Description: Can love bloom on the battlefield? Probably not, but it seems like pleasant conversation can. And all it took was some handcuffs and beating the hell out of each other. (Winner: Farah)
Carmine has been handcuffed twice before, both times as a prank. The first time he was handcuffed to his bunk, a situation which distressed him significantly due, chiefly, to it causing him to be incapable of acquiring his tie; the second time is not discussed, ever, by anyone.
The third time, it seems, is for fighting; Carmine finds himself thrust into the spotlight as part of his training, and if nothing else, intends to give it at least the old college try. He's kind of stuck with professional fighting as a 'side job,' for reasons that are probably classified.
As he attempts to keep his composure while walking out cuffed to his opponent, he reaches up with his non-cuffed hand to address his tie. It is Saturday.
Saturday is Brainy Smurf tie day.
Two Saturday Night Fights, two very distinct experiences indeed, for Farah Tenjou. Her first was an absolute slaughter, but she feels very blessed to have had a chance to fight with Fei Long and see his moves in action. Last week, she met Pullum Purna and the oil magnate Hakan... and had a very disturbing run-in indeed with the darker side of competitive fighting. Not that her opponents were cheating or cruel; far from it, they were aboveboard, honest fighters.
No... she experienced the desire and joy of striking in revenge when you've been struck. Something she hadn't experienced as a fighter to that point, and which has been preying on her mind for some time.
And so here she is, looking across the reasonable but still shackled distance between herself and Carmine. Although Farah is a bit of a big girl, the lanky American dwarfs the Egyptian in height considerably. But her gaze raking across him, intensely curious, has nothing to do with that. Instead it is her Soul Power bothering her, that sense that there's something... different about this man. Something she can't quite quantify. After a rather unseemly moment of giving him the visual workover, Farah seems to come to her senses and extends a hand for a handshake, smiling pleasantly. "Nice to meet you... this should be an interesting fight."
That pleasantness and curiosity rubs off on Carmine a little; the tall man gives Farah a smile right back. His handshake is firmer than one might suspect -- but then again, even if he looks like a dork, he /is/ a fighter. "I've been looking forward to it," he says, rolling his shoulder a little after breaking the handshake. He seems to take the visual workover in stride, too -- or maybe it's just less noticeable to him than the smile.
The handcuffs make Carmine's style a little tricky -- he has to resist the urge to use some of the tricks he has up his sleeve, since they could send /him/ flying too in this particular situation. 'Wheel' throws are right out, as is basically anything that would knock Farah back.
"Ready when you are," he says, giving Farah a small nod. He feels just a little nervous about this -- his first Saturday Night Fight -- but it can't be /that/ bad, can it? The Neo League fight went okay...
COMBATSYS: Carmine has started a fight here.
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Carmine 0/-------/-------|
The Metro policeman's combination of eagerness and unease resonates wtih Farah, and if his abilities are anything like hers, he can likely feel the same thing from her. The SNF is great for meeting strangers, but at the same time, it means that every new fight is an unknown quantity. Some chance meetings have been very kind to Farah in terms of making friends and meeting people. Others, well... others have been Juri.
Curiously enough, the girl steps back a bit, enough so that the handcuffs are still attached but that there's a little bit of play, and reaches into her pocket with the handcuffed hand. From it she withdraws a length of cobalt blue ribbon, which gets tied around her opponent, un-cuffed wrist, so that a small bow covers the back of her hand and the two tails of the ribbon stream out behind her. There's a change in her, when that happens; slight, but noticeable to the trained eye. As if the ribbon were a talisman, or a costume... settling into a mode to fight.
"Good luck," she says at last, adopting a ready stance. It's dimly recognizable as a Chinese stance, maybe kenpo or kung-fu. "Let's test each other's limits."
With that, she surges forward. Hampered by the handcuffs she can't quite do the three consecutive turns this technique normally involves, but Farah strikes out at Carmine with a sudden rising hand strike, then a downward one, and then finally a forward palm strike, the movements of her arms having a flowing, circular path from strike to strike.
COMBATSYS: Farah has joined the fight here.
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Farah 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Carmine
COMBATSYS: Carmine fails to counter Summer Storm from Farah with Undertow.
