Description: What do a Playboy bunny, Bruce Lee, and the best Rock Howard cosplayer that's ever existed have in common? Other than wanton violence, not much, apparently. (Winner: Rock)
A Halloween fight, in the White Arena. The fight card doesn't list any known psychotics. ROck is looking forward to the fight--if only because he's not fighting a desperate fight for his life--he's not facing off against a nutjob like Krizalid, or Yamazaki, or... yeah. Rock's looking forward to it. The White Arena is an impressive place, in its austerity; the Howard boy walks up from one of the locker rooms, dressed in his usual getup, despite it being Halloween.
As he walks, he tightens his gloves, and unzips the sleeves of his jacket, having chosen the dark blue one this time--but the black shirt and black jeans and boots are all the same. As he walks up the long ramp, he occasionally bounces on his toes, starting to feel that energy, the anticipation of the fight starting to make itself known to him.
Cresting the top of the floor, he hops onto it, his appearance drawing no small amount of cheers--Rock is a popular fighter, for his style and his panache, and he appreciates their support, waving to the crowd--and, in fact, grabbing a couple handful os candy and hurling them, accurately and not too strongly, to various people in the crowd--mostly kids.
Meanwhile, backstage- -
"Huh? What do you mean this is mandatory?"
Lucia Morgan stares in disbelief as the SNF coordinator holds over what appears to be a bunny suit, complete with matching white ears and fluffy cotton tail. The tomboyish blonde just frowns slowly. "I don't think this is requ--"
"NOPE it is, just wear it or you're kicked out."
Lucia sighs in defeat, accepting the proffered costume.
Elsewhere--
"Is it really /fair/ to bully the lady like that?" one of the match coordinators wonders.
"Well, we need ratings, and she's really lacking on the whole 'sex appeal' department, so."
"Well, that's true. Guess we just keep hoping she doesn't find out. Who knows what kind of god-awful repercussions will happen. She is a part of Metro PD, and you know how crazy Mayor Hag--"
"We don't say that name."
"Oh, right."
Now--
"Oh, this is just unfair."
Making her way out into White Arena, the Metro detective SLASH fighter enters the scenes, looking awkwardly about in her bunny costume. Upon seeing Rock, the young woman squints. Wait, how come /he/ isn't in costume, unless--
"That's a pretty convincing Rock Howard costume you've got there. My name is Lucia; let's have a good fight, okay?"
Normally, Marco would be back at the Kyokugen Dojo, passing out his favorite Halloween treats: healthy snacks and 1 Free Lesson coupons intended to get kids to perhaps come and study karate! (The first hit is always free). However, he was all but shooed out of the dojo by the students, who insisted they be allowed to handle Halloween and that Marco go have some fun for a change. And since fun for Marco is training, and training means fighting, well... he signed up for some All Hallows' SNF action. But then there's the issue of the costume. What is he going to wear...
Young Akito, one of his students, was all too happy to help. "I've got just the thing, sensei!" And Marco, nice guy that he is, acquiesced.
That is why Marco stomps into the arena with nunchaku in one hand, a treat pail shaped like a little jack-o-lantern in the other, and wearing a full body yellow suit with a black stripe down the sides.
The top is open, revealing some manly chest hair. SUCK IT, FEI LONG.
"YOUSHA! I am here, so let our combat commen--" And then he catches sight of Lucia, blinks (and, let's face it, blushes a bit; the man's not made of stone), and then whispers to her sotto voce (well, sotto voce for Marco, so practically a bullhorn shout for anyone else) "Miss! You've forgotten most of your clothing!"
... Rock facepalms. Not that Lucia doesn't look good in the bunny costume; assuredly she does. It's just... it's something he'd expect of... then she throws him off-guard. "Costume? Oh. Ha. No, I am Rock Howard," he replies, though the corner of the reply is lost to Marco's entrance, which certainly draws his attention, as it should.
He resists the urge to facepalm again--Marco could not look less like Feilong if he tried. Except maybe if he were Rufus.
Or Hugo.
Nonetheless, the attempt is.. well, better than most cosplayers. Perhaps it's just now that Rock realizes he was supposed to wear a costume--which he didn't--but it's too late now. He's not going back down then coming back all costumed up. Nuh-uh.
