SNF 2009.07 - Pure Inebriation! Yamazaki/Ren vs Hayato/Salvatore

Description: In Heineken's antique brewery, four fighters pair off in a match that pits BURNING spirit versus BURNING madness, a MYSTERIOUS agent (possibly with a dark past) against a LOUD ninja girl (???) that spells a recipe for disaster (for Heineken). Alternate title: Why Does SNF Allow Yamazaki To Participate Because He Just Causes Major Collateral Damage? (Winners: Yamazaki and Ren..?)



When you buy a drink at a place selling drinks, typically referred to as a liquor store, or a beer store for the crasser, you're usually given the item in a brown paper bag. Perhaps this all started due to the fact that the Heineken building, located on the outskirts of Amsterdam, is in fact a giant brown brick building. And inside of it, is beer.

"Now don't touch the velvet ropes, you all hear?" a tour guide bellows, voice echoing within the massive main room of the brewery. Massive copper kettles don't really help to bounce the voice, but there's the fact that they're there, and likely to come into play later.

"There's going to be a fight in here shortly. This is not an excuse for you all to drink and then engage in fights, to be filmed and then subsequently sold for profit. This is simply to add to your genuine 'Heineken Experience,' so that when you return to your homelands you all continue to be inebriated by our fine lagers."

It's arguable whether the tour itself is genuine. It begins even less so when the tour guide unhooks one of the velvet ropes that have indeed roped off an area for a Saturday Night Fight, leaving the tour group that's been following him behind.

Lifting a mask to his face, the black-clad Salvatore Ellis removes his coat, casting it aside as SNF crewmembers approach to apply makeup. They hesitate when they see he's wearing a partial face-mask over his nose and mouth, and then move on to seek out the other combatants.

Whether he's first or last to arrive doesn't really matter to him; he's here, and he's ready to fight.

The tour group, since they've been abandoned, sips their beers in green bottles and waits for the fight to begin.

Some people might think that it's a bit unfair for Hayato to be pitted against one of his own students. How could he go all out, risking possibly hurting her? These people clearly don't know Hayato very well. It'll be an important educational experience, in his view. Also, there's no way she's going to stand between him and all the beer he can drink.
For the moment, the phys ed teacher is admiring the brewing tanks. An engineering and artistic marvel, as far as he's concerned. That, and they're full of alcohol. As a tour group comes by he turns to wave at them, grinning and striking a pose as they take a picture to remember the trip with.
Having fed his ego a bit, Hayato takes a relaxed pose, idly tapping his shinai against his shoulder as he waits for the fight to begin. He gives Salvatore a friendly nod as the younger man takes up a position. The mask strikes him as a bit silly, but people rarely ask a man who is usually dressed in a track suit for fashion advice.

Tours, beer; neither of these really intrigue the likes of Ren Kurosaki. If not for the obvious reason--the fighting--Ren would never step foot in a place such as the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam. Likely, someone like her wouldn't even be allowed. She's not of legal drinking age! Is there an age cap on these things..?

Getting beat up by Taiyo teachers is the last thing on Ren's mind as she lingers on the building's rooftop. With her hoop in hand, the young fighter just stands against a heavy summer breeze, topaz-yellow eyes focused on the skylines. Then, slowly, her yellowy gaze turns to the SNF information in her free hand. Carefully, Ren squints her gaze.

"This is...the right place, isn't it?" Her cheeks puff a little.

Meanwhile, below, Hayato and Salvatore begin gathering together amongst large copper brewing vats and whatever else is down there. Above them on the rooftop, Ren just continues to stare at the paper.

TEN MINUTES LATER

A window suddenly smashes inward, stained, aged glass scattering everywhere as a massive steel hoop cuts through. It lands in the ground, lightly digging into the concrete floor like some grim steel message. A few tourists are startled, while on-hand employees freak out at the broken window. Seconds after a high-pitched squeal erupts beyond the windows, and through the now-broken glass flips Ren, bounding off a few vats before she lands ON her hoop.

"WOOPS I THINK I'M LATE!" the girl barks, staring wide eyed at the tourists staring equally-wide eyed back at her. Hopping off the ring she lands at its side and lifts it out of the ground, slinging it partially over a shoulder. "But I wouldn't miss this--!!"

Her eyes cut to Salvatore.

"I'm going to kick your butt /so hard/ as payback!!" she 'darkly' warns. A GRUDGE?

"Hi hi hi hi, mister Hayato!" she adds shortly after, waving energetically at the Phys Ed teacher.

The ring embeds itself near a pair of black monkstrap shoes on the ground.

They are expensive, and brand new, but they smell like they came from an abattoir.

Definitely Yamazaki's.

The Southtown brawler, for his part, seems to be nowhere in plain sight; His shoes are just--there. For no apparent reason. Of course, what one can take that to mean is that maybe, just maybe, the thug went off and committed suicide in shame for having to fight with such a weak lot. Guess what: UNLIKELY!!! What's an infinitely worse thought is that the maniac is walking around somewhere barefoot. Silent. Like he might be right behind you.

Cue the Jaws theme.

A bubble rises up to the surface of one of the vats.

Then, a fin of blonde hair.

Shortly, Yamazaki blows through the kettle with one arm, tearing the vat in half and spraying alcohol everywhere. Tensed up like some kind of mountain lion, the brawler is stripped to the waist and utterly soaked. Dark force crawls up the mercenary's arm and through his body--which is, by the way, completely and utterly unblemished, for the people who were sending the text messages about him being dead, thanks--before dissipating in his hair. The massive brawler stands there for a moment in the aftermath of the gutted tank, frozen in mid-punch, with a grin white enough to illuminate Metro City at night.

Then, for one holy moment, it rains beer.

"Hell. Yes."

With a scent powerful enough now to strip paint, Yamazaki snatches his shirt off of a copper kettle pipe as he walks into play, sauntering up behind Ren (and coincidentally, his shoes). He will tolerate exactly four more seconds of loud kiddie girling. Exactly four more seconds. Just enough time to get his shoes on.

And then Ren is going to get backhanded in the head.

You know, if she's too busy running her mouth and all to notice that Yamazaki doesn't put up with that kinda thing out of potential partners.

"_Shu'up._"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Hayato has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Yamazaki


COMBATSYS: Ren has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ren              0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Ren has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0              Ren
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Salvatore has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Salvatore        0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0              Ren


Returning Hayato's nod, Salvatore limbers up. Without his coat, he's wearing a simple set of black clothes, all perfectly fine for dancing. And there's a sheathed blade at his hip as well. Waiting for the festivities to begin, his hand graces the hilt -- and then, that voice.

His left brow suddenly finds a twist, whatever other facial ticks that may jump at thaaaat voice hidden by the mask upon his face. "You," he simply replies, eyes narrowing faintly. They immediately flash, changing from blue to green, and mist wafts out as he embraces his latent power.

It's at about that point that Yamazaki makes his entrance. Briefly showered in beer, Salvatore cuts his gaze away from the young Ren long enough to note the other fighter. And then the way he subsequently treats his teammate. Behind the mask, the half-Italian smirks.

