Description: With the King of Fighters tournament approaching, Aranha is on the search for team mates. His search begins with Pullum Purna who ends up being similar to the capoeirista in so many ways but having relatively different approaches to the way they fight. But is she a good fit for Aranha's new team?
Every since he had lunch with Wing Xiaoping, Keith Mason, aka. Aranha, has been thinking about how he was going to fill those 2-3 slots on his team. While his former team mate's previous methods of holding tryouts worked to put together a fairly good team, he wanted to try something different.
He decided to travel, to see if he could find any diamonds in the rough or perhaps a talent that may have been undiscovered. After all, the people who he might've found in Southtown with invites might've already been picked up. He had been putting the word out that he was looking for team mates in fight halls and various other place through both appearances in certain locations as well as using rumor mills to get the word out.
Eventually gossip about a local fighter in Saudi Arabia came up however it wasn't from the sources he expected to see. But a potential fighter was a potential fighter and if it worked out it would be good for him.
That's why he's currently standing in front of a shopping center, waiting for this potential new recruit to arrive.
It's just a short wait - the Purna family was well known around the city. World got out to them quickly, though only one Purna really was a warrior - she had to be since her father's sudden illness. 'Shadaloo' too, a group that she doesn't particularly know - but she knows of them. Nothing good.
But that's in the future!
As Aranha stands infront of the shopping center, the one that he's awaiting stands above him, resting upon the sign, looking down. "Ah, you must be the person looking for me." The voice comes from above, the girl looking down - her outfit a stark contrast to one 'Keith Mason', two layers above, both thin, with the rather apparent blue silk 'pants' that Arabian women are known for wearing.
She slides to the edge, letting her legs dangle, much like her hair, as she smiles down. "You don't seem to be from around here either - another traveling fighter?" She's saw another earlier, "I wouldn't suggest challenging the desert, like the other did, though."
Aranha blinks. As someone who is somewhat paranoid he's not exactly used to someone getting the drop on him. And with his propensity for pissing off faction leaders through his smart mouth (Rugal), his desire for personal freedom within reason (Vega), he has a good reason to be somewhat paranoid. But no one is perfect and he doesn't have those fancy sixth sense abilities that some fighters seem to have.
But then he slowly looks upwards to see an Arabian female sitting above him. "Challenging the desert? Nooo... Thank you."
Aranha moves away from the wall and the sign that was above him. "If you ever see me challenging the desert, there must be some horrible sh... stuff behind me." He doesn't want to make a bad first impression on a possible team mate. Let the bad first impressions be Wing's job.
He cracks his neck and beckons her to come down. "Nah... I'm just here to see if I could find someone to add to my King of Fighters team. After my business is done here, I'm taking a plane outta here."
"A fine idea, if you've never done it before." She goes on, looking below. "I'm certain anyone who goes out into the desert has their reasons, be it for their family, or for themselves - but it's not quite the hiding place you may think it to be." She laughs lightly, "Well. Not for everyone."
Beckoned to come down, Pullum kicks off the overhang, flipping down gracefully, a small stream of light used to cushion the landing as she stands up, sand that had picked up on the ground being blown a small bit aways. "Trying to find others for a King of Fighters team? I've never heard of the thing - but Blair might have." She notes to herself.
Now drawn to attention, and most of it upon him, Pullum tilts her head. "But Blair or Darun hasn't said a word - and that means that they haven't." She shakes her head, "So I may not." She pauses, "But I may, if you are interested. I have never had a serious competition to my name - but I would like to change that, now that I think of it." She stands tall - and away from the wall. But would Aranha want a rookie? She doesn't think of herself as one - but she would need to practice - and despite what she thinks, what she is doing is the same as walking out into the desert for the first time.
"Well..." Aranha starts as he attempts to think of a way to address her concerns. "Now is as good a time to start. Besides, I came here because I was looking for a surprise. In addition, We were all rookies once."
There's a pause as his body begins to relax and his breathing changes as he gets himself ready to go. "But even still, I would like to see what you've got before we can even talk about whether or not we'll be working together."
And that's when he pulls out his Oakley Thumps and hits a button on them before he begins to sway left and right in ginga, dancing to the sound of the shades pumped into his ears courtesy of the earbuds attached to them.
COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|
"To see what I've got - yes, I'd like to see that as well." Against an actual opponent - one unlike Blair or Darun. Who knows how strong the man might be, as well! The man pulls out something - and he begins to sway, dancing. How ... interesting. So he is much the same as she? At least, in one way.
"You as well?" She grins, though her words may be dulled to the music that has begun in earnest into the man's ears.