"Right, so," he says, "How 'bout we give these people the show they came to see?" He sounds congenial enough, as he moves from where he was standing, forming an equilateral triangle with Bunny Lucia and Fei-Wrong, then laces his fingers together and flexes them outwards, popping the joints, looking between his two opponents.
@emit
He's Rock Howard? But it's a Halloween event, and he is presumably in costume, and--
Blushing a bit, the Metro detective lifts her hands up and nervously shakes them. "Ah, I am so sorry! I had assumed we'd all be forced to dress up, so I thought you were dressed up as Rock Howard, and--"
Rather than continue in a long stream of nervous banter, Lucia is cut short by the loud cry of Marco, to whom the blonde turns her attention to. Blinking a few times, she sizes the guy up a bit before grinning. Oh man she loves those movies! She goes to tell Marco as much, but...
"U-uh, well, no," she stammers. "I didn't, they made me dress up like this, you see..." And certainly Miss Lucia didn't want to disappoint all her fellow officers in Metro. They're counting on her, especially the Mayor! "So I didn't have much of a choice," she finishes aloud, rather non-sequitur.
"Bu-but that's okay, let's go with what Mister Howard suggests and show people what they came to see!" the woman almost too-cheerfully notes, squaring up into some kind of fighter's stance. "I warn you guys, I won't hold back any punches; so do the same, okay?"
So without warning and rather suddenly, Lucia breaks into a sprint, amazingly capable of doing so in heels as she dashes at Marco and suddenly slams an elbow toward his stomach, seeking to kick things off on the right...elbow.
COMBATSYS: Lucia has started a fight here.
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Lucia 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rock has joined the fight here on the top side.
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Rock 0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucia 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Marco has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Rock 0|-------|-------
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Lucia 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Marco
COMBATSYS: Marco endures Lucia's Dashing Elbow.
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Rock 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Marco
Marco is, amazingly, one of those fighters that can endure an attack to better position himself and do it *by mistake*. He 'ahhhhhhs' in understanding when Lucia explains her situation, and brings up a manly! fist! to share in her indignation. "How awful! I applaud your courage!" Wait, what does he mean by that, exactly? But then Lucia's ducking in with her elbow, kicking things off, only Marco wasn't... 100% paying attention.
Thankfully, modern science and good old fashioned Takuma-brand workouts(tm) have toughened Marco up quite a lot. When your training partners are a wrecking ball on a short chain and an actual live (and very polite, really, what's Zangief's issue?) bar, you learn to take a blow pretty quick. Still, Lucia's no slouch. Even as her elbow slams into Marco, he exhales sharply, breath momentarily knocked out of him.
He just, you know, didn't move or anything.
"Haha! Let us have a good fight, miss! You've got some power there!" That's about all she gets, before Marco twists and attempts to plant his foot in her stomach to drive the two apart.
"Technically," Rock observes, rather smugly, "I *am* dressed as Rock Howard." But he knows what she means. "I forgot to--" He cuts off, as Lucia decides to just get things going, and he grins to himself. A woman of action, he likes that. When she makes her dash for Marco, Rock tracks on her, turning, turning, waiting...
About two seconds before she makes impact on Marco, Rock starts moving, dashing forward, booted feet pounding a floor that's a lot tougher than it looks. He hesitates, briefly, thinking about trying to take them -both- down with a sweep, but decides against it, altering his path to take him circling around to fire a swift, low snap kick towards the side of Marco's left thigh.
Might as well start out easy, is Rock's thinking--and he feels a little bad about ganging up on him, though he knows that he'll face a similar situation soon enough...
COMBATSYS: Lucia blocks Marco's Medium Kick.
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Rock 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Marco
Marco is such a gentleman--
It's just a shame that by the time he applauds her courage, Lucia is driving an elbow into his MANLY midsection. Thanks to her provoking some action, poor Rock Howard goes a little neglected; after all, she's more focused on doing her best than hearing people out. That doesn't mean he won't have her attention soon enough, however!
Blinking as Marco barely budges, Lucia is impressed! The moment doesn't last long; he returns the favor, attempting to shove his foot into her stomach. Reacting immediately by lifting her arms and shielding her stomach, the foot slams into her forearms, forcing her back a half-step. "Hah, good one!" the woman cheerfully replies.