With all four combatants present, and Heineken representatives already concerned about whether this will be a cost-effective means of highlighting the brand with that antique kettle exploded, an SNF official gets with the announcing.

"Welcome to Saturday Night Fight! Begin bout!"

"Go get 'em," Salvatore encourages his teammate, going so far as to give Hayato a big thumbs-up of encouragement off to one side. For his part, there's a greater waft of mist out of the assassin's eyes, his jaw clenching as he harnesses more of that latent power for the next round.

COMBATSYS: Salvatore gathers his will.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Salvatore        0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0              Ren


Hayato shoots Ren a quick grin after she calls out to him. "Hey there, Kurosaki. Be sure to put up a good fight, got it? Do well enough and maybe you'll be able to get yourself some class credit!" This counts as an extra-curricular activity, right? And then Yamazaki bursts out of the vat, sending beer spraying everywhere. Now, Hayato doesn't mind the smell, but he nevertheless narrows his eyes as he glares at Yamazaki. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Look at all the beer you're wasting!" A brief pause. "And don't talk to one of my students that way!"
The Burning Phys Ed Teacher charges forth, thundering toward Yamazaki as the last of the beer splashes to the floor. It does seem that Yamazaki was cutting his entrance pretty close. Will he have time to finish putting on his shoes? It doesn't matter to Hayato. Yamazaki's feet probably don't smell very good, but the gangster has already seen fit to put a much stronger scent in the air, so there's nothing to worry about on those grounds.
Hayato's arm goes out and back as he runs, looking like he's preparing for a sweeping strike with his shinai, but as he gets in closer he suddenly swings it down, then steps in and thrusts upwards in an attempt to drive his fist right up and into Yamazaki's jaw... and /then/ he yanks his arm back and slicing at Yamazaki's ribs with the bamboo sword.

Unfortunately, Ren doesn't really notice the shoes until after she nearly steps on one, half-crunching the thing under her rubber soles. Blinking, she pauses in her waving to look to these abandoned shoes before she looks back, polite enough to keep from continuing to step on them. "Who the heck leaves shoes lying around like this in a tour anyway?' the girl mumbles aloud.

Ren remains incredibly enthusiastic, almost more so as she's addressed directly by the Phys Ed teacher of Taiyo. Lifting a hand, she offers a crisp salute the older man and offer a chipper "YES SIR Mister Nekketsu!" The absently adjusts the heavy ring in her hand a bit before she glances toward Salvatore and his weird glare. "Oh just wait your turn," she yaps. "I'll get to you soon enough!"

Then the vat nearby EXPLODES.

Turning her attentions toward the busted copper vat and emerging formerly-dead Syndicate man lumbering out of the rain of beer, Ren just...peers. Then? She just looks away, turning her attentions back to Salvatore.

"Did you think I'd let you get away from me so easily!?" she wonders, even as Yamazaki approaches from behind. "Did you think you'd never see me again?? Well you're wrong, I'll tell you! I can't ever forgive you for tha--HEY WHAT"

Smacked at the back of her head, Ren clutches at her head as she whips around, wide-eyed and staring up at the imposing man. Rather than be intimidated or simply horrified at the sheer size and power he exudes, Ren seems offended.

"Yeah what mister Nekketsu said!" squawks the girl, waving a finger at the large mercenary. "I'm here to help you, you know! Why're you hittin' me and stuff--uh--hey look out??" Hayato comes charging at Yamazaki, which means--?!

"BONZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI!"

Bouncing in place, the young fighter clutches her ring in hand, hopping back and landing on the nearest ledge. Peering down at the half-Italian man practically glowing, the girl purses her lips a bit before she asks, "Why're you just STANDING there?! It's like you want me to hit you!"

And to emphasize this point, Ren twists her body sharply, using the momentum to then release the heavy steel ring and send it flying right at Salvatore.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki endures Hayato's Fierce Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Salvatore        0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0              Ren


Yamazaki shoots a withering glare at Ren, at some point after pulling on something tight in pima cotton that can barely stand up to his rigorous physique. If not his smell. "Did I..." Yamazaki growls, alcohol-soaked voice dragging out the sound until it's little more than acidic bile at the back of his throat, "..or did I not tell you to shut your pie hole?"

WHAM--

At that point Yamazaki is utterly blindsided by Hayato's shot to the jaw.

Well, let's be fair. Yamazaki wasn't paying a lot of attention to all the shouting. You know when you have something stuck in your eye? Where you know, there could be a fire going on, and you wouldn't pay attention cus--hey, something in your EYE? Yeah. Yamazaki's kind've got that going on with little brats that don't know when to shut their lip, so if Hayato clobbers him and pops him in the chest with that shinai of his, one will forgive if the mercenary just kind of pauses, Hayato's fist leaving a fresh impression in his face and his ribcage still partially wrapped around the titanic blunt trauma of that sword.

...Half a second later, Yamazaki takes a step back, somewhat troubled.

Oh. right..

Cracking his jaw, Yamazaki recovers relatively quickly. "~Your~ student?" Yamazaki asks breezily. "And who the hell is you?!" Yamazaki's leg explodes like a cannon, the mercenary's hand slipping into his pocket as his entire frame leans forward at a physically astounding angle to deliver his (still unbuckled) shoe into the middle of Hayato's midsection, aiming to crush all the wind out of him and ground him before stomping a fresh brand new mudhole in the man.

"I didn't even know retards could take students!!"

COMBATSYS: Salvatore blocks Ren's Power Fling.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Hayato           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Salvatore        0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0              Ren


There's no real response from Salvatore. He simply lets Ren sprout her mouth, watching as Yamazaki walks up behind her. Not even a minute later, the fight is starting in earnest, and the young ninja is airborne, landing on one of those ledges. With the high ground advantage that ring comes flying at him. It's almost a mirror to the last time he encountered this young girl, on the rooftops of Southtown. Weighing his options in a heartbeat, he acts, that glow of gathered energy leaving him as he lifts his guard.

With a considerable amount of momentum though, he's knocked back a good step or two. Maintaining his footing proves half a trial, and despite the flurry of action there with the other combatants, he has to comment; "You're teaching your students well."

The last time they met, Salvatore refused to draw his blade. This time though, he thumbs the weapon an inch clear of its sheath, and then in one smooth moment draws and slashes the air. It's a perfectly timed kata, but there's a considerable distance between Ren and himself.

That distance is filled though, with an arrowhead of green Psycho Power that flies for the young girl's flesh with an exceptional bite. The blade clicks back into the sheath, and young Kurosaki may have more than just her returning ring to deal with!

COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Yamazaki's Yakiire.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Hayato           0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Salvatore        0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0              Ren


Yamazaki's foot crashes into Hayato, but it strikes against a braced forearm rather than an unprotected midsection. And so rather than being knocked down and stomped upon, Hayato shoves back against Yamazaki's foot to open up a brief distance between the two of them. "Hey, if you're not even going to read the fight card, I'm not going to do your work for you. You /can/ read, right?" Ah, man. Look. Hayato managed to avoid most of the rain of beer, but now he's got Yamazaki's shoe-booze on his sleeve. The Orochi gangster is going to have to pay for that.
Hayato steps forward, bringing his shinai slicing around in an attempt to strike Yamazaki right beneath the ribcage. He then follows through and continues back from the other side, but he's not done there. He whips the weapon up before bringing it crashing down into his opponent's collarbone, then yanking it to the side to smack him across the face. A bamboo sword might not look very fearsome, but in Hayato's hands it's not to be underestimated.