Her body begins to twist, dancing, as well, to her own rhytm - but it is unlike Aranha's. While both may have a flow, it's simply ... different. She does not sway so much as gyrate. "Yes, let us begin!" She 'lunges', hands coming down against the ground, sliding as if she had practiced it in such a climate before. Her movement flows into a landing right before Aranha.
Just as she reverses it, tumbling backwards as her legs go out, to impact and knock Aranha away as she does the same, rolling to her feet, success or not.
COMBATSYS: Pullum has joined the fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Pullum
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Pullum's Reverse Ankle.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Pullum
When she dances the capoeirista feels as though there's somewhat of a kindred spirit based on the fact that they both dance. And he'll probably want to discuss the history of her art, if there is one, with her later. However addressing her slide in is more important right now and Aranha uses his own speed to leap up above the initial slide and to the side which allows him to avoid the reverse in momentum, landing with his palms on the ground, body tilted at an angle with one elbow pressed into his side as he does so.
In a display of both strength and agility, he pushes himself into a handstand as he moves towards the other dancer on his hands before swinging out an arm to generate momentum to send himself spinning as he attempts to smack her with his feet.
COMBATSYS: Pullum blocks Aranha's Inverted Tornado.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Pullum
Rolling to her feet, Pullum barely has a chance to get to her feet as Aranha lands in reverse, on his palms, sending himself spinning towards her! What a different style. She had never seen such a dance before! Her leg is raised, struck by Aranha's spinning again and again - the pain isn't new to her.
But she doesn't slow up - as she weathers the storm, one of the strikes by his leg sends her spinning. In her rotation, she grasps for the closest leg that moves in it's rotation around towards her, aiming to pull him off the ground, backed by his momentum, and into her own.
Where she'll let him go just as she stops her own spiral.
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Medium Throw from Pullum with Medium Kick.
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Aranha 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Pullum
At this point, Aranha has pretty much gotten used to people trying to grab his legs. People see that move and see vulnerable legs, plus Aranha was on a team with a wrestler once upon a time.
He pushes his hands off the ground the moment that she goes to lift him, pushing himself at her so that he thrust one foot at her rib cage the moment he goes upwards punishing her for the grapple attempt while he uses her throw to right himself and ultimately landing with on one knee.
What Aranha has to say about that? "Hmmmm.
It's unexpected - at least to Pullum. The man was so used to it that as she puts her weight ( and momentum ... mostly momentum) behind her, she gets a foot into her stomach, tossing her backwards and into the air.
But it's not all bad news.
As she falls, Pullum manages to right herself - the wind knocked out of the Arabian 'princess', but not the fight. Landing as she does, she is visibly pained - but it's not something she can let get to her. Without flair, she stands momentarily still - unused to such timing, but shortly, is back into motion. She spins around once, leaping closer, before repeating the spin - but lower, a leg out - and if contact is made, a leap upwards, knee leading Aranha above, and another twist to send him groundwards from another rotating limb, her arm!
COMBATSYS: Pullum successfully hits Aranha with Arakul Wrist.
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Aranha 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Pullum
This time, Aranha doesn't quite escape from Pullum's attack, being caught with that initial leg and then knocked backwards with her knee before, he's struck downwards by that arm which causes him to stumble but not quite fall.
It would appear the battle scarred dancer is a bit tougher than he appears on the surface. He drops his weight completely low to the ground, with his leg extended forward, slightly bent before spinning back up to his feet and spinning so he can get his leg right behind hers, slip and elbow right under her arm and thrust his pelvis forward as he leans backwards sending the Arabian backwards to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Pullum with Medium Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Aranha 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Pullum
Spinning around to a stop, Pullum's motions are more like jerks from side to side than a rhythm, though more interestingly, Aranha isn't more than stumbled by the assault - which is a surprise to Pullum. The weight dropped to the ground is enough to fool her to expect another strike from her legs.
Instead of leaping away, she's sent backwards, feet knocked from under her - and she lands, of all places, on her head!
Perhaps raising a leg to block like before, what wasn't coming, was only helping him - and it certainly helped! Rubbing her head and rolling backwards, to her feet, Pullum seems a bit worn. "That's far different than what I'm used to-" She admits, smiling through. "But it's exactly what I was looking for, at least."
Leaping into the air, knee first, she flips... and coming down, begins to spiral, one leg outstretched to catch Aranha before he could escape, to pull him in and knock him away as she lands!
COMBATSYS: Pullum successfully hits Aranha with Ten'el Kick.
Glancing Blow
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Aranha 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Pullum
Aranha's personal speed saves him from what could've been a severe rhythm breaker. When he sees the outstretched leg, he leans away from her, keeping him from actually getting caught up in the attack. His problem is in how reacts to the rest of it. He rocks his body back in to go for a counter kick and then aborts it when he sees her spiraling towards him, before spinning off to the side catching the kick on the shoulder as he spins away from her.
