Description: In order to test the will of those who would be the successors of Chongquan, Shiden arranges a charity match with Quon, knowing the young man will be irresistibly drawn to it..
The invitation is tailored to Quon perfectly--a charity fight, of course, a bout for 'the sake of the children'. But there's something a little off about it. Nothing specific--the venue is perfect, of course, in front of the children's hospital, with balloons and milling people--but there's -something-. The announcer is fine, though, calling people to come to the stage, as the bout is scheduled to begin shortly.
And the crowd seems genuine, fight fans and former patients and current patients, eating hot dogs and sushi and ice cream and funnel cakes... all those good things. So it isn't that. The only other thing left... would be the scheduled opponent.
That guy? Is listed as Mr. X, so obvious a pseudonym, is dressed in a kung fu oufit, the 'pajamas', in black and white silk, with fine wooden buttons, the traditional slippers... and a mask. Oh yeah, a conforming facemask, a tragedy mask, looking quite out of place. But the man himself is bouncing about, flipping and twisting, performing a bit for the audience.
"Our mysterious benefactor has pledged a hundred thousand to the hospital... and if Quon Chen can beat him... a MILLION!" cheers go up. There's your motivation, Quon...
The moment that Quon received the mail in his dorm room, he raised an eyebrow. Most of the times he had done charity fights he had to go to the organizers instead of the organizers coming to him. That should've been the first sign that something wasn't quite right. It was only a slight bit of vanity that kept him from questioning the invitation.
When he arrives, nothing seems to give away the fact that it was off. The concessions and the crowd(which seemed to give him a major adrenaline high before he even stepped onto the mat) were all there.
It's not until he sees his masked opponent performing he ends up wondering what's going on. But even still it's an opportunity to perform for a crowd and he will dive into with everything he's got.
His own performing for the crowd is a bit less flamboyant at the beginning. He just steps onto the mat with a cocky grin made all the more cocky looking by the way he chews gum as he does so. "Hey. Don't use up too much energy before you have to fight me, 'Mr. X.'"
The man stops after a complicated tumbling routine--one which ended right on his start mark. Slowly, he rises, and though his eyes aren't visible in the mask, Quon might get the feeling that his attention is fully on him, and not on the people around. And he might get the idea that the man under the mask is smiling, amusedly. "Don't worry," he says, and naturally, his voice is muffled and modified, wiped clean of accent and distinguishing factor.
"I'll have plenty left for you, Mr. Quon Chen. Practitioner of Chongquan... you've been making quite a name for yourself. I admit--I arranged this because I want to see how you've really developed." Subtly, his right leg slides back, his hands come up... and he nods. "But don't worry. I told the hospital they'd get -ten- million if you die..." A joke? Or serious? It's impossible to tell, and anyways, the fight's ready to begin.
"I saw you lost to that girl. But it was a good fight... I wonder who has the more potential, you or her?" Again, even though his eyes can't be seen, the intensity of his attention is all for you...
COMBATSYS: Shiden has started a fight here.
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Shiden 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Quon has joined the fight here.
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Shiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Quon
COMBATSYS: Shiden focuses on his next action.
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Shiden 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Quon
Creepy. That's the only way Quon can describe not only this situation but the person standing across from him. The voice modulation, and the eerie sense that Mr. X is staring right through him even though he can't see his eyes is a bit unsettling to the college student.
Reminds himself that he's still on stage and that he still has to perform for the crowd and so he decides to respond verbally with a few wisecracks. "Ok. Voice Modulation... Mask.... Lemme guess. You're the fighting world's version of the scream killer, right?"
He slips into his stance and then bounces slightly as he stares at the other fighter. "I suppose you're gonna ask what's my favorite scary movie? It's the first Street Fighter movie with Jean Claude Van Damme. Some scary stuff right there."
Then straight out of the gates, he shoots towards his opponent with a forearm right for Mr. X's collar bone before pivoting as he slips his legs behind his opponent's and then tripping him as he shoots a palm out towards his chest.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Shiden with Wind Chases the Clouds.