COMBATSYS: Ren blocks Salvatore's Benediction.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Hayato           0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Salvatore        0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0              Ren


With puffed up cheeks Ren continues to scowl at Yamazaki, eyes half-lidded in a none-too-menacing fashion before she catches Hayato out of her peripherals. Seeing this as the best time as any to run for it and move in on Salvatore (especially since Yamazaki smells horribly of booze and is probably pissed), the energetic girl in blue just bounds away after giving him fair warning. When she lands she winces at Yamazaki before calling out,

"I told you to look out!" Then the ring is unleashed at Salvatore.

...who again manages against the girl well enough. The ring strikes his defenses, ricocheting off his guard and returning to the young fighter's grasp. When he asides to the other fighters, Ren looks offended, stomping a foot on her railing before she calls out, "Stop lollygagging and fight me!!" She gets her wish quickly enough, the man snapping his sword out briskly before it's resheathed at his hip. Energy screams at Ren in its wake.

"AHHHHHH--!" The energy crashes into Ren, the majority buffeted by the steel hoop the young woman brings to the fore and shields herself with, its surface shimmering with energy. While the worst of it is certainly dispersed, the girl can feel the energy singing her and bringing with it LOTS OF PAIN. Fortunately, it doesn't linger. "AHHHHokay, I'm good." Lifting an arm, she waves it toward Yamazaki. "Did you hear?! I'm still okay!" She even flexes for him. Look at those girly muscles!

Then it's back to Salvatore. "Why are you so annoying?!" she wonders, hopping off of the railing and into the air with her ring held at her side. Twisting midair, she'll then descend harshly, attempting to cut with her ring in a quick, vertical shallow slash at Salvatore's torso.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Hayato's Scolding Slash.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Hayato           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0         Yamazaki
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Salvatore        0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0              Ren


She is /not/ still going.

"I don't. care!" he barks at Ren, "Just beat Pajamas or I'll eat your pants for breakfast!!" Probably one of the only things that keeps Yamazaki from coming after Ren and gagging her is that she got out of arm's length before she started up again. Of course, the Phys Ed teacher trying to beat him with a stick might have something to do with it. On that topic--the hell did he just say?

One hand violently lashing out to smack the shinai aside, Yamazaki snorts, trying hard not to laugh. "Gimme a break, Strawberry! I'm not the idiot who signed up with the wrong team! Matter of fact--"

You can almost hear the revolver click as Yamazaki's shoulder cocks, his arm going boneless and losing all definition. Who's this guy think he is? Whipping forward, Yamazaki leads with his shoulder, telegraphing his move clearly. But with Hayato's range advantage, it might not be so hard--

Yamazaki's alky fist materializes into existance an inch in front of the teacher's face already on a collision course with a specific target; Hayato's nose. Yamazaki's gonna sock him a good one if Hayato isn't on his toes. Yeah; you might want to look out. Yamazaki's arm can cross unreal amounts of distance in very short periods of time. Is his arm even supposed to be that long?

"--I might still have some fun here yet, beanhead!!"

COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Salvatore with Quick Strike.
- Power hit! -

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Hayato           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0         Yamazaki
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Salvatore        1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0              Ren


All of that shouting draws a soft, exasperated sigh from the half-Italian as the young ninja inevitably shows that she's alright. He briefly reconsiders his decision to join the fighting circuit... but there are reasons. There are always reasons.

"Sometimes we can't help the way we are," Salvatore replies to Ren, which isn't much of a response at all, and if anything will just heighten the annoyance that the young girl feels towards the man. He can live with that. What he can't live with, however, is that ring of hers slashing for his midsection, aiming to give him an impromptu bout of open-heart surgery! The sheathed katana comes away from his hip, remaining within its black sheath, and he seeks to send the surging ring aside before it can do more than nick at his belly and cut his top.

Instead, the weight of her ring proves too much for his meager attempt, the softness of the sheath despite the underlying steel not enough to repel her strike! Instead a heavy grunt issues out as his feet actually clear the floor from the upwards strike. Surprise takes him, but he quickly sheds it aside. Like some kind of tech defense he back flips, landing in a crouch as he slides backwards with his boots.

His head snaps up, blue gaze settling on Ren, one hand pressed against his chest. "You'll pay for that," he means it literally. Somebody here will pay to repair his garment, although he may end up doing it himself. Instead, it comes out as a dire-sounding threat thanks to that mask he's wearing, partially muffling his voice.

Behind her, he sees Yamazaki's arm doing impossible things. He opts to concentrate on the girl in front of him instead.

Springing into a leap right back at her, he spins in the air, gaining momentum as he slashes his arm down with the weapon held against the outside of his arm. What this means for Ren is the sudden onset of unforgiving covered steel against her collarbone, which is where the half-Italian aims!

COMBATSYS: Hayato endures Yamazaki's Snake Tamer.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Hayato           0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0         Yamazaki
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Salvatore        1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0              Ren


The way Yamazaki's arm just dangles there has got to be a trick. Well, Hayato knows how to deal with tricks. You just plow right through 'em! And, there we go, Yamazaki's hand blurs right into Hayato's face, a spray of blood flying out as the fist crashes squarely into Hayato's nose. But the teacher is already on the move and a little thing like that isn't going to stop him. He pushes right into Yamazaki's fist until he's able to push past, reaching out to grab Yamazaki by the shoulders.
Because the gangster isn't the only one capable of dishing out a beatdown. If he manages to secure his shoulders, Hayato follows up by driving his knee into Yamazaki's stomach, then shifting his hands up to grab Yamazaki by the head before bringing him back down for a face-first introduction to Hayato's knee. And then it's time to drag Yamazaki back up one more time for a face full of Hayato's forehead, courtesy of a headbutt.

COMBATSYS: Salvatore successfully hits Ren with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Hayato           0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0         Yamazaki
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Salvatore        1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0              Ren


"You should care!" Ren calls back, mid-leap, at Yamazaki. "I'm helping you here!"

Descending, the blunt-edged ring cuts past Salvatore's defenses and leaves a stinging mark, but fortunately THERE IS NO BLOODSHED. Either way, it sends the man backwards, giving her a moment to catch her breath before she stands upright and snaps her attention toward Yamazaki. "And you can't do that! I need pants!" she argues. "This is a family-friendly event!" Salvatore's threats go unheard, partially because he's speaking through some silly face mask.

Which is why she doesn't really expect him when she looks back and sees him leaping at her and slashing with a sheathed sword. Struck hard, the young ninja girl from Osaka is crumpled to the ground, rolling twice before she springs up onto her feet with her hoop in one hand. "THAT HURT!" she cries, wide-eyed at Salvatore. "There you go, hitting girls again!" she accuses, as if this were some crime. Nevermind they're fighting for PROFIT.

