Description: o/` Love, exciting and new / Come aboard, we're expecting you! / Love, life's sweetest reward / Let it flow, it floats back to you! / Love Boat soon will be making another run / The Love Boat promises something for everyone! / Set a course for adventure / Your mind on a new romance! / And love won't hurt anymore / It's an open smile on a friendly shore / It's love / Welcome aboard / It's love! o/` (DRAW MATCH)
"Soon we'll be making another run~"
It's about that time, that time when fists must fly and the buffet must be emptied. Dinner has been had, the crew is down here to watch the fight instead of manning the boat, and all the passengers are eagerly awaiting their entertainment to go with their ridiculously large portions of dinner. And the ridiculous types of foods that are available to them, as this is out on international waters.
And on international waters, anything goes. Just like when you have Play-Doh.
So, with a sea of tables as far as the eye can see, at least until water starts off each side of the boat, a dais has been erected for the combatants to brawl upon. There's spotlights, there's cameras, and the action is imminent!
"Come abooooard, we're fookin' expectin' yoooou~"
That voice is familiar to some, isn't it? But there's no burly Brit there up on the dais, microphone in hand as the pre-match entertainment. No, no, there's only Isaac, only... he seems to have put on a bit of bulk since the show ended all those years ago. And yet there he is, afro and all, wearing his uniform that looks as if it's been in a dusty storeroom since the show stopped filming.
Upon closer inspection however, that is not Isaac.
Upon even closer inspection, that afro is a wig.
And upon closest inspection, that is Preston Alistair Wellington the II in blackface, crooning for the customers.
"It's love~! Alright, I'm fookin' done, where the fuck are the fighters? Get your fuckin' arses out here and punch the shit out of each other, people are trying to eat." He throws the microphone over one shoulder, and slants his oar across his burly shoulders, ripping the sides of the uniform as he does so.
SOME TIME AGO
The SNF production team forwarded some DVD boxsets of the Love Boat to the Kasugano household. Sakura has commandeered the family television set after a protracted argument with her brother about the merits of playing video games (Sakura's position: 'dumb') versus watching the Love Boat (Sakura's brother's position: 'gay'). Still, with parental intervention, Sakura won, and settled in with a smug grin to watch the Love Boat, season one.
FIVE MINUTES LATER
Sakura's head is in her hand as she pitches to one side on the couch, eyes heavy-lidded, a streamer of drool emitting from her parted lips. "This show is... so... boring..." she groans, struggling to stay awake. "MOM!" she yells across the house, because she has the manners of a musk ox. "DID YOU WATCH THIS WHEN YOU WERE MY AGE?!"
"Why, yes!" her mother calls back from the kitchen. "I used to have the biggest crush on Isaac!"
Sakura makes a face and physically shudders, reaching for the remote to change it to something, anything. "Like they'll notice if I dress up as a character from something else..."
NOW
In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem -- if no one else can help -- and if you can find them -- maybe you can hire...
As Preston sings his horrible song, there is a giant dinosaur suit roaming through the crowd, for no readily apparent reason. "Don't-a mind-a me-ah," the muffled voice from inside the suit comes, speaking in a badly affected Italian accent. "I'm-a just-a gettin'-a supplies-ah..." There are no real supplies to be gotten, and the dinosaur pauses, seeming to realize this. Reaching up with a hand far more articulate than any real dinosaur's, it opens a panel on its neck, revealing the face of... "SAKURA KASUGANO, HOW YA DOIN'!"
Sakura is wearing a grey wig badly situated over her own mop of brown hair, and sticks a cigar between her teeth, casually lighting it. She takes off the dinosaur costume, to reveal that she has indeed dressed up as John 'Hannibal' Smith, albet with the shirt still cut to expose her midriff.
"Wow," Sakura says, seeing Preston. "That is /extremely racist/ UUURGGGHHH HACGK COUGH COUGH COUGH"
This is Sakura's first cigar.
Do you know what Tenma Kiryuu hates, more than anything? More than he hates authority figures, or half-Spanish redheads who like to box, or stupid yelling German idiots? More than he hates creepy Grudge vampires, or having to stay awake in class, or the thought of one day having to act like an adult?