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Shiden 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Quon
Quon's gambit is successful; his combination of strikes lands, forcing the mysterious, masked 'Mr. X' to tumble forward or go prone. He chooses to tumble, popping up on his feet... and of course, that mask just blocks his visage. But he doesn't yet seem concerned. "Good, good... you -have- learned..." He sounds pleased, as much as a technology-wiped voice -can- sound pleased, resuming his stance--or a stance, that is, as he seems to sink back on his rear leg.
He hesitates, for a moment, weighing his options, then surges forward with pseudo-motion... the rearing leap of a tiger, frozen in one place, his hands flattening into open palms, held side by side as his chi surges, a flare of orange-red chi forming and pulsing off his hands into a flying projectile, aimed for Quon's chest.
"I hope this -will- be interesting," he remarks, finally, his tone of voice indicating honest intent in that statement, rather than any sort of taunting. He's careful about reining his ego in, for now...
COMBATSYS: Quon blocks Shiden's Tiger's Shout.
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Shiden 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Quon
Quon pulls back with guard tight. It's probably a good thing too. With the speed the red orange flare had as it flies towards Quon. He brings his arms up in a cross and then finds himself skidding back an inch before sliding back into his stance.
He takes a deep breath and tries to take in the cheers of the crowd as he makes his approach towards Mr. X.
He feints a back-hand with a slight skip and then suddenly pivots as he performs a spinning side-kick right towards the stomach. "Interesting. That's my goal."
COMBATSYS: Shiden interrupts Strong Kick from Quon with Immovable Mountain.
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Shiden 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Quon
That impassive mask doesn't react to the feint; instead, he's grounding himself. Chi flashes along his body, connecting him with the earth, and that, combined with a slight twist, forces Quon's leg to rebound off a stomach suddenly made like iron; a surface that might be hard enough to force damage on the kicking man, were he hitting it dead on. Fortunately, he isn't...
But unfortunately, Quon's momentum is carrying him forward. Right into 'Mr. X'. And Mr. X is prepared. That power flares along his arms again, like a moment previous, but instead of unleashing it as a fireball.. he's delivering it along with his palms, a double palm strike right into Quon's chest, a thunderous impact accompanied by the flare of that orange energy.
"Seems like you've forgotten what Chongquan really means, Quon... perhaps you need a refresher?" Now he -does- sound somewhat taunting, the voice modulation falling off enough to let that come through. "But the fight isn't over yet, is it? Anything could happen..."
Quon recognizes /that/ move. How could he not? It was one of the moves that his sifu drilled into him over and over over again. While he uses a variant, he knows what the mechanics of the move from a purist look like. There's a moment before the impact comes that his eyes widen. The impact to his chest sends that piece of gum he was chewing earlier flying from his lips in a gross and somewhat embarassing manner.
He slowly peels himself off the ground. "Really? Please show me what Chongquan is all about."
His fists tighten for a moment and then he comes in first with a kick to Mr. X's front leg and then he follows it up with a series of punches to the stomach.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Shiden with Combo Attack.
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Shiden 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Quon
X's breath gushes out of him as the combination lands--a surprisingly sharp combination, at that, forcing him to stagger back. He laughs, "Not bad, Quon Chen..." He still doesn't sound -concerned-, though there's a note of pain to his voice now. "Maybe you -do- remmeber something about what Chongquan is supposed to be." His tone is conversational, not meant for the audience. Speaking of--they're cheering and laughing, loving the display, unaware of whatever subtext is going on up there. So something good is coming out of all this.
X's stagger doesn't last long; soon enough, he's lunging forward, firing a three-set of jabbing left punches, aimed for Quon's torso--only the last actually ends up being a raking claw swipe, seeking to draw actual blood with a slashing sort of attack. A dangerous one to use--the people, so to speak, aren't expecting actual blood... and maybe Quon isn't, either.
COMBATSYS: Quon fails to interrupt Medium Punch from Shiden with Crossing the Bridge.
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Shiden 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Quon
Quon lowers his body, bending his knees as if preparing to stand his ground. It's obvious he was about to do something though to the rest audience it probably wasn't as obvious to them as it probably would've been to Mr. X. After all he was a fellow Chongquan practitioner and based on that fact, is pretty sure knew his personal take on the style as intimately as Quon did himself.