Rubbing at her throbbing collar, the girl considers her next course of action. Pursing her lips, she hums quietly to herself, half-glancing toward the scuffle between Yamazaki and Hayato. "Hey mister!" the girl calls to the mercenary, "Is your arm broken!?"

Lifting the ring in hand, Ren's gaze flickers back onto Salvatore. A spark of red energy ignites from the top of the ring before it swiftly circles around, the entirety of the steel hoop suddenly engulfed in bright red flames. "Anyway, I'll make sure this hurts!" Ren promises before she levels the ring at waist-height. A sharp pivot of her rubber sole immediately follows, that ring twisting in the air at the wrist as she turns. Red energy gathers brightly on the hoop before it is all sent flying with a swing of her arm, fire leaping off the steel hoop in a wave of chi right at Salvatore!

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki endures Hayato's Deep Strike.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Hayato           0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1         Yamazaki
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Salvatore        1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0              Ren


Suddenly, it's like Yamazaki's arm never moved at all, whipping ahead past the range of Hayato's charge in spite of his attempt to push past it, his fighting glove creaking as the claw stretches enough to crack knuckles. Yamazaki's hand hits like lightning. Anyone who doesn't remember that is due for a beating--oh my god--"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!" he snaps at Ren, having almost enough time to turn and point--

"OH SHIT--" Hayato drives right into him, and for a moment it's like the Jolly Green Giant busted open a can of whupass on Zeus, the gangster's spine bending in unreal ways as Hayato just unloads on him. Yamazaki gets the wind knocked out of him, smashed in the face with a knee, and then headbutted until the gangster is just stumbling back, slipping in the aftermath of explosions of blood from every punishing blow, almost falling on his ass. His vision is stained red.

And his back is bent until his skull is at a right angle to his spine.

But he's still standing.

He sniffs the air. Doesn't smell like booze anymore.

"...that ain't bad, soft scrub."

You can hear his spine creak like a tension strap.

And then Yamazaki explodes forward. There's no real rhyme or reason to the brawler's violence. He doesn't try to get inside Hayato's guard, he doesn't try to just ignore what he's doing--it seems exactly the opposite. For every hit Hayato lands on Yamazaki, the less Yamazaki seems to notice or care. And, much more unnervingly, the faster he moves.

"My turn!!!!"

He comes from across the Pacific with the most righteous of bloody uppercuts aimed to knock all six feet three inches of Hayato into the air, before Yamazaki tries to catch him by a leg, and swing him upside-down against the curve of one of those huge copper kettles. Of course, that's about the end of Yamazaki's charity. If he can do that, there won't be any clever moves from him. No punshing knee combos or roundhouses, or anything like that. Just Yamazaki's fists and Hayato's body having a little bit of quality time together, Yamazaki wailing on Hayato's ass until the copper underneath that guy is just beaten in underneath a wave of unrelenting force like a penny that got caught at the wrong time on the train tracks.

... and /then/ Yamazaki's other hand will come out of his pocket.

At which point he will punch a whirling energy-infused hole in Hayato big enough to fit his student through. All committed with the gory soundtrack of steel drilling.

The beer kettle whistles. It's done!!!

COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Salvatore with Ennetsu.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Salvatore        1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0              Ren


It doesn't matter to Salvatore at all whether the girl is paying attention to him. He gets the drop on her, dropping her in turn to the floor, although the scamp proves quick to get back to her feet. It's the call off to the other combatants that draws the half-Italian's blue gaze in that direction. Thus far, this has devolved into a pair of one-on-one fights. Considering what that guy over there is doing to his teammate, he's starting to think it may be better that way.

It's Ren's words that draw his attention back to her, just in time for that hoop to spin -- and that flurry of fiery chi to come roaring at him! "Nnmm," he sounds thoughtfully, the sound of course lost in the crackle of the energy.

Sliding the sheathed weapon back against his hip, he attempts to do the sensible thing when one has a wall of flames come at him. The sensible thing if you're not Yamazaki or Hayato, anyway. He tries to get the hell out of the way, but it comes at him just a little too quickly. His leap is caught, the flurry of chi sinking painfully into his legs. This type of energy he's not so accustomed to, so he instead gets his legs clipped right out from under him.

In the age old adage of what going up must indeed come back down, Salvatore does so on his back, landing against the floor with a heavy thud. He grunts, grimacing behind his partial-mask at the shoot of pain along his back.

Willing himself to get back up, he abandons the sword to his side for now, instead giving his back a quick knuckling. Oooh yeah, just how his back likes it.

"Let's see how you deal with this," he tells Ren, as his body shifts -- and he reappears right in front of her. Immediately his hand snaps out, his intent the princess grip, so he can swiftly throw her right over his shoulder and into the floor. A taste of what she just gave him, sort of; dirty floor.

And for good measure, if she ends up down there, he'll kick her right in the back too.

COMBATSYS: Hayato fails to counter Yondan Drill from Yamazaki with Counter Thrust.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Salvatore        1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0              Ren


When Yamazaki comes rocketing back toward him, does Hayato back down? Hell no! Yamazaki comes ducking in to launch an uppercut, and Hayato brings his fist slamming down toward Yamazaki's head at the same time. It's a race to see which of the two men will connect first. Unfortunately for Hayato, the winner in this case is Yamazaki. With his knuckles just inches away from his opponent's haircut, Hayato finds himself being launched into the air, then grabbed by the leg and slung around.
There's a loud gong as Hayato's back impacts with one of the kettles, and then a serious of booms as Yamazaki pounds him against it repeatedly. And then, just when it seems it's over, Yamazaki comes in with one last massive blow, smashing Hayato right through the metal of the vat, where he becomes submerged in the beer that's now rapidly flowing out onto the floor.

COMBATSYS: Salvatore successfully hits Ren with Apocalypse.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Salvatore        1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1              Ren


"I'm helping, I'm helping!" Ren chimes at her angry teammate, despite his roaring protests for her to stay out of his business. "Hey look out, too!" the girl points out, just as Hayato comes in to clobber the hell out of Yamazaki. As he's struck the girl winces, mumbling, "told you man you can't really follow directions can you??"

When Ren finally redirects her attentions onto Salvatore, the girl blinks as the man pulls himself back onto his feet. "You're supposed to stay down!" the girl chirps. "Why aren't you down yet!" A cursory glance is given to her steel ring, topaz-colored eyes peering thoughtfully at the ornate steel. "I know Yuugao isn't broken," she wonders, before she eyes her hands. "And I know my chi is fine..."

Her cheeks puff again. "Well whatever, I'll just--"

Looking back, Salvatore is right in her face before he grabs her by the wrist and slams her into the ground before he kicks her like a big jerk in the back. Yelping, the girl wiggles a bit on the ground in pain before clenching her teeth shut and rolling forward, carrying all forty pounds of steel with her.