"That was interesting but you might want to try something a bit different." Encouraging her to experiment with him may end up showing him some more information about her and about himself. With one final spin, he his hand glows blue a moment before he lashes out with it sending a blue spider web of chi at her. He wants to see how she deals with this particular attack and also he wants to see if it sticks or impacts.
COMBATSYS: Pullum dodges Aranha's Web Shot.
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Aranha 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Pullum
As Aranha rocks backwards, the kick slams into the man's shoulder - Pullum coming to a stop only after the leg strikes off against the man. "A bit different you say? Well, it's always nice to try something else!" The final spin comes, and the gowing hand, blue in color, lashes out, the spider web of chi coming out -
Oh no, she certainly wouldn't have any of that!
Spiraling to a stop, she leaps against the building, bounding over and above it - and giving Aranha a bit of a warning, what with the long fall down towards him - though it is stylized, the woman spinning down towards Aranha for the entirety of it!
"Drill Purrus!"
Perhaps against her plans, she gives it up a bit early, chi enveloping her legs as she lances downwards at Aranha.
COMBATSYS: Pullum successfully hits Aranha with Drill Purrus EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Pullum
Aranha finds himself scratching his head. Of all the things he expected, seeing such a similarity to his own fighting style or rather seeing a similarity in /that/ particular aspect of his fighting style was not one he was expecting to see in the heat of battle. On one hand she got up to that sign when they met up, but he didn't know whether it took her much effort get there in the first place.
The surprise is enough to catch him flat-footed and he finds himself plowed over by chi enhanced drill kick and sent flying backwards before skidding to a stop.
In spite of the pain he finds himself laughing. This was exactly the type of information he was looking for. He spins to his feet before swaying left and right always keeping his guard up as he approaches and then he jumps forward, spinning as he lashes out with a spinning roundhouse kick...
COMBATSYS: Pullum interrupts Heel Kick from Aranha with Reswal Kahna.
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Aranha 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Pullum
...that never makes contact. In fact he uses the kick to eat up the space between them before dropping his body low as he uses the momentum of the kick to spin him around on one foot while touching the ground with one hand as he swings his heel towards the side of her head. It isn't until his heel is about an inch from connecting that he gets a sense of dread.
Coming to a rest as she lands, she bows, standing up and beginning her movements again. Erratic now with a small semblance of pattern. Her rear swung out a bit, hands rotating about one another, leading to a quick movement now and again. yet she wasn't aware of what could come next - or what could possibly come next!
It seems she'll stay in the dark.
There's too much motion going on for Pullum to follow Aranha. The laughter complimenting Pullum's own mood as she tries to allure him to focus on her other bits - just a bit too much. Perhaps her dance was a bit more ... exotic than many. But it doesn't help discern Aranha's assault, the swaying followed by a spinning roundhouse - at least, it's what she thinks. He is not the only one who drops low - the sudden dramatic movement in her somewhat patterened dance. Just as the heel moves to klonk her, she takes off. The heel glances - hard. Very hard. She's nearly knocked from her assault, the sudden pang of pain in her head almost impossible to ignore - but the momentum keeps her going long enough for her to get it together.
Somersault after somersault, each kick coming from above as she swaps which foot strikes each time, hopping on the foot that comes down and flipping, the other coming down and repeating the process for a few times - before she flips backwards, both aiming for Aranha's midsection, before she goes to land - her breath heavy. It's quite the fight, but she's not sure how long she can keep it up! "I barely managed it that time... You're really quite good with your feet!" Her body sways, seductively, despite her tired state.
And the reason for that feeling of dread becomes very very clear. His body is practically in perfect position for her to do what she does. Flip on him over and over and over again kicks landing on his back and ribs. Each strike driving him down until he's on his knees looking under himself. He manages to get back to his feet just to have one more kick waiting for him when he does and iending up flying backwards.
"We have a lot of similarities. Allow me to show you what /I/ can really do with my feet."
He gets back up to his feet the entirety of his body glowing with blue chi. And then he dashes forward leaving a trail of blue afterimages as he runs up the wall, launches himself off of it to land the initial kick, bounds off of her, onto a metal pole where he quickly climbs up, to that sign that Pullum was sitting on earlier, and launches off of that feet first at her, then past her to leap off of a tree trunk to land another kick. The kicks keep coming from tree branch and crates and other assorted objects until the kicks finally stop.
The glow fades as do the existance of the afterimages.
