuer and May Lee engage in a sanctioned Neo League fight in a Metro City gymnasium! A battle for supremacy on skates and sneakers.
The Neo League has a certain power to bring people together. Whether it's viewers grouping up to watch taped and televised matches or it's the fighters themselves, meeting in the middle of the proverbial ring for the sake of the League's fans, the organization does a mighty fine job of proving the uniting power of sanctioned violence.
Today, before a modest group of live fans and a couple of cameras, May Lee(, Champion of Justice) and Brett Neuer are two such combatants, standing in the middle of a very large, red safety mat. The idea was to put together a match between young competitors as part of a broadcast of several to be aired in the near future, one part benefit and one part inspiration. Given the current state of Southtown, of course, it is a Metro City gymnasium that the event is taking place within.
The young Korean heroine, whose misgivings about being away from the relief efforts in Southtown are largely being assuaged by the notion of contributing positively in another manner is adjusting her navy blue gloves with a hint of nervousness as her unfamiliar opponent, the people, and the cameras are all looked upon at varying times. She at least manages to give a little smile and wave to the cameras at one point.
It's no surprise that the crowd is fairly small. The Neo League was fairly stunted thanks to the siege in Southtown, that trapped many of it's major competitors with concerns other than fighting for the league. Brett, thankfully, didn't get terribly involved in things there, and only got trapped in the city near the tail end of things. He hadn't even made much of a mark in the league yet when that happened.
So now that the city is open (if not totally recovered in any real sense), and a new league season to come, what better time than to renew his mission: to take on the world fighting circuit in order to raise the profile of Ice Hockey outside of North America and Northern and Eastern Europe?
Unfortunately, at the moment, he doesn't quite look like someone ready for the world stage. Despite having a few fights for the League under his belt already, he seems a bit nervous, turned away from where May Lee is standing. A bit mousy, he sighs, leaning on his stick as he looks between the crowd, and the cameras, he tries to gain his nerves again. "C'mon, Brett....you've done this before," he whispers to himself. "Being stuck in that city wasn't too bad...time to get back into things...just like a big game, just focus....do your job...."
Announcements are made, complete with a faint blush from May Lee at having her weight broadcasted across the 'arena', and then a bell is rung. The Korean heroine steps into a loose, readied posture, fists readied before her and feet apart from one another for ease of motion, but no attack comes just yet.
Instead, she leans towards Brett a little to call out, "Are you alright? Do--we could take a break, if you want, maybe see if you're feeling more up to this in a few minutes?" with a little furrow of the brow.
COMBATSYS: MayLee has started a fight here.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|
With the action focused more between the two rather than specifically on any one of them, it can't catch his little pre-fight ritual completely, and with his back to May Lee, she can't really see it at all. Just some unintelligible whispers that the microphones manage to catch....
Right until he lifts his stick up and snaps it down onto the gym floor with a sudden crack. Spinning around on his skate wheels, his face is stone set beneath his helmet. "Ready," he insists, eyes narrowed as he kicks into a circle around Maylee with stick held at the read. Definitely different than he was before. Eying Maylee, he tries to get a bead on her, focus intense....and he tests the waters even more as a quick, sharp poke out with the butt of his stick comes, as if to test Maylee's reactions.
COMBATSYS: Brett has joined the fight here.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Brett
COMBATSYS: MayLee blocks Brett's Weapon Jab.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Brett
It's not a matter of /hearing/ anything so much as the oddness of not having her opponent facing her in the early moments of a fight; it's hard for May Lee /not/ to wonder if something is amiss, and so she's continuing on to ask, "You want a soda? We c--"
And then Brett turns, and before she knows it there's a stick jabbing towards her. She's quick to snap the edge of her right hand up to catch the blow and nudge it away from her, and she even grins broadly at seeing that her opponent is apparently okay.
"Good!" she chimes, cheerful in spite of her stinging wrist and hand, and with that she makes a move that might be all too familiar to the hockey player by grabbing for his shoulders to try yanking him down forcefully. Rather than pulling his jersey over his head or punching him in the back, however, she's doing this entirely to leave the back of his head exposed so that she can flip forward and slam her heels down atop it before bounding away.
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Brett with Crow's Wing.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Brett
Indeed, it's a familiar manuever. One brett unfortunately isn't quite so quick to stop before his jersey is...not pulled over his head? What? Sadly, just as he's about to stand up, he feels heels slam into the back of his head, the strike, and the following push off dropping him into the floor face first. "NGHHMphh....."
Stumbling back up to his wheels, Brett scowls and glares back into the direction of Maylee. Not willing to let things go this far out of his element, he pulls his stick back up, as if readying for a slap shot...despite not having anything in front of him to shoot. However, with a strike of his stick against the gym floor, he does it anyways. The result? A rising arc of cool blue energy slicing out in front of the hockey winger like a shark's fin, swimming straight toward Maylee on the hunt.
COMBATSYS: MayLee endures Brett's Shark Crest.