"You're getting on my nerves!" the young girl barks, waving a finger at the half-Italian man. "I'm gonna...nnngh!!" Stomping a foot, the girl just charges forward at Salvatore before she plants a foot and twists around, attempting to lash out with the blunt ring and drive it right into the side of his ribs.

Yamazaki breathes.

Calm, cool. Relaxed. No stress.

He whips the blood off his fists, at this point coated up to the wrists.

He kneels down quietly, strapping his shoes tight and buckling them. Then, he pats down his slightly damp pants (you'd be amazed at how fast you dry out of alcohol when you're beating the hell out of somebody) and gets a comb. He runs that through his hair. Hayato might have mussed it a little bit with that close call, after all, if not Yamazaki's own swim.

Beer swills past his shoes, coating the floor thuroughly.

Yamazaki licks the excess out of the comb appreciatively, before flicking the soaked appliance off somewhere, presumably to be recovered by the one fan he may or may not have in the entire fighting world.

With Ren's chattering in the background, Yamazaki composes himself pretty well. "You're pretty fuckin' tough, short stuff," he chides at the beer pool that was at one point Hayato. "But I'm tougher, and don't you ever forget it. Nobody, and I mean /nobody/ insults me and gets away with it..."

Yamazaki pauses, and looks behind him irritably.

He's still got some business with boxhead over here, but in the meantime, he points at Salvatore. "Yo, Pajama Party!" Yamazaki roars, loud enough to shake the rafters, "Daddy's busy, so why don't you find a way to shut her mouth and I'll double what they're paying ya in this heap!!"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki focuses on his next action.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Salvatore        1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1              Ren


COMBATSYS: Salvatore blocks Ren's Medium Strike.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Salvatore        1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1              Ren


The impact of Ren almost coincides with Hayato entering the kettle. The floor of beer that follows actually causes Salvatore to release his grip on the downed Ren, giving her the chance she takes to get back up and waggle a finger at him. The assault follows, the flow of the ring met by his forearms, one bracing the other.

It stings like a bitch. He grinds his teeth, refusing to let the girl and her monstrous toy get the better of him. It's at about this time that Yamazaki is talking to him, and he briefly considers how best to respond; "Make it triple," he flippantly states.

And with that, his hand snaps out, aiming to catch Ren by the throat. He has to make that money by shutting her up, right? His other hand aims to support the first, as he seeks to lift the slim girl right off her feet, and squeeze.

It takes a few moments, but eventually the level of beer in the tank gets low enough for Hayato's face to become exposed, giving him an opportunity to take a coughing breath. Inside the ruptured tank he twists himself about, ending up standing in a shallow pool of beer before stepping out to get a breath that's not full of alcoholic fumes. He shakes his head, sending beer droplets flying, but otherwise resigns himself to just ignoring the liquid soaking him. Not like he can do much about it at the moment, anyway. And he does pause for a moment to lick his lips. Hey, can't let it /all/ go to waste.
"You think a little thing like that is gonna stop me? All you managed to do is waste more of the beer that's supposed to be my prize for winning this, ya bastard! So just lose before you break anything else!" And then Hayato demonstrates that Yamazaki isn't the only one that can make a drill. The teacher charges forward with splashing footsteps before leaping at Yamazaki with a twisting motion. His body spins around and around, shinai held out at an angle and turning into a blurring circle of wood and flaming chi. And, of course, with Hayato's high rotational speed there's beer flying everywhere as it flies free from his clothing thanks to centrifugal force.

COMBATSYS: Ren dodges Salvatore's Choke Hold.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Hayato           0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Salvatore        1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1              Ren


The moment her steel weapon strikes Salvatore's defenses it rebounds off, the girl's skinny arms forcing her ring away before she takes the shockingly heavy weight to her side. Holding it there, Ren just shoots a glare at the masked half-Italian before she lightly hops back, giving herself--and perhaps Salvatore--some distance.

About then, Hayato goes flying THROUGH a copper vat, to which Ren turns the entirety of her attentions. Widening her eyes at the damage, she looks mildly horrified before she purses her lips and furrows her brows, sliding her gaze to Yamazaki. "That was a bit much!" she chides. "Don't you think tha--HEY!!"

Double what he's paid to shut /REN/ up?!

"THAT IS MUTINY! MUTINY!!" Ren squeals, glancing sidelong toward Salvatore before he moves. Ducking low, she rolls aside and avoids the grasp altogether, looking quite upset all the while she evades the half-Italian's grasp. Rising into a crouch behind him, she thrusts the ring forward, attempting to take out Salvatore's knees from under his body and send HIM collapsing to the ground instead.

"And you should be ashamed of yourself for even CONSIDERING that jerk's offer!"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki blocks Hayato's Burning Windmill.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Hayato           0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Salvatore        1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1              Ren


"Listen, you aren't gonna get anything but my fist in your face if you don't put a sock in her!!!" Yamazaki yells across the way. In the end, he isn't entirely worried, since he'll save a punch or two for the twerp if she wins, but he's more concerned about keeping his concentration up, and the urge to go over there and take care of Miss Lip right now is intoxicating.

But he's got bigger fish to fry right now. It looks like Hayato's splashing after him like a kid in a wading pool.

Yamazaki -- cracks his neck. Just so.

"Listen. I already had my drink, I don't give a damn about you--all this here is mine anyway!!"

Sliding that bloody hand back into a pocket, Yamazaki walks right into Hayato's buzzsaw impersonation with the all the aplomb deserved of the self-proclaimed King of Beers. Like some kind of crazy iron, the brawler slips an arm into the way of the flaming blast, boxing up his stance like a classic brawler. The whirling shinai smacks loud and flaming across his guard twice in dual snaps that sound off like gunshots in the brewery, but Yamazaki isn't interested in that. Well, kind of. That shit stings. "Fucking stick--" he snarls, before that hand whips out to grab Hayato's weapon at the guard, and if he gets a hand on it, he /will/ snap even bamboo in half in the crushing grip of one hand.

"Gimme that--!! C'mere, you.."

All of that serves as a concerning distraction for the fact that Yamazaki pitches forward into Hayato's dome, headfirst. The resulting hammer-to-anvil headbutt generates a massive explosion at site of impact, enough to crack the beer-soaked concrete around the brawler, and coat the ground in /his/ blood as much anybody else's. See? Yamazaki knows how to party.

COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Salvatore with Medium Throw.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Hayato           0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0         Yamazaki
[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Salvatore        1/--=====/=======|=======\===----\1              Ren


What a rascally weasel Ren proves to be, thoroughly avoiding his seeking hands with that roll. And before he knows it, he's both being berated and struck to the back of the knees, despite an attempt to spring away. Yet again, Salvatore Ellis finds himself on his back, having been spun for a delightful impromptu mid-air back flip by the oversized hoop of Ren Kurosaki.

"Gunggh," he sounds as he lands, immediately rolling to one side in case the girl decides to follow-up by slamming that ring into his head. It's what HE'd do, so why wouldn't she?!

