Description: Following the war in Southtown, there were some loose ends which needed to be taken care of. One of them is the fighter called 'Aranha', who spent a lot of time making life that much more difficult for Shadaloo. Obviously, in the light of this treatment, a message must be sent. To that end, and to pursue a little personal revenge for disrupted supply lines which caused her own personal performance to be viewed just a little less well than it would have been, Marz is dispatched. Of course, there's more to it than that, because Marz also needs to see just what Aranha is capable of, in order to determine what sort of response would be most appropriate in future. Obviously, there's only one logical way to achieve all these ends: FIGHT!
Now that war was over, Aranha was attempting to live his life out according to the status quo. Of course there were a few problems with that. The explosions and gunfire wreaked havoc with his apartment building and he still had numerous repairs to take care of. He also was low on food.
Considering that he already had most of the tools he needed for patch ups his main priority was getting some food. He refused to live on rice cakes, peanut butter, and water for another day.
With a hop down the steps, he heads off to complete his mission. Fill the refrigerator up!
The war might be over officially... but there were those who were still dealing with the ramifications.
Marz, for instance, has been looking over the hundreds of field reports filed during the invasion, and has taken note of one particular man who seemed to have made it his job to frustrate some of -her- delicate warehouse operations. There was not all that much data about Aranha in the Shadaloo files, so, she decided, given the level he seemed to be operating at, it was appropriate for her to test him.
Which is why she has positioned herself in the darkness above Aranha's door, lurking like some terrifying purple-haired monster.
And why after he leaves his apartment, the very first thing he'd know that for him, the war was not -quite- over, is when a very calm figure, dressed in the familiar Shadaloo Doll's uniform, descends from above, aiming to land squarely on his shoulders... and throw him head-first down the stairs!
COMBATSYS: Marz has started a fight here.
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Marz 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Marz
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Marz's Medium Throw.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Marz
Something wasn't quite right when he stepped out the door. He could feel it in his gut. And after all the ambushes he's been in he was beginning to get used to getting ambushed. He's been ambushed by street toughs, trained soldiers, ninja. Of course, he hasn't always been able to sense them coming like he is at this moment but his gut instinct comes through for him this time.
When Marz drops down from above, Aranha dives forward down the steps in a dive roll before spinning to his feet and seeing Marz in her Shadaloo doll uniform. "Well, it's safe to assume that you're not here because I told someone to kiss my ass. Ugh... Whatever... Let's get this over with."
And with that Aranha marches up the steps and throws an elbow at the doll's stomach before dropping low to grab Marz by the ankles and drag her down the steps.
COMBATSYS: Marz blocks Aranha's Kick Combo.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Marz
Marz's arm comes down, blocking the elbow, and she wrenches her foot back and out of the grip before she can be brought down. "No." She says, crouching down a little low, her eyes narrow. "I might have underestimated you, though." She states, her brow furrowing.
She just waits, keeping her eyes locked on the man, she swallows hard, obviously not... quite prepared to have been evaded and then counterattacked so deftly, but she definitely isn't ready to back down just yet. After all. She had a duty here.
"I have been sent to send a message." She states, calmly. "It was not wise to test the patience of Lord Vega."
COMBATSYS: Marz calculates her next move.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Marz
Aranha manages to just barely stifle the urge to roll his eyes at the idea of someone sending a message by beat down. It was actually such a familiar occurance that he's not even surprised.
"You see, I'm the type of brotha who likes to live and let live... And I wouldn't have even gotten involved if you bastards didn't come down on me first. And I figured since you guys would be up my ass no matter what I did, I decided to..." He cuts himself off as he darts forward and up the remaining step thrusting a knee at the crouched doll's head, before finishing his thought, "fight back."
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Marz with Medium Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Marz
Marz's head whips back with the force of impact. But more than anything else, she just looks frustrated. "Rubbish." She states with a sneer. "If you had submitted, you would have been unlikely to run across our forces. Instead, you've named yourself as one of our enemies."
Naturally, that attack had actually... hurt rather a lot. She had no intention, however, of backing down. Instead, her hand glows with a burning purple energy, sharpened to a razor-edge around the straight palm.
Then, with a sudden -lunge- she aims to take herself all the way past Aranha, and to the bottom of the stairs below, turning as she lands, and ready to spring again. No matter how true Aranha's assertion might be, Marz wasn't exactly in the most talkative mood. Her head... was not meant to be kicked like that! OW!