For some reason though, Quon hesitates and when that last strike comes, he finds himself stumbling back and bleeding.
A stunned look appears on his face as he touches his wound and looks at it for an instant and then at Mr. X. "Who the hell are you?"
A little laugh. "Come now, if you can't guess, then I'm not -telling-..." As Quon stumbles back, X moves forward, following his target, not giving him time to really pull back and regroup. He fires a series of strikes, alternating punches and kicks, high and mid-level strikes mostly--strikes not designed to hit, but to herd. The overall effect is somewhat like a choreographed fight scene, intended to wow the crowd.
It's also intended to draw Quon into X's rhythm, to get him into a pattern of defenses, so that when he switches it up--finally aiming a strike to hit for real, turning a short-ranged knee into a side-on kick from the right leg--Quon is expecting something else. Will it work? Perhaps it will. Even if it doesn't, it's still quite a beautiful show to give, isn't it?
"Maybe I'll give them the extra money even if you do manage to win," he says, as he works the pattern, making conversation while performing a difficult sequence. "Surely that brat Antoine'll need it, even if you don't."
COMBATSYS: Quon blocks Shiden's Medium Kick.
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Shiden 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Quon
Quon is easily drawn into the rhythm that X goes into deflecting attack after attack as the combo goes. It's almost too late when Quon realizes that it's a trap. It's only by a miracle that he manages to turn his body and lower his arm to take the impact of the knee which is quickly followed by the kick, sending a numbing sensation to his arm.
The voice is still modified but what he says narrows the list a bit further. He growls out the words so that audience doesn't hear them, "I'm gonna enjoy beating the mask off you." The defiant look on his face however, ends up whipping the crowd up into a frenzy.
However, he doesn't believe those words because while he doesn't have proof his gut is telling him that this is the same person he could never beat in a fight.
Quon goes back on the offensive, coming in with a rapid series of jabs before following up with a palm strike to the stomach.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Shiden with Strong Punch.
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Shiden 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Quon
Quon's acquitted himself quite well in this fight, to be sure--X is satisfied with that. Sure, Quon's Chongquan is a little more 'flashy' than X particularly approves of, but he isn't, by any means, disappointed in the man's skills. He'll have to seek out and test Antoine sometime. The impact of Quon's fist folds X briefly over that fist--however, he pushes off, throwing himself backwards... 'selling' the punch, overselling it, in fact, but landing on his back and rolling back so he can leap back up to his feet, with forward momentum.
"If you're aiming to take the mask off, you're punching in the wrong direction," he notes, sardonically, the masked man tucking into a ball and then coming out of it with a flying axe kick, his right heel crashing down for Quon's shoulder, left foot already seeking to touch ground and form a base for his landing. There seems to be a little more force in his axe kick--maybe he's thinking that it will be the strike that ends the fight?
COMBATSYS: Quon parries Shiden's Medium Kick!
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Shiden 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Quon
Quon doesn't have time to respond to X's comment since there's a foot aiming for the shoulder that he took the kick with. If Quon had to guess, he'd think that his opponent was trying to specifically take that arm out and thus take the fight out of him.
It takes Quon's natural talent to move himself out the way as he side-steps brushing the axe kick aside as he moves into position for a counter offensive. With a powerful torque of his body, he brings his fist upwards in an attempt to knock Mr. X up into the air, then comes a flip forward as he brings a heel of golden flame down upon him to drive him back down to the ground and then flipping forward once more to stomp on Mr. X's back before spinning away.
COMBATSYS: Shiden blocks Quon's Dropping the Bridge EX.
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Shiden 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Quon
Quon's fist impacts X--but not his masked face. His uppercut punch is caught by X's left hand, pushing it just enough away that, along with a twist of his head, the fist only grazes his mask. It's enough to send him stumbling back, this late into the fight, for him to have to deal with that chi-enhanced axe kick. But that, too, meets something other than its intended target, X catching the flaming kick in crossed forearms. The impact is still enough to drive him to one knee, that flame washing over him, obscuring his upper torso in that explosion of power... but it's not quite enough to take him down.