He hates, hates, /hates/ 'costume' fights.
So it's probably no surprise that Tenma, dressed up as god only knows who he's supposed to be in one of those stupid 'Love Boat' white faux-naval uniforms, is at the moment a seething ball of offended rage. Crouching down on his haunches off to one side of the fighting area, the space around the Gedo High delinquent is notably empty of spectators as he glowers at anyone that comes within about six feet of him. He ditched the stupid fake navy hat, at least, but the rest of his outfit is... White. White deck shoes, white socks, white uniform pants secured with a white belt, and a white short-sleeved dress uniform shirt tucked into his white pants, with the 'look at me I'm a sailor' patches and badges and crap on it.
It's probably a blessing that it's short-sleeved, though, as there is blood running down his left forearm, and his bokken, slanted over his shoulder as he crouches there, is alight with its usual smoky red aura of blood and chi. None of the SNF staff want to go any nearer to him than the spectators do.
It's only at the end of Preston's introduction, and Sakura's own self-introduction, that Tenma manages to pull himself out of his sulk. The once proud swordsman of Gedo High rises to his feet in a single smooth motion, teetering just a bit as the center of his mass shifts, and then he turns to see... H... Hannibal?
"..." says Tenma, the silence palpable as he stares at Sakura in the grey wig and the cigar. And then he stares at Preston. And then he stares down at himself. "...To hell with this, I'm leaving," he decides, starting to turn around.
You gonna let him front like that, SAKURA KASUGANO?
"Don't insult my fuckin' heritage," the black Brit replies to Sakura, giving her the ol' stinkeye as only the burly Brit can hope to do. That clear hazel gaze swivels to stare into the back of Tenma as the boy turns to leave, and with a slight shrug, he sanctions the fight to begin. He does this silently.
And then gestures for Sakura to hit Tenma right in the back really hard.
It turns into an elaborate pantomime production, and oh god what's that motion that can't be legal in most states!
Sakura finishes vengefully throwing her cigar into the ocean just in time to see Isaac gesturing at her to hit Tenma, then... take him and...
Sakura 'Hannibal' Kasugano stares at Preston, eyes wide with shock and mouth hanging open, for a good twenty seconds of frozen terror. She's pretty sure that stuff isn't legal in Japan, either, especially for teenagers.
Still, with a profound shiver as she tries to forget the undulations of Preston's tongue, Sakura dashes up behind Tenma. "HEY!" she cries. "I didn't watch five minutes of the Love Boat and like half an episode of the A-Team so you could just show up and forfeit! Besides, we owe it to the people who are watching this on TV! Otherwise they'll have to watch, like, Birdie sweating all over Shenwoo or something!" To drive home her lucid and totally sensical point, Sakura swings her fist at Tenma's head, whether he turns around or not.
"So FIGHT ME!" the teen cries, as she swings.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurenai 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\ <
Kurenai 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Preston has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Preston
[ \\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurenai 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Sakura's Jab Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Well, Tenma probably should've guessed that the Ansatsuken prodigy wouldn't just let him walk away, particularly not with the urging of the least classy member of his supposed archenemies.
He feels the pressure of the oncoming Sakura and her fist of justice, not to mention hearing her insistence that they fight it out good and proper so that the fans at home don't have to watch a rerun of sweaty men sweating at each other with punches. That's fair, Tenma can understand that. Doesn't mean he's just going to stand there and let her hit him in the head, though.
Shifting his weight a little bit, Tenma swings his bokken up and keeps it slanted downards, so that rather than the back of his skull, Sakura's fist meets the hard wood of the demon hunter's blade. This is, needless to say, much more comfortable than the alternative for Tenma Kiryuu his own self, though the impact sends a stinging jolt up his arm. "Fine," he says. "You wanna go?" Twisting around quickly, Tenma tries to hook his leg behind one of Sakura's, then put his left forearm across her neck long enough to lean his weight into it and, ideally, topple the girl flat onto the deck. "Let's go, then!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Sakura with Quick Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
Sakura's leg is hooked -- she feels so... sluggish and restricted, fighting in long pants. Before she can dwell on that at all, she's suddenly smashed into the deck, groaning as soon as her skull stops rattling. "How can... anyone fight in these..." she complains, to no one in particular, without really explaining what it is she's whining about.