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Marz's Psi-Ripper.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Marz
"Yeah... Submit and then what? I get held and tortured? Fuck that." Aranha can see the purple energy building in her palm and something inside tells the traceur/capoeirista that he does not want any part of that.
Taking his prodigious amount of speed he reaches for her head and vaults up and over her and her attack as her own speed carries her down the steps. While she's at the bottom of the steps he hops up kicking off of the doorway into his apartment building and launching himself feet first down the steps in the hopes of connecting with her head once more.
COMBATSYS: Marz parries Aranha's Sky's the Limit!
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Marz
If there's one thing Marz proves in these few moments, it's that even if Aranha is faster... she is certainly no slouch herself.
Marz doesn't seem to be in a hurry to move as the man comes down at her, until the very last moment. As he comes closer and closer, her head suddenly shifts down, and he goes sailing over her head, threatening to slam into the wall as she steps backwards...
And her leg slams out, lightning fast, aiming to crash into his before he can react. If she can manage this, she'll grab him by the shoulders, and haul him back and down, as she jumps away and up again.
"You have some skill." She states. "You could work with us. Lord Vega rewards those who are loyal to him."
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Marz's Momentum Punisher EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Marz
Aranha does indeed get his leg caught by the lightning fast kick before he can react his momentum carrying him into a bad situation. However, Aranha is fairly good at adapting to his situation so when Marz grabs him by the shoulders to slam him down, the traceur tucks into a ball and then rolls to redistribute the impact before rising to his feet.
"Job offer? I'll be sure to take it into consideration." Aranha doesn't come forward to attack this time though. Instead, he goes into ginga, swaying as he dances and watches the doll's movements as intently as she was watching his earlier. He did have to admit that this was a first... Someone showing up to send a message and then offering a job in the same fight.
COMBATSYS: Aranha focuses on his next action.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Marz
Marz, however, doesn't seem too concerned by the strangeness of this situation. After all, she was here to ascertain how much of a threat Aranha actually was to the organization as a whole. So far, he was rating somewhat underneath most of the people she tended to wind up against. This was, by all measures, a definite plus.
She isn't advancing, though. She could guess what he was trying to do, and so instead she raises her hand, fathering more burning purple energy about her palm. "Irrelevant." She says, sharply. "You've cost us a great deal of time and money. Whether you choose to continue to be a doomed nuisance in the future, or to submit to the inevitable will of Lord Vega, for now, I intend to impress on you the folly of these actions. Next time, you should simply keep out of our way."
And with that, she whips her hand forwards. A small ball of burning purple energy is unleashed, bouncing as it ricochets off the walls, aiming to smack painfully into the side of Aranha's head, as she keeps herself ready to respond to an expected attack.
COMBATSYS: Aranha overcomes Psiball from Marz with Web Shot.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Marz
Aranha's dance continues as one of his hands begins to glow blue. He watches and waits as the purple ball of energy bounces much like he does at times. And when that purple ball of energy is near the side of his head, he spins as he brings the glowing hand to the side of his face leaving a trail of blue chi spider webs to catch the purple energy ball before it can hit him but not without losing part of that trail of energy web in the process.
Aranha completes his revolution, and when he does, he whips his arm outwards flinging the remnants of his blue chi web right for the doll. With a bit of a grin on his face.
COMBATSYS: Marz fails to slow Web Shot from Aranha with Psiball.
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Aranha 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Marz
Marz's response might not be one which is expected. Rather than move, she fires out a second ball, the energy gathered much more quickly this time, it shoots out... but, apparently, her haste isn't enough to make the attack powerful enough to work. The web rips through the ball as though it weren't even there, and Marz stumbles backwards, angry and annoyed by her utter inability to turn the tide in this battle. Frustration clearly evident on her youthful features... especially as the web had knocked off her hat. She likes her hat.
Aranha's grin becomes larger and takes on a more predatory appearance as he begins to smell blood in the water. Especially since he did literally catch the purple haired doll in his web.
He dances in closer and closer and then whips a glowing blue roundhouse, before using the momentum from the first kick to whirl around with a blue glowing spinning jump kick, and then spinning to turn his back to her as he uses the swinging motion of recoiling from the kick to power a glowing back flip kick, driving down on Marz's now hatless head.