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Farah 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Carmine
Some of Carmine's conflicting feelings may in fact /be/ Farah's; Carmine is still relatively new to this business, and his center is, in truth, not all that great. Sometimes he gets lost in the feelings of the moment -- and fighting in public like this, with such a focus on his opponent, only causes that emotional 'feedback loop' to become stronger.
"Good luck," Carmine fires back, before taking on a defensive posture. He's used to starting fights from a slightly greater distance, and having more time to slip into stance -- and this fact costs him dearly in the opening goings of the fight.
He's not quite ready when Farah's hand slips forward, catching all three strikes dead-on. His stance is disrupted, and he goes staggering back, tugging on the end of the handcuffs a little as he does so. For a moment, he just seems overwhelmed.
Part of Farah's fight style comes from her love of dance, and the motions of her techniques seem to follow that logic... but as she pulls back from Carmine to get back into stance, it looks like he's not the only one to feel the tug of the handcuffs. Normally Farah would twirl back to a much greater distance, but halfway through her movement the handcuffs yank her to a stop like a yoke, making her stumble and nearly fall. Thankfully, Carmine is excellent ballast, so she doesn't quite go head over heels, but she does stumble, then turn around with a faint smile.
"Ha... I guess that's something you don't miss until it's gone, huh... freedom of movement, or something like it." Deciding to make a friendly gesture, she commiserates with her opponent a bit. "Last week was theme park zombies and tombstones. I'm trying to think of it as training."
There's a moment of dead air, Farah stepping in place briefly, before she nods at Carmine. "Ready?" And then she's coming for him again, but this time, not with a strike; rather, she attempts to step past him somewhat, hooking her arm with the policeman's and ideally sending him straight to the floor. A very simple throwing technique, but with those handcuffs, no point in getting fancy.
COMBATSYS: Farah successfully hits Carmine with Quick Throw.
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Farah 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Carmine
It would appear that Carmine is just off his game today. The quick hook-and-toss puts Carmine squarely on his back, despite an attempt to roll with it; that's going to hurt in the morning. It hurts /now/, too -- though it isn't /that/ bad, Carmine thinks, after a second on the floor.
... that's it, he thinks to himself. The floor. After a second of thought, he gets an idea -- and though it's a little risky, he's certainly willing to give it a shot.
Grabbing the chain of the handcuffs, he gives it a sudden, forceful yank, trying to pull Farah down. In-fighting isn't his specialty -- but he knows how to get a little tricky with his environment, if the situation warrants it. As Farah /hopefully/ comes tumbling down, the cop swings his legs up at full speed, aiming to plant them in her stomach. He says nothing this time -- he needs to focus a little more. Sergeant Miracle didn't teach him to be chatty.
COMBATSYS: Farah interrupts Strong Kick from Carmine with Ascending Heart.
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Farah 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Carmine
It's a very creative and unexpected tactic, and up front it actually works quite well. Between the two, Carmine has more mass and almost certainly more upper body strength to use the chain between them to his advantage, and with a look of surprise and a brief, failed attempt to resist, the Egyptian finds herself yanked forward. However, the gap between the yank and the kick gives Farah a split second to improvise.
As she falls downward, the girl's beribboned hand suddenly moves out to her side, and the tails of the ribbon begin to flutter in some invisible breeze, glowing with a starry night sky-colored blue light. Carmine's kick slams into her stomach, causing Farah to breathe out sharply, but before it can finish follow through, her own feet hit the ground and she suddenly pushes off, driving her fist up toward Carmine's stomach in a rising uppercut, the glowing tails of the ribbon spiralling out behind her hand in a perfect double helix.
The Egyptian girl catches Carmine off guard as he tries to find his footing again; that vicious uppercut catches him dead-on in the gut, and for a moment, his eyes bug out. He feels like he's going to throw up; fortunately for both of them, he doesn't. It looks like he needs a minute -- maybe a /few/ minutes, actually... but he can't actually take a few minutes in the middle of a fight.
As such, instead, he decides to take a few seconds and figure out where this situation went wrong -- and, for that matter, how to salvage it. He hasn't exactly been bringing his A-game here; he needs to find that A-game, rather than getting lost in the C-game that he seems to be bringing.
Groaning and rolling his neck a little, he slips back into stance again, getting ready for Farah's next move. "... nice shot," he wheezes out, still a bit winded.