Banging her palm on the deck as if to psyche herself up, Sakura climbs back to her feet, and raises her fists toward Tenma. Even with the Hannibal costume, she's still wearing her official Ryu merchandise fighting gloves. "I /gave/ you that one," she bluffs, "but that's where my generosity ends! You only get /one/!"
Sakura hops forward, and then spins on one foot, delivering a swift roundhouse. "FLOWER -- KICK!"
COMBATSYS: Preston has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Preston has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Preston 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Preston has joined the fight here in the center.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Sakura's Flower Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|-------
A sensible person would probably try to avoid a kick like that; but the speed behind Sakura's moves is definitely impressive, and nobody's ever confused Tenma Kiryuu for a sensible person in the first place. So, he doesn't put any appreciable effort into avoiding Sakura's kick, or even mitigating the damage it might do.
Instead, the fightingest schoolgirl's foot collides, painfully, with the side of Tenma's head, jarring it sharply to one side and putting a blur right across his vision... But the thing is, he totally planned for that to happen. Sometimes, you just have to create your own opening instead of waiting around for your opponent to give you one; he doesn't have that sort of patience! He is a man of ACTION.
"Let's see about that, huh?" he says, managing a confident grin despite the fact that his eyes won't focus on the same thing; in the heartbeat it takes between the kick hitting his head and Sakura to start recovering from it, Tenma brings his bokken down in a vicious slash, arcing down across the Ryu fangirl's torso... And then at the 'bottom' of the slash, once all the momentum has played itself out, Tenma reverses the blade, swinging it back /upwards/, creating a narrow V-shape with his two strikes, and the bloody chi that empowers them. "Raaaaaagh!!"
Recovering from a vicious off-screen assault by an unknown assailant of a grue-ish fashion, the blackfaced Brit clambers back onto the dais, swinging the oar over his head. "So how are you two doing? Not having too much trouble seein' each other, I hope!" he adds, as racist as always, although less blatant for reasons unknown.
Upon careful deliberation, he decides to try and help Sakura out -- by jabbing her in the back of the knee with the butt of his oar, in an attempt to ensure she isn't hit by Tenma's vicious strike. "Least I can fuckin' do," he says, skirting about the edge of the makeshift arena.
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Sakura with Weapon Jab.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Sakura with Ungyou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Sakura
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Sakura is too focused to see the butt of the oar creeping toward her -- and then it smashes into the back of her knee, causing her to cry out -- "Aaah!" -- and begin to topple, losing her balance.
Sakura tries to bring her arms up in an attempt to block the downward slash of Tenma's bokken, but just gets struck in the crooks of her elbows, causing her limbs to snap down -- and then, when the bokken comes back up, splattering chi everywhere, it cracks right into Sakura's chin. She spits on impact.
The girl wonder of street fighters staggers forward, dazed for a moment. She shoots a glare back at Preston, realizing that he is indeed holding an oar. She then snaps her glare back toward Tenma: "I see how it is! I chose to be original and dress up like someone from a /cool/ show, so you two are ganging up on me because you got saddled dressing like 'In the Navy!' I'll take you both on, then!"
Sakura focuses on Tenma for now, though. She can still feel his chi, thrust into her face as it was, and she decides to go shot for shot with it. Her hands pull back, as if she's preparing to throw a pitch -- and then she wrenches them around and forward, her palms opening up, and a good-sized ball of chi whizzing forth, flickering blue. "HADOKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Tenma with Medium Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Uh oh.
Tenma's eyes widen as he feels the collection of power, the chi drawn forth and compacted into a little ball of doom, and then Sakura hurls that Hadouken his way. Now, to be fair, the /last/ time he met a Hadouken, it was Ryu's, and that thing hurt like you would not believe. Surely, this one can't be nearly as bad, right? The Gedo swordsman stands his ground against it, bringing up his wooden sword in an attempt to block it, and then with a crash of tremendous forces, Sakura's Hadouken...