COMBATSYS: Marz blocks Aranha's Aggressive Dance EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Marz
Marz is getting rather frustrated with this, to say the least. The blows hammer in, and though she meets each with her arms, the shock of impact throughout them is still most certainly felt. Naturally, though, she isn't quite ready to give up yet. Instead, she steps forwards, and aims to just... stab out with her fist. She's doing her very best to take things back to a more controlled level, now.
The fist lashes out, and, hit or miss, her foot strikes out to smash the door behind her open. What she really needed to counter this man, she had decided, was space. Being so confined was starting to truly limit her options, he was able to take advantage of it far too much!
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Quick Punch from Marz with Change-Up Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Marz
When Aranha comes out of the kick combo, he still has his back turned to the Shadaloo doll. This works to his disadvantage. While he can still see the punch coming, he just doesn't have enough speed to lash out with a pair of kicks of his own before the punch comes.
Aranha's balance is so upset by it, he finds himself giving Marz a wider berth than he would've wanted rolling away from the door that Marz kicked in. Thank goodness it wasn't his door. He would not want to lose his security deposit on this apartment he is living in now.
Marz is pretty good at reacting on the fly. When Aranha rolls back, she follows up quickly, striking out with her leg as he rolls back, and slipping around to the side as she does so. Since she seemed to have him on the back foot, she was fully intending to try and capitalize on this! In truth, the dolls mind is running over all the variables, from the start of the match to right now...
She wasn't entirely sure she could pull this back, but it was possible he might make some error, and it was certainly better that she should play it out to the end rather than make an assumption now and be proven wrong later, to suffer the wrath of Lord Vega. The result is that the girls expression is tight and focused, disturbingly intent on her task.
COMBATSYS: Marz successfully hits Aranha with Light Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Marz
Aranha still can't quite get back to his feet because the doll was already on him before he could even get his feet under him. The foot catches him in the ribs and he ends up rolling over with a grunt as he rolls into a seated position.
Aranha needed to change his strategy a bit. If she wasn't going to let him get up, he was going to have to force her to let him up. He quickly slips one foot forward and the other gets tucked beneath him as he leans forward and to the side planting both of his hands on the ground as he swings out with a roundhouse kick to the head. This move, Chapeu de Couro, translates to Leather Hat, and probably, it would've been more appropriate to deliver it when Marz was still wearing her hat.
COMBATSYS: Marz parries Aranha's Strong Kick!
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Aranha 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Marz
The kick comes in... and Marz ducks underneath it.
Her eyes narrow for a moment, meeting his as the kick sails onwards... he, upside down, her, resolutely the right way up. He was proving to be frustratingly adaptable, but, that's fine, when in doubt...
Marz comes around and to the side, the girl aims to just scoop him up! Proving to be surprisingly strong for a girl her size, her aim is to wrap her arms around his waist, and swing him around and above her head. If she can manage this, she'll bring him around as powerfully as she can into the ground...
And capitalize on the forward momentum to leap into the air, and wind up positioned at the bottom of the stairs again. Somehow, she'd managed to kick open some poor persons door... and continue fighting in the exact same patch of ground as she had been before!
"A very interesting style..." She says, quietly. "Very interesting."
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Fulcrum Shift EX from Marz with Bad Beat.
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Aranha 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Marz
The plan was to wrench himself out of Marz's grip and swing an elbow right for the doll's face. Unfortunately the grip was too tight and Aranha gets spun around and over before he ends up at the bottom of the steps.
Aranha slowly gets up. And takes a moment to shake his head before slowly dancing back away from the doll in an attempt to gather himself together.
Pausing for a moment, Marz stands up straight, her arms falling to her side, falling entirely out of any recognizable stance, and instead just ... staring up at Aranha.
"Do you need a moment to catch your breath?"
The question seems so... out of character, with the general tone of the speech she has taken with him so far, just a casual offer to recover, before she would continue attempting to kill him.
"You seem to be slowing. Your movements are sluggish. If you can't recover soon, I will destroy you."
The girl tucks a strand of hair back behind her ear, utterly solemn. Something she'd learned from Vyle; though she wasn't so... insulting, a few words could needle someone just enough for them to make a critical mistake. Her eyes shining intently, waiting for just that desperate gap.
COMBATSYS: Marz calculates her next move.
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Aranha 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Marz
The only outward response Aranha has towards that needling is a simple smile. Internally though, Aranha is not too happy with that but the needling tends to make him more focused more determined not to make a mistake. It's usually what happens afterwards as a result of his emotions that comes back to bite him on the ass.