COMBATSYS: Carmine calculates his next move.
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Farah 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Carmine
"Thank you," Farah breathes out as she lands, a little winded. She only took a fraction of the force behind that kick, but she's had full-force punches from other fighters that didn't hurt quite as much. She'd rather not be on the receiving end of any more of Carmine's attacks in that vein, that much is clear! As she drops back to the ground herself, she doesn't adopt a fighting stance immediately; instead both hands drop to her sides, the ribbon tails brushing the floor on one side, the handcuff chain slack clanking on the other. "That was a really creative move... I don't think I'd ever have thought of something like that," she admits. She doesn't know Carmine's profession, but if she did, it would seem to make sense to her given that tactic. Sometimes you have to make the most of what you have.
He's judging the distance between the two, and Farah thinks about this carefully. She'd rather not just charge the man when he's at his most alert and aware. On the other hand, just sitting here not doing anything isn't going to accomplish much either. Deciding to balance the two approaches, she extends her beribbon'ed hand, where a ball of that same midnight sky-colored Soul Power starts to gather. With a sweeping, arc-like move of her arm, the blue ribbon trails through the air, and midway through the arc, the glowing sphere moves down her hand, through the ribbon, and then across the distance toward Carmine. "Sacred Heart!"
COMBATSYS: Farah successfully hits Carmine with Sacred Heart EX.
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Farah 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Carmine
The glowing sphere of force catches Carmine in the face, sending him flying back a bit; fortunately, he manages to stop himself before he tugs them /both/ down, at least. "... Thanks," he grits out, as he finds himself very nearly back to square one. He has a plan -- but he doesn't /quite/ have the resources to enact it, at the moment, nor the positioning.
Reaching down to his side, his hand goes for where he would usually carry a sidearm, back when he was just a beat cop; it's not there, of course. (We're not even sure he's allowed one anymore.) Nevertheless, it goes there -- and his posture seems such that he /would've/ drawn one if it was there.
When he brings his hand up, it's in nice, neat one-handed trigger position -- and when he pulls the invisible 'trigger,' a very visible 'bullet' of force streaks for Farah. It seems two can play at this particular game.
COMBATSYS: Farah endures Carmine's Stray Rounds.
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Farah 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Carmine
There is something about this man. And the only way to find out more about him? Well, he seems reluctant to talk, so...
Farah dives forward. The bullet of force crashes into her, driving the girl back, but not stopping her. Well, at least, not physically. She does stumble, for a moment, as Carmine's attack slams up against her willpower. It's actually only the second time she's experienced such an attack, and the result is distinctly different than the cold, sickening feeling of hatred and bloodthirst she felt from the raw purple blades of Juri's energy.
Despite it being an attack meant to sap the fight from her, there is still something... reassuring about that attack. Even if Carmine is unsure, even if he is frustrated, something of himself remains.
It's so distracting she almost forgets to follow through.
This is why despite having broken through Carmine's strike, Farah's actual attack -- a side kick to the lower torso -- is still slower and even a little clumsier than it would normally be.
COMBATSYS: Carmine counters Light Kick from Farah with Mission Accomplished.
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Farah 1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1 Carmine
Though Carmine may be a little less chatty and a little more frustrated than he's usually predisposed to being, he's still Carmine; the way he applies himself is certainly not that kind of raw bloodlust. He just wants to do what's right -- and his sense of justice comes out in his mental attacks.
His focus starts to return, once he has an opportunity to catch his breath; glancing down toward the Egyptian's incoming foot, he sees /exactly/ what he needs to do. Hands abruptly reaching out, he takes that foot squarely in hand -- and directs Farah's momentum downward, both her own attacking speed and a great deal of psychic momentum enhancement slamming her into the ground.
The worrying part, however, is when he doesn't let go, instead beginning to whirl around, using all that upper body strength as best he can to get her whirling at a good clip -- before leaping forward, opponent still in hand, and swinging her into the wall of the White Arena.
Usually he'd just throw her... but throwing an opponent one is handcuffed to might not be prudent.