Sliding backwards as he finds his footing, the half-Italian dips into a three-point stance. "What's wrong with making a little profit on the side?" he questions. At this rate though, he judges he may not be able to claim that extra money anyway; the girl isn't shutting up, and he's not proving very successful. He casts a glance towards his teammate, perhaps looking for some sign that they should team-up against Yamazaki, or maybe he's just trying to decide if he should launch a strike at the loudmouth braggart anyway. That's the tricky thing about these mish-mashed team fights -- even if this may very well be his debut on SNF!

Deciding instead to try and finish the hoop-thrower off, he smirks from behind the mask instead. "Keep an eye on me," he warns her fairly. His hand settles upon the hilt of his sword.

And then in a flash, he's no longer in a three-point stance, but rather right in front of Ren, a streak of black clothing that seeks to drive his elbow deep into her midsection in a rather terrifying and breath-stealing blow!

And if Ren is unlucky enough to be caught, she can expect him to detach that sheath from his hip, and deliver a tremendous uppercut with it! And is that sheath glowing with that Psycho Power?! (it is)

COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Yamazaki's Bomb Headbutt.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Hayato           0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Salvatore        1/--=====/=======|=======\===----\1              Ren


There's a loud crack from the shinai, but Hayato is a bit too busy to pay it much attention at the moment. The room is generally pretty noisy, too, what with all the fighting. As Yamazaki lunges forward with his head Hayato reaches out with his left hand, palming Yamazaki's face. Sadly, he misses actually putting a finger in Yamazaki's eye or the like, but of course he wouldn't actually /try/ to do that. But he does grind his palm into the gangster's face hard enough to slow down the incoming headbutt. The action is of less use against the explosion of chi that follows it, but at least Hayato has got a hand in between the explosion and his own face.
And then Hayato takes a step back to get his balance... and glances at his shinai. Or at least, the end of it that's still in his hand, and he freezes. He then slowly, with exaggerated calmness, crouches down and places the broken weapon on the floor, then stands back up. Hayato cracks his neck a few times, then turns to look at Yamazaki. He runs a hand back through his soaking hair and gives his opponent a toothy grin. If one was watching carefully they might see the tic above the gym teacher's right eye. And then Hayato is suddenly moving, his fist flying toward Yamazaki's face with no intention of stopping until something solid behind Yamazaki's head forces him to.

COMBATSYS: Salvatore successfully hits Ren with Vexilla Regis.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Hayato           0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0         Yamazaki
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Salvatore        1/=======/=======|=======\=======\1              Ren


"STOP COLLABORATING WITH THE OPPONENT!" shrieks the girl as she knocks the back of Salvatore's knees out, sending him tumbling rather disgracefully to the ground. "That's not fair! You don't see me tryin' to pay off mister Nekketsu to shut YOU up, do you!?" Rolling backwards, the girl pushes off the ground and lands on her feet, immediately thrusting a finger toward Yamazaki. "I'm helping you!!"

When the half-Italian man speaks up, Ren's topaz-colored eyes snap toward him, lips pulling into a comical scowl. "Because this isn't that sort of fight!" the girl cries, wagging a finger at the man. "How shameful! How unsportsmanlike! I don't like you! What did you say?!"

Before she can parse what may or may not have been said, Salvatore is IN HER FACE and driving an elbow into her stomach. A loud gasp escapes her, followed by a yelp as she's painfully uppercut with the sheathe wreathed (hey a rhyme!) in Psycho Power that blasts her upwards. Several seconds later, Ren falls atop of a copper vat, the ring she carries half-lodged into the top of it nearby.

Struggling to her feet, Ren uses her ring for support, offering Salvatore an angry look. "You're not even p-paying attention to your teammate!" she exclaims, ripping that ring from the top of the vat. "This is a team effort and all you care about is makin' easy money!"

The ring in her hand shimmers white, motes of white light drifting off of it as she moves to the vat's ledge. The energy drifts from the steel ring toward her arm, travelling along her lanky figure and otherwise covering her from head to toe in what seems to be frosty energy. When she speaks again, it sounds distorted and off.

"Here I go!!"

In a blur of white, Ren leaps, several afterimages following in her wake. When she lands before Salvatore, there isn't one set of footfalls, but several; eight sets of feet, in fact. Why? Because there are eight hazy, white clones of the young woman surrounding Salvatore, each brandishing a ring, following her movements perfectly.

With relentless force and fury, the girl and her eight clones unleash their attack, striking at all conceivable angles at the man with their rings; high and low, everywhere. Eleven strikes total, before each clone and Ren raise their ring--and drop it harshly downwards. The clones vanish- -and in their wake, a furious burst of pure white chi erupts from the striking point, threatening to consume Salvatore wholly.

"Guh!"

It's all Ren's fault. Yamazaki stumbles back with the recoil from his explosion localizing somewhere at the base of his skull. That'll probably generate one damn fine kink in his neck later. Maybe he'll use his winnings to pay for a massage--and a set of earplugs. Carved from the bones of the chick behind him.

"Nngh.. In ancient China, swordmakers used to cut their son's heads off to test their swords if the leader only said so... you haven't even seen collaborating yet!! Just wait til I'm through with numbnuts over here!! --Oh yeah!"

As if struck by a thought, Yamazaki finally bounces the other end of the shinai off the ground, the throwing down of the gauntlet. He might not have dealt a lot of damage to Hayato's face like he wanted to, but he broke his stick, and that's what honestly counts. Grinning like a flying devil, the blood and beer-soaked brawler's teeth squeal loud enough to carry over the din as enamel grinds against enamel, Yamazaki working his jaw as he lurches.

"Heheh.."

First he scoffs, his shoulders shaking. Then he starts to giggle audibly, hauntingly. Then, shaking his head and whipping /all manner of filth/ into the air, Yamazaki breaks out into a full on howl of laughter. "I BROKE YOUR STUPID CRAP, MORON!!" Yamazaki howls, pointing at Hayato, his pupils the size of pinpoints but his eyes the size of dinner plates. He sprays spittle with every word--it's lucky Hayato's kind of at range right now, else Yamazaki would just ruin him like an intern.

The gangster pitches forward, a thick line of booze-swilled drool dripping off his jaw as a big, fat, thick, pink tongue lolls out of the wicked mask that's his face. He licks across his lips, practically begging for it. "Now, what're you gonna do about it...?"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki interrupts Deep Strike from Hayato with Sadomazo.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Hayato           0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0         Yamazaki
[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Salvatore        1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0              Ren


At that point, Yamazaki gets socked in the face. Hard.

His frame rocks from the impact.

The brawler's face just molds around Hayato's fist as blood sprays around it. But the brawler doesn't. move. an. inch. Stopping Hayato's punch cold with his face, Hayato has a particularly gory tactile picture of Yamazaki as he grins around the Burning Teacher's fist.

"MAN, THAT HURT A HELL OF A LOT!!!" the gangster howls, exploding from his position as if he just wants. /more/. Lashing out with his own fist, he responds in the only way one can respond to that kind of blow: A full out uppercut into Hayato's jaw.