But with Lucia backed off slightly, she easily notes Howard's advance upon Marco. Not about to let an opportunity slip by, Lucia turns on Rock (!) and attempts to drive a fist into the young Howard's side.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Marco with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Marco
There's a sort of meaty *WHMP* sound as Rock's foot slams into Marco's leg a split second before the Kyokugen fighter can actually manage to get out of the way. It was a good kick! Actually if anything, it was an even better kick than it could have been, as Marco's awkward dodge makes Rock's blow land on a particularly sensitive spot. It's not THE 'sensitive spot' but it's close enough that Marco's future children winked out of existence briefly 20 years from now like that episode of Star Trek.
Marco himself doubles over a little, but it doesn't take too long to recover. Yes, it was a telling blow, but Rock didn't put as much force behind that as he could have. "Well, I have heard of you... let us see if the Hungry Wolf's teachings can match up to Kyokugen's might!" Yessss. Let us see.
This is when Marco goes from standing full stop into flying jumpkick aimed at Rock's head, followed by (if the first connects) a sweeping downward blow, glimmering with Marco's macho golden chi. Like pimp chains, only chi. "HIEN! SHIPPU KYAKU!"
COMBATSYS: Marco successfully hits Rock with Hien Shippu Kyaku.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Marco
COMBATSYS: Rock effortlessly blocks Lucia's Strong Punch.
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Rock 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Marco
"Wha--" Dammit, he left him too close--while Rock is able to easily deflect Lucia's punch, he turns just in time to take that flying jumpkick to the chin, snapping his head back, leaving him in perfect position for the second kick. He reels, falls, tumbles backwards... comes up on a knee and both ahnds.
"Heh," he says, around a chin that is rapidly purpling. "Kyokugenryuu... yeah, that's the stuff." But Rock's no slouch, put off by a single good strike. (And it -was- a good strike.) "Sorry, lady. Gotta date with the Chinese-Mexico Connection here," he says, spitting out a bit of blood. But he'll be quick about it--relatively quick at least. After all, he isn't even running in.
Instead, purple chi gathers in his right hand, flaring up like burning fire and howling wind, pooling for just a moment before Rock hurls it along the floor, creating a wavefront of purple windfire that races towards Marco's legs.
As if to punctuate his status as 'the real deal', Rock's voice rings out with a cry of "REPPUKEN!"
Given a brief moment to catch her proverbial breath as two fighters take one another on, Lucia glances between Marco and Rock. Rock's assault seems to budge Marco, and in turn Marco's kicks seems to move Rock. The Metro detective is momentarily impressed; but the moment passes when Rock summons violet chi and sends it racing at Marco. Woops.
Capitalizing on the moment of "freedom," Lucia's stance widens, hands curling into fists. Focusing inward, the young woman just concentrates intensively, red fiery energy rising from the ground at her feet, like faintly burning flames. Her eyes remain alert and focused on Rock and Marco; at any moment, either could strike. But if not, well...
COMBATSYS: Lucia gathers her will.
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Rock 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Marco
COMBATSYS: Marco fails to slow Reppuken from Rock with Ko'ou Ken.
! VENGEANCE !
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Rock 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Marco
Apparently, everyone hates Marco. Or that's what it feels like, at least, as both Lucia and Rock have taken their shots at Marco. To his credit, the Kyokugen fighter takes it in stride, but even as Rock builds up his power for that windy strike, he overhears Howard's comment to Lucia and says, in a stern tone of voice, "You have been deceived! I am from Brasil!" Perhaps, Marco, you should pay more attention to what's going on in the fight and less to where he thinks you're from. Why?
Because when Marco extends his fist, golden light turning into a fiery bolt of chi to negate Rock's attack, even with the perky "KOU'OU KEN!" shout, he fires it OVER the Reppuken rather than INTO it. This is a problem, since the wind shot then slams right into him.
As he rolls to his feet from being knocked on his back, you might -- MIGHT -- hear him muttering, "On the ground. Always on the ground with those two."
Rock is satisfied, for the moment, that payback's been made; turning from Marco, he actually gives Lucia an apologetic look. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to disrespect you by not involving you in the fight. 'specially after you were kind enough to start us off--" Oh yeah, he's started moving towards the bunnygirl-cop, not quite going all out, but not moving terribly cautiously either, closing in on her with easy grace.
That is, until, he -does- go all out, lunging into a burst of speed, coming out of it right in front of Lucia, maybe three steps away.