COMBATSYS: Pullum blocks Aranha's Joker's Wild.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Pullum
"Oh, you've got .. more?" The breathless arabian princess must ask - and he certainly seems to. His entire body, glowing with blue - would be more impressive if he didn't just /run up a wall/, launching himself to land the first strike.
Pullum holds on, an arm coming up to take the blow - albeit barely.
She staggers, and Aranha, climbing up like some kind of spider, comes down again, Pullum managing, once more, to hold on - to keep herself in the fight, though the blows are punishing. As he slams into her the second time, she's slid. Any time after, she twirls around, arms coming up to send her sliding along the sand blow by blow, her shoes losing their soles from the friction and her arms losing feeling from the blows - but the storm fades, and the after images do as well, as he lands.
If she wasn't suddenly serious, she would have stopped. If she didn't suddenly have a reason to grow, she wouldn't be out here. And she certainly wouldn't like to feel her arms as they are now! "That's impressive... I've never seen a dance like that before. I'v enever tried anything like it .. either!"
But as tired as she was, she fights on. "I'll show you something else, too!" She hadn't stopped dancing, even during the onslaught, body twisting and turning - and even now, she spins, one way and another, each with a different foot - and each with a corresponding wave of chi that ripples through the air.
COMBATSYS: Aranha overcomes Kind Wind from Pullum with Web Shot EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Pullum
Aranha, for his part wants her to be serious, he wants to see everything she can show him, because a fighter isn't the type of person who is willing to lay it on the line, he doesn't have use for them as a team mate.
Everything he's done in this fight had been a test for her. He wanted to see what she did well, what she was weaker with, how she handled adversity. At times he let up in order to see what she had to offer. At other times he pushed himself to the limit to pressure her and see what type of character she had.
It had come to the point where Aranha has seen all he needed to see to make his judgement, however, he still had other candidates to check out. But before he even thinks about that, he still has those waves of chi to contend with. He rocks away from her with a spin, lashing out once more with that glowing hand whipping out as he releases another web of blue chi plowing through her wave on a path to her.
COMBATSYS: Pullum dodges Aranha's Web Shot EX.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Pullum
As Aranha rocks away, the glowing hand suddenly lashing out towards her, releasing a web of chi that plows straight towards her - it isn't a surprise that she responds, somewhat, the same way. The spiralling motion of her body, slowing, makes a motion towards the ground.
She bends backwards, the chi projectile barely sliding over her body, the arabian warrior coming to her knees and then... stopping, a thrusting motion upwards - but instead of following, her body bends forwards - and her hands come out, pressing against the somewhat sandy ground. Her breathing is hard - does she really have nothing left to give? Did she over do it? The feeling begins to return to her arms, and none of it is pleasant, especially with the added weight of her body on it.
She looks up, smiling, through her condition isn't quite worthy of a smile. "I think.. that you have won." She states, breath still heavy. "But it was very enlightening." The same 'style' but vastly different approaches - for the most part.
Aranha comes out of the spin with the blue glow fading away he returns to the ginga, his dance. His eyes catch her throwing her body out of the way of the blue chi web and the only question he had left remains unanswered.
He finds it difficult respond at first due to his lungs burning from fatigue. Normally, he paces himself better but circumstances demanded he push his body to this point.
After he catches his breath, he brings himself to his full height and removes his shades. "It was actually enlightening for me as well. But you had mentioned that you had team mates. I also had team mates I originally wanted to enter this with but it would appear that their lives got too busy. The King of Fighters is a rare event. I decided to take initiative and form a new team."
He rubs his ribcage a bit before starting to walk away. He pauses, turns and says, "There are still potential fighters I want to look at before I make my decision but even if we aren't on a team together I'll keep in touch. I'd like to fight you again. By the way, I go by Aranha."
She'd never thought she'd make it so far against a veteran fighter - though Blair and Darun certainly gave it their alls, as well. They were not known, like the man was. Aranha - she had heard of him before, but he was but a blur on the times she did watch. "You .. are Aranha?" She claims, dumbstruck.
"I'd like to fight you again, as well. Even if it won't be as a team." She claims. "Pullum. It's been... a pleasure." She is still out of breathe - but it doesn't take long for her to recuperate what was lost when you aren't constantly moving. "Take care then, Aranha!" Maybe she will even have grown stronger by then - or at least have practiced.
As she stands, she brushes the dust off of herself, waving towards him as he leaves.
MEANWHILE, Darun, sitting nearby in a cloak and a second moustache ( this one face ) rises, slowly moving away from the site. Not that Pullum had known he was there, and perhaps, ever will.
COMBATSYS: Pullum has left the fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Aranha has ended the fight here.
Log created on 13:32:53 10/21/2010 by Aranha, and last modified on 00:59:36 10/22/2010.