With a grunt, X pushes back, pushing Quon away from him--and leaping after him immediately thereafter, springing like a tiger. And if he should catch Quon? Quon will find himself in a tornado of flying martial artist, all chi-enhanced claws spinning around him, until he catches Quon by the shoulders and flips over him to hurl him away.
This is -not- a Chongquan technique, to be sure--something of an original, or at the least, not based on anything Quon's seen in his training.
COMBATSYS: Quon just-defends Shiden's Raging Tiger!
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Shiden 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Quon
Is Quon surprised by the deflection of the powerful move? Not in the least. What does surprise him is what he sees when he gets pushed backwards out of the attack.
His eyes widen both shock and awe at the power being brought to bear. All at once, X pounces on him and combination of talent, technique, luck, and energy gained from hearing the cheers of the crowd see him through as golden flames form in the palm of his hands. Relaxed hands of golden flame meet orange flamed claw. Quon's hands move in a blur as he struggles to keep up and keep himself from drowning in X's attacks. When Mr. X tries to go for that final grab, Quon steps back as he slips his hands between X's and pushing his hands outwards breaking the grapple attempt before his hands could get a hold of his clothing.
Quon then steps back in as he lashes out with a snap kick, quickly followed by another and another, with several kicks delivered within the space of a heart beat. Quon quickly switches legs, repeating the process with the other leg. His foot comes back down to the ground and in almost no time flat, he twists his hips and pushes with his feet in an attempt plant a haymaker right on the mask.
His fatigue begins to finally catch up to him and his body fold over. His arms hang and his breathing goes well beyond the point of labored. It's a miracle he's even on his feet. His swaying body looks like it could fall over at any moment. The only reason he still remains standing is the fact that he doesn't want to disappoint the fans.
COMBATSYS: Shiden dodges Quon's Wild Dragon.
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Shiden 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Quon
"You've done well, Quon Chen." The man says it, and means it; while he doesn't have a tone of admiration, there is -respect- in there. Few have so completely defended the Raging Tiger; of those who have, they were far more skilled than Quon. Still, as he completes the defended technique, he's still on the move, pacing himself far better than Quon; when the flurry of kicks comes, 'X' slides sideways, weaving in and out of the kicks--and then, when that final, haymaker kick comes, Mr. X stylishly ducks underneath it, going into a split.
A semi-split, at least; he doesn't quite touch the floor before he reverses direction smoothly. "But," he adds, almost conversationally, "you've pushed yourself a bit too hard--I can see how much just standing is fatiguing you..." And, as if to put the point home, his left hand jabs in for Quon's sternum, crunched into a vicious knuckle-fist that, should it impact, might take the rest of the man's breath away.
COMBATSYS: Shiden successfully hits Quon with Strong Punch.
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Shiden 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Quon
Quon couldn't help but shake his head at his kicks not finding the mark. He has drawn a lot of energy from the crowd and it had helped him to do better than he probably should've been able to. But in this fight, he's learned the hard way that natural talent, and an innate ability to feed off of a crowd can only take him so far in the face of superior skill and the obvious difference in experience.
To further drive that point home Quon finds himself incapable of even moving to avoid the punch to the sternum. The air in his lungs escapes from his lips like a deflated balloon. In spite of it all, Quon struggles to get to his feet even if his lungs burn and his muscles ache in protest of any movement. His head begins to swim and while the cheers are as loud as ever, his ability to hear them slowly leaves him and with it the rest of his will to get up. Consciousness soon follows.
COMBATSYS: Quon has left the fight here.
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Shiden 0/-------/-----==|
He'll live. Shiden's already decided this. The crowd is stunned; they were -sure- that Quon would champion the day. He did, in a way; Shiden walks to the announcer, and whispers in his ear, before walking away. As he's doing so, mask still firmly on his face, the announcer shouts into the microphone, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Our mysterious benefactor has decided to give the hospital -five hundred thousand!- Give him a round of applause! He--" And the announcer turns, but Shiden is no longer there; he stops to remove the mask then dumps it.
$500,000 was cheap, for that insight into Quon. Perhaps Antoine will be as amusing...
Log created on 21:02:30 07/29/2010 by Shiden, and last modified on 22:29:24 08/04/2010.