...Breaks clean through his guard, smashing into Tenma and driving him back off of his feet, sending him ass over teakettle in a backwards roll that ends up with him slumped in a seated position on the deck. "Son of a /bitch/," Tenma declares, sounding more bewildered than actually pissed off. Giving his head a shake, the 'demon hunter' springs out of his sitting and into a low run, closing with Sakura a bit too quickly, especially since his head is still ringing after that Hadouken.
But hey, he's kind of reckless.
That chi-emanating bokken snaps forward again, aimed right at Sakura's face in a fast stab, one which she'll hopefully be pretty wary about because hey, it's her face, and she's a girl. Everybody knows girls are vain like that. "Tch...!"
A slight smirk crosses the features of Preston as he pretty much knocks Sakura into the path of Tenma's strike, instead of the alternative. "Gotta roll with the fuckin' punches, not stagger," he critiques, before wandering away to find his microphone.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Weapon Jab from Tenma with Shou'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Sakura sees Tenma recklessly charging toward her with his bokken pointed ahead, like some sort of fanciful maritime joust. She considers how to deal with this. Ryu, she thinks, would probably use Tenma's momentum against him, taking hold of the outstretched bokken and probably flipping Tenma clear onto his ass. Sakura finishes piecing together this brilliant plan and discovers that she is already charging recklessly at Tenma, yelling.
"SHAAAAAAA--" she cries, rearing one fist back to prepare to Shou'ou Ken Tenma right in his brain, when the bokken connects. From her headfirst dash, Sakura opened herself up to all kinds of woeful possibilities, and perhaps the most woeful comes to pass as Tenma's wooden sword jabs the fighting schoolgirl right in the eye.
"OW! OW! YOU GOT ME RIGHT IN THE CORNER!" Sakura cries, stumbling backward and clutching her face, covering her eye with one palm. "AAH! HSSS! AAAH! HSSS! AAAH! HSSS!" she cries and breathes, teeth gritted as she keeps her eye tightly grasped.
For a moment, Tenma gets the impression that he might have just barely avoided having something really bad happen to him.
Instead, though, something bad happens to /Sakura/ instead, as he ends up hitting her in the eye. That's probably not even /sanitary/, given how his chi manifests. The worst part is, though, as Sakura stumbles back and holds her eye, Tenma actually feels... Kind of... Bad about it?
I know, I know. I'm shocked, too.
"Uhhhh, geez, maybe you should get an ice pack, or something. We can just... Ahhh, shit..." There was a time when Tenma Kiryuu would've seized the advantage and just tried to pummel Sakura anyway, and honestly against some people he probably still would. In this case, though, he just looks extremely uncomfortable, with his bokken slanted against his hunched shoulders and looking around awkwardly for a source of some ice. Nobody likes getting hit in the eye, he remembers the time Birdie headbutted him so hard he went temporarily blind in one of his.
So this would be a good time for somebody to inject some CHAOS.
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
The blackfaced Brit returns just in time to see what happened there. "Ouch, that wasn't the advice I fuckin' gave," he notes, but decides to take matters into his oversized, lightly hairy hands. He's being very racist with this depiction.
But what to do about this unexpected interlude?
Twirling the oar in his hands, Preston opts to go with what he feels is the best opening possible. But since Sakura's still wearing a lot of clothing, he instead decides to hit Tenma to try and even things up. "Hey Tenma, there's no time for that now, she'll be fine. She's got another eye, however squinty it is. Heh, remember how I used to be really racist and offensive?" he questions the combatant, despite the, y'know, fight that's going on between the two.
"Well guess what -- did you drop some fuckin' change, 'cause I thought I heard a chink!"
And so, being the offensive boy that he is, he thrusts the oar forward with a stamp of his foot, aiming to catch Tenma right in the side of the head with the tip of the blade -- and send the youth staggering!
As Tenma looks around for ice, Sakura slowly uncovers her face. Her eye now has a big purple shiner right to one side of it -- the sort of mark that usually comes with a 'IT WAS MY FAULT SONNY IT WAS MY FAULT' explanation when people see it. Knowing that Kei is going to make some horrible comment at school when she sees it -- "Oh, I see you did go out on that date with Rock Howard after all" -- Sakura is even madder than she would otherwise be. Her teeth are gritted and bared, her face tight with rage. "Ghhhrrr..."