Two steps away and he's crouching.
One step and he's pushing off, hoping into the air.
And now he's driving a purple-engulfed right fist in a downward punch, hammering it in for Lucia's torso, almost like a mini Power Dunk with a lot less airtime.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Lucia with Rage Run Dunk.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Lucia 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Marco
"Huh? Oh, no apologies, it's okay!" Lucia insists, shaking her hands dismissively. "I am not at all offended by that! A fight is a fight, right?"
Meanwhile poor Marco is left to recover from being steamrolled by chi. That doesn't keep Lucia unaware; when Rock starts rushing her, her blue eyes go wide, her expression an obvious look of surprise. Rather than try to move out of the way, Lucia braces herself for impact, in hopes of staving off the pain.
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite go as planned. Punched in the stomach, the detective buckles and staggers in pain, arms holding to her stomach as she grits her teeth. Without a word she moves, utilizing the close proximity and forgetting about poor Marco for the moment to just advance on Rock. As she begins to leap at and into Rock her leg is suddenly ON FIRE, a rising kick of flame delivered at Howard's jaw as she cries, "RISING BIRD KICK!"
It's not /that/ Bird Kick. :(
Right, well. Marco gets to his feet and finds his opponents battling it out. A bit of a samurai at heart, he is loathe to interfere in the battle that is going down right now. Instead, he decides to take it easy for a moment, catching his breath and working out the kinks before throwing himself back into battle. An arm comes up, gripping his own shoulder as he moves the other arm in a circle to ease the joints. Lucia appears to take a rather nasty hit, but she seems to be alright for the most part. And then she strikes back with... oh dear. In THAT outfit?
Scandalous.
That said, he's going to get into the Halloween spirit of things. However it is Lucia's attack ends up going, when all is said and done and she is separated from Rock, the massive Brasilian looms over Rock, holding out the pumpkin-shaped candy bucket and saying, in his rumbling baritone, "Trick or treat."
Choose carefully, Rock!
COMBATSYS: Marco gains composure.
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Rock 0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Lucia 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Marco
COMBATSYS: Lucia successfully hits Rock with Rising Bird Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Lucia 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Marco
Suddenly, Rock's face is torn off completely, flying high into the air above the arena, revealing that he is in fact a zombie--no, wait. It just -feels- like that, as Lucia's flaming kick pops the young man right in the chin. The audience, having picked up on Marco's request, punch in votes on their portable voters--and, as Rock is sailing downwards, the results flash on screens placed all around the arena, so that Rock can see, as he crashes down to the floor in front of Lucia--
"TREAT!!!!" -- in hideous orange letters on black background.
"... right, sure then," mutters Rock, then he shouts, "GO GET 'EM, TIGER!!" as he--grabs for Lucia's legs, from his crashed position, trying to hold her in place for Marco to beat upon.
Hopefully he chooses -to- beat on Lucia.
COMBATSYS: Rock assists Marco.
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Rock 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Lucia 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Marco
"Wha-- hey!!"
That is Lucia's coherent response when not only does Marco call on his "trick or treat," but also when Rock Howard attempts to snare her legs and hold her in place. She struggles a bit, furrowing her brows as she fights against the grip AND high heels. After a bit of staggering, the blonde detective in BUNNY COSTUME manages to wrench herself free for the moment.
"Th-that was rather inconvenient!" she stammers at Rock, before turning to face Marco. She doesn't stop to breathe or catch her breath; instead the woman makes a dash at the Brazilian behemoth, attempting to grip him by his sweet Kung-Fu threads and sweep his legs out from underneath him /and/ slam him into the arena floor with a sharp "IYAH!"
COMBATSYS: Marco counters Quick Throw from Lucia with Gedan Harai.
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Rock 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Lucia 1/=======/=======|=======\==-----\1 Marco
It's not, like, a full size Snickers bar, but Rock's timely assistance is just what Marco needs. Though a Snickers bar would be pretty awesome right now. "Forgive the intrusion," he says to Lucia as she grapples momentarily with Rock. "I did not wish you to believe that I would disrespect your strength by only engaging young Mr. Howard! Now come! Let us battle fair and square." Yes. Fair and square, where your other opponent holds her legs and actually makes your job easier.