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MayLee 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Brett
Upon landing, May Lee bounces adroitly from foot to foot as she whirls 'round to face Brett. Momentarily, she leans forward and squints as if wondering whether he's alright or not, but the athlete's getting back up and skating away answers her questions. She thus grins and takes off towards him, intent on closing the distance.
By the time she catches sight of the shark's fin slicing along the ground towards her, it's a little late to do much of anything about it; it's too close to dodge, too low to block... she grits her teeth and just charges straight through instead, wincing in pain as she...
... goes flying due to the unexpectedly ferocious impact of the projectile. She's flipping kind of awkwardly through the air towards Brett, arms windmilling wildly as she seeks to try and get her balance. Thankfully, though, she /just/ manages to get some kind of control before running the risk of ending up in a tangle with the hockey player, and so she tries to thrust her feet into his back to push herself away into a roll when they have drawn near enough for contact to be potentially made.
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Brett with Surprise Air Finish.
- Power hit! -
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Brett
Well, that was...unexpected.
Brett noticed how he managed to send Maylee flying as she does thanks to the Shark Crest, the odd, flailing trajectory seemingly nothing but help to the charging hockey star. So when she manages to gain control, he tries to charge in straight and pick her out of the air before any more could be done. Unfortunately for him, Maylee ends up more in control than he realizes...and when she twist to thrust a kick into his back, the momentum sends the kid suddenly colliding into a wall in a rather...embarrassing way. "Nhhnngnmmphh..." Even his helmet doesn't quite help, a notable crack of plastic as he bounces off, barely held on his feet as he rolls back.
That's not the way he wanted to do things here. Teeth grit as he tries to block out the pain, focusing on making the kind of impact he wants. Turning around, face red and nose almost looking a bit twisted, he breaks into a dash on his skates...and flips over. Tripped? It seems that way, until his leg whips out, skate wheels coming down straight for the top of Maylee's head as he turns over upright with a strange sort of somersaulting kick.
COMBATSYS: Brett successfully hits MayLee with Falling Star EX.
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MayLee 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Brett
It's May Lee's turn to be driven face first into the mat, groaning as little helmeted and scarved birds surely must be fluttering around her head. A breeze wafts through the gymnasium after she's lain still for a few seconds, ruffling her hair gently and teasing the red scarf that's been pretty much completely concealed beneath the collar of her shirt into full visibility, though, and once it has been freed to flutter madly at its full length, she is roused into action.
She rolls forward to flip up to her feet with a broad smile, the whites of her teeth standing out starkly against the bruises forming on her cheeks and brow. "Good shot!" she calls out to the hockey star before taking off towards him with a trail of red behind her. Her offense is simple this time, just a feinting, abortive knee strike aimed towards the stomach followed by an uppercut aimed towards the chin.
COMBATSYS: Brett interrupts Strong Punch from MayLee with Hurricane Check.
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MayLee 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Brett
Getting his footing after the Falling Star, Brett gives a deep breath as he settles back into the usual ready stance. Stick held at the ready, he looks on as May Lee is laid out, seemingly just as dazed as he was before....before the sudden flip back up. Good thing he held off warilly before, otherwise he would have likely ran right into another attack face first.
And the odd look...gives Brett even more pause even when she charges straight at him. However, his confusion is allayed not a second too soon, when she draws back and tries to come in with the feint and strike. The feint doesn't quite have the effect hoped....as rather than shore up, the hockey player's first instinct is to attack, attack, attack. And attack he does, bringing his right elbow up, and swinging hard for Maylee's face, just as her fist clips at his chin. He reels, following through with the strike but seemingly turning away and out thanks to that uppercut.
That is, before he completes a full turn around and kicks off his skates into a full on shoulder charge straight into Maylee's chest, with aims of giving her the knockaround this time instead.
May Lee is taken for one hell of a ride across the mat, dazed as she is by the initial elbow strike. She pushes once or twice at Brett's shoulders to try peeling herself away, but it's for naught; her back is slammed into the wall with a loud *THUD* and a little bit of shuddering; a fine shower of debris even falls from the roof, to say nothing of the little pebbles sprinkling from the cracks spreading outwards from May Lee's back.
She's still, perhaps in vaguely unnerving fashion, beaming brightly though, seemingly cheerful despite the pains shooting along her back and radiating out to her limbs. With no more momentum to help keep the two of them together, she tries to disengage them with a body check of her own to create enough space for her hands to go swinging towards the hockey star's chest so that it is /he/ who is left reeling.
Should that be managed, she'll turn away swiftly to dart towards the wall that she was just slammed into so that her sneakers can be pressed to it. She'll run /upwards/ along it for a few steps before flipping off, drawing her knees up to her chest and hanging in the air seemingly motionless for a second, then finally exhaling as she drives herself back down, right foot pointed towards Brett's chest as she seeks to strike through him and land nearby.
An invisible web of fire chi will be drawn around the athlete at that point, only to be ignited in loud, bright, explosive fashion with the soft utterance of the word 'Bakusai' and the circular movement of her right arm around her body before her hand finally snaps in against her chest at a perfect diagonal angle.