_his jaw._

COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Salvatore with Jyoya No Kane.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Hayato           0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0         Yamazaki
[                          \\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Salvatore        2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0              Ren


It was a promising start, at least. Sending the girl flying with that uppercut, there's a soft 'hmph' of satisfaction from the half-Italian. Straightening, he breathes heavily behind the mask. This is tiring stuff, performing for the cameras. He has to remember to keep things flashy, to keep the crowd entertained. That's what the officials told him, and that's the best way to bring in some much-needed funds for his... alternative lifestyle choices.

The Assassin offers no real replies to Ren. However Hayato is faring, he actually has been paying attention to the gym teacher's struggle against the loudmouth. But when push comes to shove, and nine Ren's come falling down, there's a sharp twang of premonition from deep within the young man's mind. His latent gift tells him the unfortunate news; you won't survive this.

The sheathed weapon comes up in a meager attempt to draw up a defense, but when one is utterly surrounded by the flashy young girls, it's hard to muster any reasonable attempt to mitigate the damage. The girl's strike, and they strike repetitively, those heavy rings slashing and slamming into him. He's knocked this way and that, but the impromptu circle jerk of damage puts Salvatore well and truly through the wringer.

He's already staggering on his feet when those rings rise up, and come crashing down with an explosive punch line, the column of white chi that rises up indeed reducing the black-clothed man to little more than a silhouette, and even that fades--!!

"'fraid you're on your own," the half-Italian voices from paces away from where he was. Remarkably singed and teetering on his feet, he figures the least he can do is offer Hayato the opportunity to not get ganged-up on.

Hand on the hilt of his sword, he draws it and slashes the air not once, not twice, but--oh, just twice! Each slash of the air sends an arrowhead of green power hurtling towards Ren!

And as he smoothly slides the sword back into its sheath, he steps back and away, towards the velvet ropes as his time in this fight coming to a close. The tour group he led out here commiserates with him.

COMBATSYS: Salvatore can no longer fight.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Hayato           0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0              Ren
[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/--=====|


Hayato's head whips violently to the side as Yamazaki's fist is driven into his jaw, sending a spray of blood flying from his mouth. He staggers backwards and it looks like he's going to fall, but then he manages to plant his feet. With a grunt he heaves himself back to a straight up position and brings his head back around around to face Yamazaki. The teacher spits some blood which splashes down to the soaked floor, then his gaze briefly goes to one side as Salvatore is sent flying backwards. Well, that's not good. And when he walks away that's even worse. But, there's a potential upside. "So, does this mean when I win I get his share of beer, too?"
Of course, Hayato doesn't have time to wait around for an official to answer the question. He takes a running step toward Yamazaki... then slips in the beer and falls on his ass, sliding toward his opponent. Or did he? Because while he's down there Hayato plants both hands firmly on the floor, twisting his body around as he launches both feet up towards Yamazaki's chin like a blazing piledriver. His intention is to jump right into Yamazaki's face, then while the gangster is sent flying away Hayato will flip back around and land on his feet. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that.

COMBATSYS: Ren reflects Gloria Patri from Salvatore with Ugetsu.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Hayato           0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0              Ren
[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/--=====|


Breathing heavily after the exertion she'd just made against the Italian assassin, Ren leans to one side, the edge of her heavy steel ring aiding to prop her up a bit. "Oh man," the girl quietly whines, pinching her yellowy eyes shut for a brief moment. The gout of icy energy before her begins to fade. "I m-may have overdone it a bit."

But then--Salvatore's voice!

Snapping her eyes open, the girl looks on with disbelief as he's suddenly standing a short distance from the center of her assault, mouth slightly agape. "Th-that is cheating! I beat you fair and square!" the girl yelps, wagging a finger at Salvatore as he teeters and draws up his blade. "Whoa, what are you--!!"

Drawing her weapon up, its surface flickers with orange energy as Salvatore draws his blade and sends two arrowheads of energy soaring at her. Taking the steel hoop up, the girl cleaves upwards, the first, dispersing the green psychic energy. The second is dealt with by way of drawing that shimmering steel ring down, deflecting the second burst of arrow-like energy in Salvatore's general direction.

Fortunately he's GONE by then.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah," is Ren's exhale of a remark, her body sagging forward on the ring. "This is too much!" Looking up a little, the girl shoots Yamazaki a look before she calls out, "Don't worry BUDDY I'll be there in just a sec! Promise!!" She needs a moment to catch her breath after all that excitement.

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki endures Hayato's Devastation Kick.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Hayato           0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0              Ren
[                           \\\  <
Yamazaki         1/-------/=======|


"Oh yeah.."

Yamazaki whips out his fist a little, the blurring motion making his arm seem like it's five feet long. That guy's jaw is like some kind of crazy iron. But he gets a chance to look over the kiddie table's side of the fight, same as Hayato. The chick busted some interesting moves, but she did most of her job, even if he would have liked for Pajama Party to crush her windpipe on his way out or something.

"Shit, if you want I'll let you have her share--"

What the fu--

Yamazaki is briefly confused when Hayato slips and falls. But he catches on quick, and, shocked into a grin, he catches the full weight of Hayato's blasting kick into his midsection, not even trying to get out of the way, instead trying to put him off-balance instead with the weird lurch he strikes to knock Hayato back onto the floor instead. It's the simple fact that hitting Yamazaki, no matter how big or bad you are in some other playground, is like punching a lion.

Some things just don't end well.

"STAY OUT OF THIS OR YOU'RE NEXT!!" the gangster snarls, one eye popping a vessel and flooding with blood."I got a dolar in my pocket that says you ain't gonna make it, sensei..." the gangster rumbles, stalking after the teacher, one arm low and almost dragging on the ground.

"Oh. Wait."

His other hand slides out of his pocket, clicking open a switchblade.

"My bad."

-cackle!!-

Yamazaki leaps into the air for Hayato's ass, his knife twirling in one hand as the gangster tries to just jump him with all of his weight and cut him to ribbons with his knife, slicing, slashing, "I LOVE THESE KINDS OF FIGHTS!!" not even stopping when there's too much blood, not even caring about it, just cutting endlessly, trying to dice this guy like a onion except Yamazaki's not crying at all no even if he does it's okay because they're tears of joy with how much this guy's gonna get cut up because Yamazaki doesn't know anything about stopping even if Ren or dead pajamas or the announcer tries to stop him they'll get cut too because he's gonna feed this guy his own liver IT'S PARTY TIME!!

He'll impale Hayato on the end of his knife in a very dignified manner. Up to his own wrist.

And then he will flick him over a shoulder. And breathe. Hard.

Oh so hard.

COMBATSYS: Hayato fails to counter Nightmare - Then Darkness from Yamazaki with Counter Thrust.

[                           \\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0              Ren


COMBATSYS: Hayato can no longer fight.