In fact, however, as Lucia comes at Marco, he realizes it's going to take more than some waifish pretty boy to make this work, and even as the policewoman closes the distance, Marco reaches deep within for a burst of speed, ducking AT Lucia in a low dash even as she approaches him... and before the sweep can even come out he suddenly moves up with his whole body, using the motion of standing to power an uppercut that will likely knock Lucia right off her feet, and save Marco the indignity of being knocked to the floor.
But when he stands, he is grinning. "You have speed as well as strength, miss! I do not think I would be so lucky a second time!"
Rock is rolling away from both Lucia and Marco as the man is countering her grab with a strike of his own; he did his job, he doesn't want to be in-between them, literally, for the aftermath. Once safely away, he pops back up to his feet, glancing back and forth between his opponents. Then he shrugs, grins, and... flips a coin.
The shiny silver disc flips end over end, glimmering in all the lights--and when Rock catches it, he flips it over, then looks at Lucia.
"Sorry," he says, with a little shrug, then dashes in, approaching her quickly, planting his feet as he stops, reaching waaay back with his right fist, and whipping his upper body around in a widely-telegraphed, arcing hook punch that, for all that it violates some basic conventions of how to fight, still looks pretty damn cool, though it's faster, rather than stronger, to make up for the bigger windup.
COMBATSYS: Lucia endures Rock's Medium Punch.
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Rock 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Lucia 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 Marco
Well /that/ will leave a mark in the morning.
Struck by Marco's counterattack and thusly sent skyrocketing into the air, the bunnysuit clad detective falls as hard as she flies. Hitting the ground with a painful and sickening-sounding THUMP, the woman doesn't move, even as Marco talks to her. Is she out cold??
"Ugh, you're s-strong, I'll give you that," the woman notes, rubbing her head as she pulls herself off the floor. "You've got some mighty punches there. I'm impressed. You too, Howard." She's clearly outclassed here!
But she won't give up. That's what is important!
She blinks when a coin is flipped and Rock comes charging her, intent on unleashing that mean arced hook to her face. It strikes her /hard/, causing the woman to stagger back several steps as result, blood spilling from her lips...but she doesn't fall. She just grins.
"Gotcha!" she cries as she charges swiftly, stopping only to deliver a series of swift, lighting-quick kicks tinged with flaming chi, the final kick delivered a vertical kick to send Rock skyrocketing if she's lucky!
Now that's an unusual way to select an opponent. Yet it is inherently... well, fair, if random, so Marco cannot complain about it. Instead he laughs his crazy baritone laugh at Lucia's compliment. "Thank you! It would be a pleasure to battle you one on one sometime." And now some insight into Marco's psyche. The guy is inherently nice, a total sweetheart. Dab hand with a sewing needle, does a bang up job darning socks for example. Domestic skills-wise he makes Yuri look like a drunken frat boy. And so while what he just said to Lucia makes PERFECT SENSE and is NOT PROBLEMATIC AT ALL from the perspective of a normal person, to the always-polite Marco it is suddenly as if he just asked her to strip off those stockings and dance naked for him upside-down while [redacted]ing a [censored] with her [classified].
His face reddens. And he realizes there is only one way to handle this situation:
Take it out on Rock and deflect attention.
This is why the massive, mocha-flavored Kyokugen-ka is suddenly screaming across the ring at the young Howard scion, fist-first. "LET US BATTLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Pay no attention to the previous 45 seconds, please.
COMBATSYS: Marco successfully hits Rock with Aggressive Strike.
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Rock 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Marco
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Omega Legs from Lucia with Joudan Crack Counter.
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Rock 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Marco
He's so /popular/! Rock's eyes widen--not in shock or surprise, but with an impressed look. It's quite the technique, and to have a bunnygirl coming at him with flaming kicks, well, he's sure some guys dream of that kind of thing. Rock, however, isn't so sanguine about it; he gathers his concentration, then weaves backwards once, twice, avoiding one kick, then another--and then he finds the third kick right where he wants it.
He ducks low, then brings his arms up, trapping that kick, using it as a fulcrum to push off and flip over,giving Lucia a kick in the head--a weak one, but a kick nonetheless--that is enough to help him get out of range of her kicks.
Unfortuantely, it puts him right in the path of Marco, and even though he's got his arms up, that dashing punch cuts right through, tagging Rock in the jaw, turning his head to the side.