The tides are turned, and thensome. The Metro police officer might enjoy the look of surprise on the Egyptian's face when he catches her foot, but after that it's all a blur for poor Farah, especially once the spinning starts and she's forced to close her eyes or be subject to stomach-twisting vertigo; she only knows to open them once Carmine slams her into the wall, and then she opens her eyes involuntarily from the shock, breathing out sharply. As she slides down to a standing position, Farah feels that feeling well up inside... that it would feel really great to him him back now, harder than she got hit. To pay him back.
Her fingers flex for a moment, fists curling closed and unfolding open again and again. But unlike the last few times this has happened, Carmine himself is a bit of a steady rock. That feeling of wanting to do one's best, of trying to do what's right, radiates from him in a way that it might not from others, and apropos of nothing observable to him, Farah suddenly shakes her head as if she were trying to clear her head.
She doesn't attack; instead, the Soul Star gets into a Bagua stance, arms up, moving slowly side to side with legs crossed, charting the possible circles in which she can move despite being fettered. "Very nice," she says carefully, though with a cheerful expression that is only somewhat faked. She opens her mouth to begin to say she feels a sort of similarity to this young man, but stops herself, images of Quon's reaction to her flitting through her head. Farah too employs the sort of techniques he just used, but Carmine might not view that similarity as a good thing.
COMBATSYS: Farah focuses on her next action.
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Farah 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Carmine
Carmine doesn't know enough to see a similarity as a good or bad thing, quite frankly; he's still new to the whole psychic game. He isn't even sure what it all means -- and, for that matter, neither is his trainer, which has proven... occasionally problematic.
Letting his opponent recenter herself, Carmine decides that now is the time to stay physical and aggressive; he's managed to lower the gap between them a great deal, he notices, but he needs to keep the pressure on if that gap is going to actually change direction. There's no time for pussyfooting around, Miracle would tell him -- it's time to throw punches and push forward.
"... You too," Carmine replies, as he takes a few quick steps in toward Farah, rearing back for a somewhat telegraphed straight punch to the jaw. It's nothing fancy, exactly -- but then, Carmine's moves on the whole seem a little understated, save for that finger-gun trick and the ridiculous pseudo-Giant Swing he pulled a moment ago.
COMBATSYS: Farah counters Strong Punch from Carmine with Gekirinju.
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Farah 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Carmine
For the briefest moment, Farah can sense Carmine's brief flicker of self-doubt, and it actually affects her in two ways. For one, she can feel herself echoing it, her aura resonating with his aura. For two, it says to her for the moment that perhaps she should be more reserved, pull back some. However, that last effectively brings it to a halt, even as Farah watches her opponent come her with with a simple and effective punch. ~ If it were you, ~ she thinks to herself, ~ would you want him to do the same? ~
Of course not.
And then one hand comes up, the tails of blue ribbon streaking along behind it. Grasping with her shackled hand, the extended tails become a sort of barrier, pulled taut, that Farah catches her opponent's punch on. With a flick of the wrist, the ribbon then wraps around Carmine's wrist before Farah swings that arm skyward, hurling him into the air just long enough for Farah to bring her hands together, glowing with that starry-night energy. As the Metro cop falls, those hands push forward, palms out, blasting Carmine away with a burst of Soul Power.
So into the zone is Farah that she doesn't process the result of being handcuffed to him, and so as Carmine is blasted away, Farah is dragged after him, stumbling and then falling to her knees, breathing slowly.
Caught off guard by the series of forceful Soul Power-augmented strikes, Carmine doesn't have time to react; his punch is reversed into a nasty series of blows, culminating in both of them getting sent flying. For an instant, he looks like he's going to get up from even that, like he's going to muster all his strength and give the Egyptian one last forceful strike.
He doesn't. After a few seconds of attempting to get back up, Carmine crumples to one side, Brainy Smurf tie sliding to the side and getting dirty on the floor.
How horrible.
COMBATSYS: Carmine takes no action.
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Farah 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Carmine can no longer fight.
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Farah 0/-------/---====|
As the SNF people come over to finally unlock the handcuffs, Farah kneels on the floor, trying to get her breath back. She knows she got very lucky in this fight indeed; while she might have landed more solid hits than Carmine, it took only a few of his to even the score. Had the wind been even a little different, the Egyptian could forsee a very different outcome indeed. She almost seems surprised when the key slips into the lock and the bloody thing comes off her wrist, but eventually afterwards she stands up, rubbing her wrist where the cuff was attached.