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Brett with May Lee- The End!.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Brett
Now that was a good feel. That was a nice reverb as he gives that nice, vicious check straight into the wall, flattening May Lee like he would a defender on the boards. Grunting as he feels the reverb through his body, he pulls back, feeling the ceiling pebbles plink off his helmet.
And suddenly, he feels hands in his chest, pushing him back and in a slightly uncontrolled roll away from the wall. He gets his footing again...but only in time to see MayLee flying at him with that shooting kick straight into his chest. The strike is dead on...and yet he doesn't fall back, as if caught by something before he could drop from the impact. And then....BOOM!! That web explodes around him, sending him flying up into the air, and landing straight down on his face. The End indeed.
But sometimes, will is as important as skill, and it's that will that keeps his arms up, stick reaching up to try and snag onto Maylee. Arm, shirt, scarf, neck, whatever. Just something to hook onto, pull himself up...and them pull her in before he dives elbow first toward her face with a roar for a startling, sudden stop to both sets of momentum.
COMBATSYS: Brett can no longer fight.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: MayLee blocks Brett's Sir Stanley's Crush EX.
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MayLee 0/-------/-----==|
Oddly, May Lee's scarf doesn't seem to be at any particular risk for coming undone when it is hooked, but that doesn't stop her from being used as a means of support and drawn in. Before she can do or say anything about it, Brett's elbow has smashed into her face, resulting in a steady trickle of blood from her nose when he has pulled away.
She hangs in stunned, limp stillness for a second afterwards before getting her bearings back enough to push against the stick and slide herself free to fall into a crouch nearby. As quickly as she can /manage/, she scurries back to her feet to get her hands up before herself protectively, just in case there are signs of it happening again.
"I--I didn't expect that at all!" she manages to gasp as she takes a cautious step away, smile returning to her lips.
And Brett....well, he's still conscious, but his eyes are unfocused and breathing shallow enough that it's obvious he's a beaten man. "Guhh....huhhhh....huhhh...." comes the noisy breath, the hockey fighter staying where he is as the bell rings to sound out May Lee's victory. "And here is your winner, MAY LEE!!!!!!!"
May Lee's eyes get wide as soon as she realizes that Brett isn't actually going to hit her again, and in a flash she's trying to get her shoulder beneath his arm to support him as she chirps, "Are you okay? You were great, but I'm hoping I didn't--come on, let's just find you some place to sit down..."
Brett is slowly helped up to his feet, still woozy even as he manages to get his skates back under him. "Y-yeah...I'm...ughh...ok, maybe not, I think I'm seeing triple right now..." he says, trying to get his eyes to focus again as he's helped toward the seats along the farther way, crowd clapping for both of them and the show of sportsmanship as they filter out.
"You know, I've never actually seen anyone fight on rollerskates before - I tried to do it on a skateboard once, and it mostly worked, but Master Kim threw a branch in my path and I could't jump over it quickly enough so I just sort of fell, and that was the last time I tried to fight while on wheels," May Lee says as she helps Brett along and gets him seated in a newly vacant space. She leans down before him with a look of concern as she waves her hand quickly in front of his eyes.
Brett grunts as his feet shuffle, keeping himself moving before he finally manages to get dumped into a seat, head hanging back and stick finally falling out of his gloved hands to the side of the seat. "Nnn....thanks for...helping me up," he says, vision still refocusing as he gets his wits again. He sees the concerned hand waving in front of him. "Don't worry...I'm only seeing double right now," he says with a weak, somewhat embarrassed smile.
May Lee's hands go to her knees once Brett has confirmed his well-being, and with a bright smile she says, "Only one more to go, and you'll be okay! Maybe we'll get to do this again sometime?" Beat. "Or maybe you could teach me how to play hockey, since the last time I was anywhere near a hockey stick a building blew up next to me?" Another beat, and then with wide eyes she hastens to explain, "Because of /mortar/."
Brett gives a small chuckle, his head dropping back against the chair again, his helmet loose and nearly tilting off his head. Looking up, he reaches up to unfasten it completely, looking at the cracked thing. "Man...." Shaking his head, he looks up...and brightens instantly, shooting up to his feet. "You mean i-whaoaaa..." He regrets it, though, head swimming and forced to drop down to his seat again. "Uhh....I'd..nn....sure, teach you hockey," he says hastily, his meekness not completely explained away by his swimming head. "...wait...mortar?"
"There was a lot of shelling that day," May Lee murmurs, cheerfulness flagging briefly. She'd just kind of found a hockey stick while trying to sort through the rubble of a badly hit neighborhood, and no sooner had a can been slapshotted did a previously intact house explode due to mortar fire. It was quite shocking and sort of indicative of her time in Southtown for the last while.
Either way, she flashes a thumbs up when her bright demeanor returns, and after waving to Brett she turns to jog from the gymnasium. "I'm in Southtown! I'll be helping out wherever I can, I--I hope you get better soon!"
Log created on 16:24:19 06/05/2009 by MayLee, and last modified on 23:19:33 06/09/2009.