Description: Metro City's City Hall is one with a wealth of history chronicling from an age of crime, corruption and fear, to the dawn of a new Metro crafted (and punched) into existence by the city's current and much beloved mayor, Mike Haggar. While Law and Order may be on the side of Team Cops here at this magnificent architectural and historical masterpiece, the Rogue Team certainly isn't going to go down without a fight. So, who will win -- authority, or rebellion?! Only a full blown King of Fighters match with (hopefully excessive) creative use of City Hall's (poor, poor, abused) decor can decide! (WINNER: Rogue Team)
Ahh, Metro City. One of the toughest cities around. There's always a bit of violence around the corner. It's here where some of the strongest fighters come from, this distinction rivaled only by Southtown over in Japan. Mike Haggar, a man's man, does all that he can to keep the city's crime rate under control - to the extent one great man and a number of good men are capable of when things just love to spiral out of control.
The King of Fighters committee chose, of all places, the City Hall - as though it is no object to bring the violence into the heart of what order can be maintained within Metro... perhaps, especially appropriate for one of the teams to be fighting here early in the afternoon.
Varvara Economou, noted hobo who has lived her life almost entirely in squalor with nothing but her muscles to go by, has had a rough start going into the fighting world... and yet, chance has it that she'd be a part of the King of Fighters. Shiden truly wanted her to look, shall we say, better for the event.
Every time she looks at something nice, attention always goes to how these clothes would catch or get in the way in a fight... or how certain people are waiting for what money she can cobble together. The most Shiden gets is that she at least cleans up and gets a fresh set of fighting clothes before setting foot before cameras.
She is devoid of smiles or excitement, other than the concept that they might be getting a lot of money out of this - that's always a good enough motivator as she's called up from the carpeted floor where she sits.
"Tch," she snorts, "we shoulda started thirty minutes ago," she growls. "I'm gettin' hungry." She ate three cheeseburgers no less than ten minutes ago.
Homelessness... is not a crime.
But vagrancy... /is/.
The front door of city hall is kicked open and reveals a towering woman who begins walking down the steps, pausing only to light a cigarette despite being under the roof and thus within the Metro City no-smoking-in-case-of-infants-in-iron-lungs zone. Her heels click steadily on the ground as she moves down further, looking with remorseless silver-mirrorshaded eyes down towards Varvara.
She takes the shades off and tucks them into her breast pocket. "You're hungry when coming into a fight, huh?" Then she starts unbuttoning her power-business suit's front buttons. At the bottom step she pauses to step out of her heels, probably deliberately accepting the ruination of a perfectly good set of pantyhose.
She looks past Varvara then, towards the tinted plate glass windows - the ones with slightly bubbling and distinctly 'in need of replacement' tinting film on them. Her eyes squint as she flicks the cigarette ten yards into a sand-topped ashtray.
"Well then," she says, rolling her neck, "Let's hurry up. I'd hate to see a little punk go hungry."
Really, the sooner Varvara's ass gets deported back to whence it came, the better. She can't really offer much of anything to America other than 'yet ANOTHER wandering thug who probably has like fifty palette swaps that may or may not be waiting to put Metro City in peril /yet again/.' The... somewhat uncharacteristically altruistic search for strange cultist activities in recent times aside.
There is no denying the raw intimidation factor Sorsha brings in here - she's a large, very confident woman. Varvara is a nsty young woman whom reflects her life circumstances as one of those realities of life almost nobody ever really wants to see. She scowls at 'little punk,' even if - by all accounts - it's largely true.
Cameras have already been set up. KoF officials murmur to one another in the background, nod, and largely take positions. They've hired a female announcer from Japan whose Engrish is... somewhat lacking. To fill the dead air for those watching live, a cute heads-up shows facial portraits of the three chosen fighters for each side lined up - a leader being highlighted in a cyan circle rather than orange, along with the orders.
For every little offense and fear that Sorsha's presence provides, there's at least a grudging agreement to screw high heels, they suck and make your feet hurt. There's no way Shiden's ever going to get her to wear heels. Ever. Ever. Ever.
"'n I'll eat ya for breakfast," she hisses as she flexes her arms and legs to stretch out a little as she rises - then raises her arms up in front of her, palms pointed townward, one leg leading forward a bit raised as the tone of her voice stands in ironic contrast to what the following term would translate to in English, eyes narrowed.
"Erroso."
Sorsha's heads-up portrait involves winking at the camera, which doesn't work super well with her fairly weathered feature. She still has makeup on even in the actual fight, but it is significantly less pink-toned.