"Hey Marco... Trick or Treat?" he asks, loud enough to be heard throughout the arena.
"Thanks! I look forward to it," is Lucia's response, completely genuine and all, however embarrassed or whatever perspective Marco may have viewed it in. It doesn't matter at the moment; right now, Lucia is trying to KICK the Howard boy to DEATH.
Well, not to death, but that doesn't matter, because a second later she's intercepted and summarily kicked in the head as Rock Howard flips out of harm's way. It sends Lucia skidding across the arena before she staggers back onto her feet.
"Ow, ow ow ow," she quietly grouses, rubbing at her kicked head. Shaky and a bit unstable, it doesn't keep Lucia down! In fact, Lucia breaks off into a dash after poor Marco, attempting to deliver two punches before she executes a sharp turning kick, aimed for his massive torso!
COMBATSYS: Lucia successfully hits Marco with Strike Combination EX.
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Rock 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Marco
Massive torsos with ripped six packs seem like such a GOOD idea, don't they? Look at what they've done for such manly men as Sagat, Terry Bogard, and Sakura Kasugano. The problem is that they also present an exceptionally wide target, and muscle mass also weighs more than flab. This is why Rufus, despite looking like something that has to be inflated with a bike pump every morning, moves like a dandelion on the wind sometimes. Marco moves like something on the wind, where 'something' is 'a large boulder', 'a building', or 'a parked semi truck'. What we're saying here is: he tries to get out of the way, and Lucia delivers the goods three times in a row, sending him stumbling backward.
The mountainous Kyokugen fighter is about to compliment her, in true samurai style, when Rock Howard decides to interrupt his play. "While I am above such nonsense as 'tricks'," he says with as much machismo, "I believe it is up to the audience voting t--"
He's cut off by the sound you get when someone gets an answer wrong on Family Feud, followed by TRICK appearing on the big screen.
For a moment, all is silent. Then Marco smiles. Somewhere behind that 100 gigawatt genuine smile, you MIGHT believe that there is a GLIMMER of disingenuity.
Maybe.
"However, the audience has spoken!" And then he starts harrying Rock with repeated jabs and short kicks. They're not intended to connect, but if Rock wants to avoid them all, he can't pay full attention to Lucia, either!
COMBATSYS: Marco assists Lucia.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Rock 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Marco
He doesn't make a face, but man, that's a little annoying. Still, he's been having fun so far, and that despite getting kicked and punched in the head repeatedly. Something of an unusual occurrence for Rock. He was about to go take on Lucia again--but then Marco decided to 'trick' him, throwing those harassing blows, and Rock, well...
He does not abide, unlike the Dude. So he turns his attention to Marco, battling back, meeting punch and kick with punch and kick--not intending to damage, but just gauging his rhythm, and then--
--then he speeds up, slightly, looking to sock Marco right in the jaw with a right straight punch, wanting to slip it past his guard. This, of course, leaves him open for Lucia, but he can't worry about that -just- now.
Tricked? Treated? It's all lost on Lucia as she's both a) pretty tired and sore from being punched in the head and kicked in the head too and b) distracted by two fighters /and/ clad in a bunny costume. It's a lot for a woman like her to take in!
But that's okay, because soon enough the mountain-like Brazilian is aiding her, punching and kicking at the Howard boy to distract. Nodding her head in appreciation, the blonde detective just moves in as Rock goes for Marco, a daisy chain of PAIN as she attempts to punch him super-duper hard in the kidneys with a loud "HYAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Marco Toughs Out Rock's Medium Punch!
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Rock 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Marco
Oh, so he's going to punch Marco, is that it? Well. It DOES have the effect of hauling Marco's jab spam to a stop. Perhaps time for a jump-in?! But really, Marco looks and realizes Rock's trying to hit him, distractedly, with Lucia leaping right at him. And so when Rock tries to hit him in the jaw, Marco does the only sensible thing:
He stands there and takes it.
Oh, it hurts, but for *Rock*, the feeling is like punching concrete. Marco's body nor face move so much as an INCH. It's as if the blow didn't register in any way, shape, or form. "Heh... well done, young man. You are clearly talented! But allow me to show you how we throw punches in..."
And then his fist is just THERE, suddenly, rising, attempting to rise through Rock's guard to catch him under the chin with the rising, spinning uppercut of sheer stopping power that's called a Kohou in... "KYOKUGENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! ORAAAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Lucia's Strong Punch.