[                           \\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0              Ren


Hayato doesn't stop grinning even as the knife comes at him. Instead he brings his left hand swinging up, taking the blade of the knife right through the palm of his hand, then gripping down with his fingers in an attempt to hold Yamazaki's hand in place while Hayato's own fist comes swinging around from the side. And his plan would have worked, too, if he hadn't considered just how hard it actually is to hold onto something when your hand is covered with blood and has got a knife through it.
And then Yamazaki has the chance to go wild on Hayato, stabbing and slashing away, splashing blood across Hayato. And yet, even with all the wounds it doesn't seem to be quite as much of a massacre as might have been intended. Hayato is bleeding copiously, yes, but for all the stab wounds it seems Hayato's thick muscles have continued to protect him. Even as he looks down at the knife as it's lodged in him for the last time, Hayato still has a grin on his face, even if it's a bit bloodstained now. And as Yamazaki starts to toss him over his shoulder, Hayato just has time to say as he passes by Yamazaki's ear, "Is that all you've got?" And then the teacher crashes into a pile of crates, presumably containing ingredients for beer or something. And he doesn't appear to be getting back up for the moment.

Half-leaning over her ring, Ren Kurosaki lingers to herself for a bit, keeping a tired watch on the situation between the mercenary and Taiyo's Phys Ed teacher. While her match with Salvatore was close, it was certainly less bloody and horrific than what poor Hayato has endured. That guy is crazy! All breaking his arms and swimming in beer and such. But...he's a temporary teammate, right??

"Yes, I'll be there in --HEY!!" squawks the young demon hunter as Yamazaki flips out and snarls at her. Shooting into a tense, upright posture, the girl stomps her foot. "I swear, you're so damn ungrateful for my effort!"

And then there was a switchblade.

"Uh... what are you--"

Widening her eyes as Yamazaki practically flips the hell out all over Hayato, Ren lifts her ring up to her face and partially hides behind it. It's like a train wreck, watching him go all berserker fury at the Phys Ed teacher, despite his best attempts to stop the mercenary dead in his tracks. It's kind of creepy as he actually grins all the while.

Then, finally, it ends in a bloody mess, Hayato crashing into some crates.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh. Huh."

Shifting her gaze a bit, the girl looks back and forth uneasily, staring at a few surrounding crew members and camera crew who seem a bit horrified by the awful mess. "S-so, good j-job we win yay." Puckering her lips, the ninja girl bobs idly on her heels before she takes a few cautious steps away. "Enjoy that prize, okaaaay? I can't drink so I should g-go..."

Now is as good a time of any to keep her damn distance from the man. Possibly FOREVER.

Coated in all spectrums of blood and beer, Yamazaki leans back, shaking out his hair and wrenching a claw into the air, "KYAAAA~~" before the bloodied knife embeds itself three inches into concrete at Hayato's side after Yamazaki discards him, kind of like a grisly signature of the bloodied brawler.

Craning his neck, he calls to, judging from volume, what is possibly every announcer and administrator in the entire building, "IT'S OVER! MAKE SURE TO GIVE THIS GUY A KEG ON MY TAB!!" he laughs, bloodsoaked and harsh.

Then he notices Ren.

"_I_ win," he specifies plainly.

And then steps towards her. You gotta understand, Yamazaki is bleeding, tired, beaten, bruised up, smashed, smacked, and just generally all kinds of asswhupped. But ... he's still standing. And he remembers, all the lip Ren's given him over the course of the match. And most importantly of all. Ren is _not yet gone from his sight_.

Then he breaks off into a kind of half-assed run after the nin, his hand all kinds of a blur for a rampaging punch to her head even in his beaten up state. "C'MERE!!!" he roars. "I TOLD YOU WHAT I WAS GONNA DO IF YOU KEPT RUNNING YOUR MOUTH, DIDN'T I?!"

"OMG!" a bystander calls out. D8 "He's not playing! Run!"

COMBATSYS: Yamazaki successfully hits Ren with Snake Tamer.

[                            \\  < >                                ]
Yamazaki         0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1              Ren


"Uhm...err..." is Ren's response at first, yellow eyes wide as Yamazaki actually regards her, rather than obsess or freak out or WHATEVER he does over the bloody mess he's made. Shifting her gaze about, she fidgets lightly before she exhales, nostrils flaring.

"Sure, sure, you win. Whatever!" Her arms throw up into the air and turns away, steel ring loudly whooshing in the wake of her movements. "Go drink your beer I don't care just stop being an ingrate! Traitor!" Hmph. What a jerk!

When she glances back, she's horrified to discover Yamazaki is coming at her with arms flailing all weird-like. "WAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU A--" Smack. SMACK. CRACK. Struck repeatedly upside the head, Ren wobbles and bends at impossible angles beneath the sheer force of his angry strikes. "MUTINY!!" she manages to shriek somewhere in there before she hits the ground face-first.

"Mrrpprpbpbhglle." She thinks her head is broken.

And then she explodes into PINK SMOKE.

When Ren reappears, she stands high above in the rafters of the brewery, looking like all sorts of hell and bleeding from her head. "THAT'S THE THANKS I GET!?" she shrieks down, lowering the ring down at Yamazaki. The hoop begins to shimmer, orange energy gathering at its center. "Well here's what I think about it, JERK!"

The gathered energy explodes forward, a burst of pure orange chi screaming down at the mercenary. She hopes it's a suitable distraction, because the moment it shoots free the bleeding, aching and bloody ninja girl shoots for the broken window to get the hell out of there, while again shouting, "jeeeeerk" as she flees.

COMBATSYS: Ren can no longer fight.

[                            \\  <
Yamazaki         0/-------/-----==|


COMBATSYS: Yamazaki fails to reflect Nagareboshi from Ren with Bai Gaeshi.

[                                <
Yamazaki         0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Yamazaki can no longer fight.


"Shut up!!! SHUT UP! SHUT! UP!!!"

Once he gets ahold of Ren it's like he tries to beat every last word out of her with his bare hands. Unfortunately, even Yamazaki isn't expecting Ren to be beaten into pink smoke. If he could devise a move that did that to everybody, he would, trust him. But then he finds out she isn't shutting up even while dead, and briefly, Yamazaki looks like he's about to tear the whole brewery apart, lurching angrily over the spot Ren used to be.

Until he looks up, his neck twisting until he can shoot a glance straight up over his shoulder. He frowns.

"Oh, no she did not--"

Yamazaki stretches out one long arm to stop the blast with his bare hand, and to his credit, even bent over like that and halfway to hell--he holds it there. He frowns, holding the burst at bay as it cracks the pavement beneath him. His biceps flex... audibly, making an ominous sound as his muscles tension. (that is just gross and freaky)

He's gonna.. tear through it?

"Damn," Yamazaki murmurs--

Before the gangster just buckles under at the blast, going down to his knees underneath it and being blasted all to hell. When it's over, his back steams from the heat of the impact. "Bitch..." the gangster grumbles, wobbling back to his feet as if drunk. "Can't even fight anymore..." he works out, flexing a hand and staring at it. ....

He grins wildly. "Good to be back."

Yamazaki stalks over the velvet rope and out of the cordoned off fight zone, only passing out when he feels like it; in this case, in a hall just away from the brewing room. Mostly because Yamazaki got irritated and decided it would please him to fall flat unconscious and pin the little guy under his bulk. That way Hayato didn't get any help soon either, and by extension, presumably his student.

Yamazaki's kind of a dick...

Log created on 22:36:18 07/11/2009 by Ren, and last modified on 02:33:38 07/13/2009.