Sorsha shakes her hair loose, probably for dramatic effect as the homeless girl gets upwards and shifts around to prepare herself. Sorsha doesn't seem to have a particular specific posture, though she does spread her feet apart for somewhat better balance, watching Varvara for about two seconds.
BOR-RING, right KoF cameras?
Then Sorsha claps her hands once, before hurtling forwards like a lunging bull of some kind. Her right hand comes up, pale fingers curling around as she endeavors to get Varvara's wrist in an iron grip and twist her around to the ground in a single yank that will also likely bang her against the Metro City City Hall glass!
Which is bullet proof, for obvious reasons. But it's also old. WILL IT LAST? AND FOR HOW LONG??
COMBATSYS: Sorsha has started a fight here.
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Sorsha 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Varvara has joined the fight here.
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Varvara 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sorsha
COMBATSYS: Sorsha successfully hits Varvara with Quick Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Varvara 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Sorsha
"LEADY--" The announcer starts, but gasps when it's pretty evident these two ladies are ready and raring to beat the living piss out of one another. They're already going, they don't need her to say this!
They might need her to gasp dramatically in a couple moments, though.
Sorsha comes in quick and especially mean as Varvara thinks - for what little thinking she, apparently, ever does - she might not want to be standing there. That maybe if she leans off a bit to the side, she'll get a good shot at Sorsha's (hardly) tender flank and go from there.
Nope - it's over the very moment she gets a hold of her wrist, lifting her off her feet with next to no trouble as she's twisted around with a little gasp of surprise as she is banged against--
Correction, /through/ the glass, which shatters into many fine fragments that reflect dramatically off whatever light is in here. That bullet proof glass may have lasted many years against time, temperature, and maybe even bullets.
It lasts less than five seconds against Sorsha's might in driving Varvara to the ground, the clothes on her back already cut open on the pass through and against jagged glass. She visibly winces on something that, stand-alone, would have been a proper enough takedown to end a police chase. She's not wearing any shades that might hide her expression - the pain here is very, very, truly real.
"/Shit/," as is the swear word while we're at it. She liked to think her strength was worth something, but now she's up against someone who, very clearly, overpowers her.
Her freer hand reaches up for one of Sorsha's own wrists, but not to exactly toss her - she's still feeling the shock from the break and that slam. But she's got enough of herself together to try and bring her smaller hand against that larger wrist in a clutch and simply squeeze.
Some sort of energy, very airy, very wind-like, squeezes through the cracks as she tries to bear down on that wrist if Sorsha actually lets her get that hold.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha endures Varvara's Lion Crush.
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Varvara 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Sorsha
BAM! Sorsha thinks. "Where's your big mouth now?" she jeers as she kicks out some of the safety crunch glass to step out, her hair whipping in the wind that is now not coming from people opening and closing the door. She puts one hand on her honestly kind of fat hip and cackles unpleasasntly for a moment.
She raises her other hand to snap her fingers - and gets grabbed. Grabbed and... winded? She grimaces as she feels pressure, squeezing her hand into a fist to resist that force even as she grinds her teeth together, not for the first time. She breathes in deeply, even as she says with a tight smile, "You're not bad. This is some of your kimchee bullshit, isn't it, huh kid?"
Kid?? Well, she probably does have a few years on Varvara. Her wrist makes a crunching noise - the bones of her wrist shifting, though it's loud enough to possibly sound worse in the DVD sales. Sorsha's voice rolls in her throat, a low alto growl that may border on pained.
Then she wrenches her entire body around, aiming to slam Varvara against the nearby statue of Mike Haggar piledriving the anthropomorphic representation of Crime into the ground. This statue weighs like three tons and is made of bronze. Sorsha makes a wordless roaring noise as she attempts to thrust-throw-slam Varvara into it.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha successfully hits Varvara with ON THE GROUND PERP EX.
Glancing Blow
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Varvara 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Sorsha
That cackling makes Varvara want to squeeze so much harder. So much harder, that even when Sorsha puts up resistance she can feel the discomfort in her fingers slowly flexing apart. No! She's going to break her, she doesn't care that she's the smaller one any more.
Kimchee bullshit? That actually sounds kind of tasty.
"Hwa!" She gasps as Sorsha puts her overzealousness against her and decides to swing her into that there statue. It's a grace of quick thought that sees her getting the idea to let go - but the momentum is done. Her body misses the statue and instead knocks over an old wooden ballot box on display, both her and the box clattering down onto the carpet with a rough tumble, a sharp jab in the Cypirot's side against the old wood which is only marginally better than what would have happened otherwise.
KoF officials are already sweating at what Haggar will do when he sees this.
They start to panic when the smaller (if no less butch) lady shows she has absolutely no real attachment to historical significance as she picks up this old wooden ballot box - a bit heavy and already ready to crack apart after she released herself into it - and with the strength in her, flexes what she has hard enough to send it hurtling towards Sorsha.