Sakura /runs/ forward, heavy footfalls announcing her advance, and she scrambles to try and wrap her arms around Tenma's neck. Should she connect, it's a simple matter of flexing her bicep and tightening the bend of her elbow -- right against the passages in Tenma's throat that provide sweet, sweet air. And then releasing just enough -- and then doing it again -- and again -- and again. "GGGHHH!" Sakura yowls. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Choke choke.
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Tenma with Bunting Tosser.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Tenma 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Tenma with Sakura Strangle EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Tenma 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
The really weird part is that Tenma almost gets along with Preston.
Seriously, that just isn't right.
"Hey, shut up already! And go wash your face, you look like some kinda..." Tenma sees the oar coming towards the side of his head, and tries to avoid it.... But the emphasis here is on 'tries', as instead he gets smacked in the side of the head with that stupid damn rowing oar. The /very/ solid impact of wood against the side of his melon sends the Guardian King reeling, and would very nearly knock him right on his ass were it not carrying him directly into the line of Sakura's attack.
"Ghrk," is what Tenma says, as a shouting Sakura Kasugano attempts to choke the very life out of him. He came to a realisation, during the siege of Southtown, that he's actually a big fan of being able to breathe... So honestly, he doesn't enjoy this particular turn of events, not one little bit. The repeated release-choke is even worse, somehow, so Tenma does what he's got to do... He throws all of his weight, and consequently /Sakura's/ weight - which is kind of a lot, girlfriend should cut down on the donuts - forward in an attempt to flip her into the deck. In order to avoid snapping his own neck like a twig, Tenma goes /with/ the flip, which means if all goes as planned he'll land roughly on top of the fighting schoolgirl, which should ideally be enough to get himself loose.
/Ideally/.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Sakura with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Tenma 1/---====/=======|=======\======-\1 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Ideally becomes really, as Sakura is flipped and Tenma flips with her. She lets out a loud, boyish grunt as he slams down onto her, and her mind drifts back, into the ages...
SOME TIME AGO
Sakura is eating donuts out of a box that once contained a dozen. She's got most of one in her mouth, one in her hand, and two in her other hand. She is not so much eating like a pig, because pigs typically chew -- it's more like... a duck, really.
Sakura's mother walks into the kitchen, and frowns, putting her hands on her hips. "Really, Sakura! Those are for everyone, not just you!" She clucks her tongue disapprovingly. "Keep it up, and you're going to get a pot belly!"
As her mother leaves, lecture over, Sakura looks down at her abdominals, which are more clearly defined than probably any teenager's on the planet, because she does more gravity crunches in a day than some professinal personal trainers do in a lifetime. Meanwhile, her mother has flab and stretch marks. Sakura frowns, bitterly shoving a chocolate glaze donut into her mouth.
NOW
"I'm not FAT!" Sakura suddenly roars, trying to shove Tenma off of her. She blinks for a moment, realizing that no one had actually said this, and that she just made herself look like both an idiot and a lunatic. Her dangerously tanned skin reddens a bit, and she adjusts her George Peppard wig menacingly. "I mean -- you're going DOWN!"
Sakura charges forward, so fast that it's like there are /many/ Sakuras charging forward, afterimages of blue chi light trailing her. She tucks and spins, hoping to bring her fist right up under Tenma's grill -- so hard that he'd end up in the sky, and Sakura with him. At which point she'd spin again, and do the same thing before they could hit the ground -- and then volley him up into the air /again/ with a third punch, before finally giving up because they're on a boat and flying too high increases the risk of falling overboard exponentially.
"MIDARE -- ZAKURAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Midare Zakura from Sakura with Dead End Breaker.
[ \\\\\\\ < > // ]
Tenma 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Sakura
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Shoved off, Tenma rolls to the side, getting his feet back under himself just in time to... Wait, what was that she said?
"Hey, I didn't say anything," the Gedo Gang member says, giving Hannibal Kasugano a once-over. "But now that you mention it, those pants really aren't doin' you any favours," Tenma notes, because, well... He's kind of a dick that way. "I mean, your thighs are looking kinda big, and your ass is just..." Oh, wait, right. The fight.