With that intent focus he goes at Marz fast whipping his foot around with an outside crescent kick to slap the doll in the face with his foot.
COMBATSYS: Marz blocks Aranha's Light Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Marz
Marz's reaction is pretty simple. Her left arm comes up, and the kick thuds dully into it.
And then she steps forwards, her right arm snapping out, and aiming to plough her fist right into Aranha's nose, nothing fancy or extraordinary in the action, she just aims to smack him in the face. Her focus now very much open... she was going to do everything she could to capitalize on any single mistake, her foot just... positioning back to maintain her position at the bottom of the stairs. Every part of the girl screaming for something she could -use-.
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Marz's Strong Punch.
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Aranha 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Marz
Aranha rocks away from the punch his arm held in the way to deflect the impact. There is a marked distinction in his strategy, now after the needling, as opposed to before. While there is still fluidity in his movements, he fighting tighter, taking less risks, as if now he's even less willing to make mistakes.
As Marz recoils from her punch, Aranha rocks forward again as he spins thrusting out a spinning side kick to her stomach as he uses the rocking motion to generate more power in this attack.
COMBATSYS: Marz interrupts Thrust Kick from Aranha with Psi-Ripper.
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Aranha 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Marz
Marz's response is simple. Aranha's kick meets Marz's side, because Marz is already coming forwards. Refusing to be knocked from her course by the powerful strike, she draws her arm all the way up his chest in a diagonal slash, her hand straight out again, and the edge burning with that bright purple energy she had tried to strike him with earlier.
The girl follows through with the motion, however, winding up positioned a couple of steps above him before the energy dies away, and she exhales. That had hurt more than she had been expecting... but she was certain she'd managed to capitalize as best as she possibly could.
His attack didn't land true but on the other hand, he gained an immense amount of information out of it. The purple energy digs deep into his body and it sends him flying backwards causing his body to knock over a trash can.
He doesn't try to hide the fact that he's hurting. As a matter of fact, he realizes that any attempt to hide it at this point would be easily seen through by his perceptive opponent.
Instead he does something else entirely. He turns his back on her as he pulls out a pair of shades and begins cleaning them.
COMBATSYS: Aranha focuses on his next action.
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Aranha 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Marz
Marz falls out of her stance in turn, as Aranha turns away from her. For a moment, it looks like she's willing to call it a day. After all. It seemed that he wasn't going to provide any more data. But. She needed to know- for herself, if nobody else- precisely... how far could she go? Would she win? Was it possible for her to actually... bring down Aranha?
It happens so fast. In an instant, Marz erupts into a series of well-placed strikes, crossing the distance between herself and Aranha ridiculously fast, she drives herself forwards, her fists and feet snapping forwards again and again, a good two dozen blows delivered as quickly as she possibly can, each building on the last, until she can no longer manage to build on the strikes, left breathing hard from the exertion of it.
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Sudden Combo from Marz with Joker's Wild.
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Aranha 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Marz
COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.
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Marz 0/-------/-------|
Aranha was in a situation where he had no good options. The strikes come quickly and they end up manuevering him away from the wall that he had been planning to use to make his final stand. The glow of blue from his body was the only evidence that he had anything else planned. His trap destroyed before he could spring it.
His body finally gives out on him as he drops to the ground and doesn't get up to fight again. Instead he crawls on the ground and props himself up on the wall and stares for a moment. "Anything else?"
Deep in his mind are the words, 'You better kill me because, like I just told you, I push back whenever I get pushed.' However on the outside, he laughs. It is a mirthless laugh and in fact there is a lot of darkness in it. "I'll see you next time."
Marz considers Aranha for a moment, watching him go down, she is left obviously exerted, her body shaking and breathing coming hard. First things first, she walks over, and picks up her hat. Positioning it carefully on her head. Then she returns to the downed fighter, considering whether there was anything else she had to say to him.
She draws back her foot, and kicks him, carefully, once more in the head. Then she walks away. She had no idea if the message had actually been received; she rather doubted it, all things considered. But she'd won. There were remarkably few threats to Shadaloo that she felt she could reasonably be expected to deal with, but she'd come out and bested him.
"Yes. You will."
And that would be that.
COMBATSYS: Marz has ended the fight here.
Log created on 09:51:23 06/19/2009 by Marz, and last modified on 13:57:24 06/19/2009.