For a moment, she looks over toward Carmine, studying him again for a moment. Eventually she walks over and ducks down a bit, extending a hand to help him up. She doesn't actually say anything; in her view, the offer of the hand is enough. If he'd rather refuse it, she can understand that... but maybe on some level, psychic abilities or no, Carmine can sense that she hopes he will.
Carmine groans a little, accepting the hand and forcing a smile despite the ringing in his head; he really got taken for a ride that time. It's probably good for him, in the long run -- too long of an impressive luck streak early in one's career can often lead to hubris later, and hubris is no good for a fighter who fights with their head.
"... Nice work," he says, after a few seconds, once the cuffs are unlocked. "Neat fighting style, too." There's something familiar in it, he thinks... and that reminds Carmine of something Miracle told him to do. "... Where'd you learn to fight like that, anyway?"
Maybe it won't turn up anything... but it might at least be worth looking into. "I'm not real familiar with styles or anything -- I don't even know what to... call that."
Farah seems happy once Carmine stands up, if only because so many messages are bound up in his accepting. One, that he felt it was at the very least a decent enough fight that he's not outright rejecting Farah. Two, it's the slightest inkling that perhaps someday, they can have a rematch... and for the moment, talk like civilized people. She does seem taken off-guard by the question, which in point of fact nobody has asked her before. "I, ah... well, my father is Japanese, and he was a professional fighter for a few years in the bush league, or so he calls it. But I studied Baguazhang for a while... well, and I added my own personal touches too."
For a moment, she flashes back to her youth and meeting Rose in Genoa, receiving the ribbon that's still tied around her hand. She looks down at it, and then inexplicably up at Carmine's Smurf tie, and a small smile comes to her. Talismans, of a sort. After all, that tie DOES stand out on the Metro cop, compared to the rest of his outfit.
"You fight pretty well for someone who's 'not familiar with styles'. I guess that means you have good instincts."
"Ohhhh, okay," Carmine says, appearing to be genuinely interested -- he's new to this. "Yeah, I mostly got trained in judo... and a little with a gun, but mostly so I'd stop, uh..." He trails off for a moment, before deciding that the conversation needs to go somewhere else very, very fast. "I always watched stuff on TV but I never really knew what to call anything." He almost follows up with, 'I'm still pretty green,' but decides not to actually say something /that/ self-deprecating.
"Your style's really impressive," he adds instead. "You're the first person I've fought outside training to have me on my ass most of the fight like that." He even had his trainer on the ropes for a little while -- but Farah just blew through his defenses.
With a faint smile, Farah folds her hands behind her back and tilts her head a little bit, looking at Carmine. She felt the power of his attacks, and so seeing this somewhat shy and actually quite gentle side of him has struck her quite a bit. "I try to be impressive," she says at last, deciding honesty is the best policy. "Er... that came out wrong. But you know what I mean. I do my best so maybe people will see me on TV and go, 'I want to do my best too', you know? I, uh..." Now it's her turn to glance off to the side for a moment, have an awkward pause, and then massively change the subject before the conversation drifts into waters she'd rather not sail with someone she just met.
"Anyway, I think I got lucky. Next time might go very different." She pauses, then lowers her eyes a little bit, glancing at Carmine sidelong. "Let's have a next time, alright? Without the handcuffs or anything. I, uh..." Here, she scratches the side of her head. "These SNFs are great for meeting new people, but not so great for having the sort of match that lets you fight your best, you know?"
At heart, Carmine Kolodzik is more suited to teaching or interviewing victims than physical policing... and even as he gets better at the latter, the traits that make him suited to the former become all the more pronounced. "... Yeah," he agrees, with a little nod. "I dunno if I like all the weird Saturday matches. It doesn't seem like anyone wins in that kinda stuff... someone just loses faster." What a curious turn of phrase.
Giving a crooked little smile to Farah, Carmine rubs at the side of his head, mumbling, "... damn, I need some aspirin. Ugghh. I'll see you around, okay?" He doesn't leave, but he does take a couple stumbling steps back, indicating he'd rather like to at the moment. He's /still/ seeing a couple stars.
Log created on 19:34:45 11/06/2010 by Farah, and last modified on 10:18:55 11/09/2010.