Tenma's eyes widen a bit in surprise as Sakura charges at him with such terrifying speed, but if there's anything he knows all too well, it's that the eyes can deceive you. They're easily fooled, by tricks of speed or movement or even chi or psycho whatever, and what you need to listen to is /all/ of your senses. The tall Japanese youth feels the movement of energy through the fight, between himself and Sakura, between the pair of them and the boat, and it's through that, through the web of chi that connects all things, that the supposed hunter of demons can tell where and how Sakura's going to strike.
She's too fast to avoid, and probably too powerful to block. So, the obvious choice becomes...
"TOO SLOW!!" barks Tenma as, in the /exact same instant/ as Sakura's fist collides with his jaw, his sword strikes Sakura, coming down in a viciously fast slash that blunts the impact of her fist against his chin - though not as much as he'd hope - and gives him the opening he needs to deal with the rest of her attack. Instead of Sakura's succession of blows, it becomes Tenma's, as he lashes out with his feet and his free fist, driving Sakura back a step at a time... Before he finishes things off by grabbing her by the front of her George Peppard costume, yanking her towards himself, and smashing his forehead into her face with thunderous force. "Ora!!"
Sakura gets bashed -- and pummeled -- and beaten. Her big dramatic stand is not as effective as she'd hoped, particularly because it ends with Tenma smashing his forehead into her nose, so hard that Tenma is no longer the only one in this fight squirting blood everywhere. "UNGGH!" Sakura cries, falling to the ground, bouncing roughly on the deck.
Slowly, the warrior teen twitches and begins to climb to her feet. Her wig has flown off completely, exposing her shaggy brown hair, matted from being trapped under a pretty terrible hairpiece, and slickened by her sweat. Dark brown eyes are aflame with passionate fighting fury, but her body is too weak to follow through on its promise. Sakura takes a few shaky steps, her hands coming together in the unmistakable language of 'brewing me a hadoken.'
Indeed, Sakura shoves her hands forward, shakily. "Hadooooken," she groans, weakly -- and a little piff of a blue spark is lobbed, barely the size of her fist. It's like being attacked by a particularly blue firefly.
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/---====|
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Sakura then tips over and eats deck.
COMBATSYS: Tenma slows Small Hadouken from Sakura with Dharmapala.
Glancing Hit
[ \\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/--=====|
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Preston 0|-------|--=====
Yes, this is it... The moment of truth. Tenma is barely able to stand himself, after that punch to the jaw, but he's still going through willpower, natural toughness and sheer contrariness... But whatever the result of Sakura's clearly final attack is, that will decide who wins and who loses. Half supporting himself with the tip of his bokken grounded on the deck, Tenma watches as the fighting schoolgirl collects herself, and manages to push out one last gasp of chi; a final, smaller Hadouken.
It's kind of cute, really. Look how small it is!
But Tenma Kiryuu is nothing if not confident. Even battered as he is, he can see the shining light of victory ahead in his mind's eye, and all he has to do is defeat this one last challenge; as Sakura falls, Tenma's bokken rises, and then sweeps back down in a wide arc, trailing a swath of red. Nowhere near close enough to hit the Hadouken or anything else, really... It's what happens afterwards that matters. From the red afterimage following the blade, a crescent of roiling blood and chi is born, cutting through the air towards the tiny Hadouken. The two projectiles meet, and...
The angle is wrong, and the Dharmapala shears the Hadouken in half the wrong way, leaving the rest of the blue orb to smash into Tenma's sternum, knocking what's left of the fight out of him and leaving the Guardian King flat on his ass on the deck of the boat.
That's just embarassing.
"Haha, guess I win," Preston announces, waving the oar above his head all victorious like. He's about to take a lap of honor when he realizes that he wasn't a true participant in this fight, just a lazy chaos agent who didn't throw much of a spanner in the works at all!
Then he realizes that he's not even standing on the dais at all, but over at the buffet, filling a plate of food before it's all eaten by the horde of old people who are out on a three-hour tour.
"Fuck me, I hate it when this happens," the Chaos Agent declares, lifting a massive leg of lamb to his mouth. His teeth rip down into its succulent flesh.
This fight is over, fight fans!
COMBATSYS: Preston has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:31:06 10/11/2009 by Sakura, and last modified on 14:58:53 02/28/2010.