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Rock 1|------=|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|=======\======-\1 Marco
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Marco's Kohou.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 1|-----==|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Lucia 0/-------/-----==|=======\=======\1 Marco
The two punches come at almost exactly the same time; Rock has some very quick, and difficult, decisions to make. He ends up twisting sideways--stopping Lucia's punch with his right hand, feeling the impact shiver up his arm, and Marco's Kohou--well, he uses his right arm to block, and he can feel the impact on -that- too--even the deflected Kohou is pretty powerful, and he's sure to have a bruise there.
He has a cocky, smirking grin on his lips, done purely to bely the pain he's feeling in his arms, and indeed the rest of his body; twisting, he hurls Lucia towards Marco, and then--well, and then.
And then he rears back, both hands flaring with that purple energy that he uses, and the surge is swift, almost instantaneous, prickling up his arms, not pleasant but not unpleasant either--but more unpleasant, if he had to put a name to it.
He hurls himself forward and down, crossing his arms at the forearms, and slamming his hands flat to the floor, releasing all the built-up power into the floor--where it comes -right- back up as a gout of that windfire, bursting upwards like the explosion of a volcano, right underneath both Lucia -and- Marco.
As if there were any question about what he just did to be answered, Rock yells, defiantly, as if to prove that -his- isn't the same as his -father's-: "RAGING... STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORM!!!!!!!!!!"
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Lucia with Raging Storm+.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 0|-------|-------
[ < > /////// ]
Lucia 1/----===/=======|=======\=======\1 Marco
It's a double-assault on the Howard boy, but that certainly isn't enough to fell the blonde. Blinking blue eyes as the young man staves off both attackers, she's left with a moment of mental flailing. She was certain that would get him! But now he's there, and there is a strange feeling in the air. Is that...chi??
And lots of it?? It /sure is/
Crouching, there are precious few seconds before Lucia is caught in a potent wave of pure violet energy, catching her in its roar. Sent skyrocketing, the woman sails high...high...then falls, /hard/. The bunny-suit clad woman doesn't move.
Then she stirs, lightly. A hand lifts into the air, as if to say 'I give up.' Because after being destroyed like that, Lucia certainly isn't coming back up to give a bit more. She's /spent/.
COMBATSYS: Lucia takes no action.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\ <
Marco 1/=======/=======|
COMBATSYS: Lucia can no longer fight.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\ <
Marco 1/=======/=======|
COMBATSYS: Marco fails to slow Raging Storm+ from Rock with Haoh Sho Ko Ken.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 0|-------|-------
[ <
Marco 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Marco can no longer fight.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Rock 0|-------|-------
"HA!" Marco shouts, over the whipping wind of the whippersnapper's windy whipping. His hands come to his sides, a whirling mass of golden light starting to gather there. He might not have any SUBTLETY or SKILL or even BASIC KNOWLEDGE when it comes to chi but chi responds to GUTS and Marco has bloody well got plenty of THOSE. Really, he sees Rock's use of the Howard family technique as a dare. Which might explain his reaction of not trying to get the [eff!] out of the way. "I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!"
He thrusts his hands forward! And the gold light flares! Marco has enough time to get out: "HAOH SH--"
Then Hurricane Katrina, which is what we call Rock behind his back, happens.
When the smoke clears, Lucia appears beat up, but MARCO is just outright GONE. Scraps of yellow fabric drifting, autumn leaf-like, through the air are the only reminder that he was ever here at all. For all intents and purposes, it would appear that Rock just... disintegrated him.
Meanwhile, down in the basement where an unconscious Marco fell through a stage trap door, the Kyokugen Beast lies on his back, snoring away, strategically ripped Bruce Lee costume covering what needs to be covered.
Let him sleep. He's had a rough day.
Rock isn't quite fully aware of what's happened in front of him--but that only lasts a moment; he's aware of bodies hitting floor a moment later, and he rises, looking tired and worn out, but happy. "Damn good fight, you two. I'm impressed." He raises his right fist, in celebration of his victory, then, after a few moments... heads back into the locker room. He needs a long, hot bath. Ouch.
COMBATSYS: Rock has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:48:07 11/01/2010 by Marco, and last modified on 14:38:01 11/03/2010.