A legitimate arrest is bound to happen.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha dodges Varvara's Thrown Object.
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Varvara 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Sorsha
Maki "Uno Bao" Genryuusai
It sure is, little buddy!
Sorsha's brow furrows as the authentic voting box, complete with authentic forged Irish ballots, is hurled towards her. She knows the proper police procedure for avoiding the interest of the voters, however, as per long training. The towering woman dives forwards, rolling along the carpetted flooring as she says, "You ignorant slut!"
She stays low even after she stops her roll, her center of gravity dangling dangerously close to the ground. "That shit's like a fuckin' historical artifact! Fuck!" She's going to be one of the heavily bleeped people, it would seem! She steps forwards, arms coming upwards as she straightens partway. The ballot box, meanwhile, full of Varvara's potent release, smashes against the steps and rolls down into the street, where it is promptly run over by a city bus.
As election fraud throughout history is wrecked behind her, Sorsha advances, feinting as if she's trying to sweep the leg before twisting partway in one smooth if relentless motion, aiming to jam her shoulder up into Varvara's armpit. That would merely be mildly strange, perhaps slightly erotic, except that this is of course a prelude to another use of leverage.
Like some kind of a horrible inverted fireman's carry being used for evil, not good, Sorsha aims to roll Varvara sharply over her back and then into the exhibit immediately adjacent, in which Mike Haggar is posing with his arms around the shoulders of Supreme Court Justices Thomas, Scalia, Kennedy, and Sho-Nuff directly in front of a variety of extremely jagged trophies.
COMBATSYS: Varvara interrupts YOU ARE CONTROLLING THIS SITUATION from Sorsha with Hill of Futility.
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Varvara 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Sorsha
"It's a box," Varvara replies bluntly as she flexes her fingers and her back - ignorant or just simply completely uncaring of true undeniable history? What she's not ignorant of is the fact she still has some glass embedded in her back that can't be doing anyone or anything any good, something that sees her scratching at it as Sorsha gets, in her unintelligent eyes, upset over next to nothing.
"It's a box!" She barks back the exact same thing she said moments prior as Sorsha goes in. The feint by itself is successful as Varvara shifts her weight to prepare to guard low, exposing an armpit that gets Sorsha's shoulder for her troubles. The leverage is applied smoothly - Varvara isn't just fighting someone bigger and stronger, but someone with superior technical skill.
The Cypirot is rolled along Sorsha's strong back and - very strongly - towards those sharp trophies. It's not even a matter of concussive force, for anyone can say this is something that damned near approaches lethal force by circumstance as one such trophy pierces Varvara's upper shoulder.
A loud cry of pain sees, entirely by circumstance, her left hand clasp down on Sorsha's shoulder moments before it passes out of reach, slowing her a bit from fully impaling herself into said trophies. With another tug, she draws Sorsha closer and not at all artfully flings her over herself into this very display. It's up the hill once - and after that she hefts Sorsha by her arm the other way behind her, /away/ from the display and further away from her as she kneels down with a grimace and a hiss.
Sorsha is thrown herself, directly into the face of Antonin Scalia. She hits hard enough to leave a smear over the man's face, silently revealing his dark nature as a Lord of the Sith -- until the blood vanishes mysteriously, furthering his dark powers as a Dracula.
Sorsha herself, one hand pressed to her breast, straightens up with visible pain and fury on her face. Her lips pull back a little tightly into a grimace/grin towards Varvara as she disengages for a moment. "Not - bad!"
But Varvara is kneeling. Away from her. Sorsha reaches down then, straining past the pain in her wrist to grab at the younger woman's upper arms and slide down, with almost flirtatious lightness, down to a spot just below the elbow. This is probably where Varvara would need to start getting ready to deal with it -- somehow.
Because Sorsha then yanks upwards while slamming her knee against Varvara's back, aiming, it seems, to painfully disjoint both arms. She laughs with immense if mildly disgusting gusto as she does this.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha successfully hits Varvara with Reverse Shoulder Destroyer.
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Varvara 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Sorsha
Somewhere, from the cheering section, an especially animated woman in red, with a witches hat, a broom and shades, is totally jumping up and down and shouting wildly. That is to say, she'd blend in perfectly with the other audience except she clearly knows one of the fighters.. er.. sort of. At least enough to know her name,
"You can do it Varvara- ah, well, you can do it now! Just think about giving all your brothers and sisters treats! In fact, if you bring this person down I will totally buy like a box of muffins or something for your entire family! On me, my treat! I'm so totally going to do it, cause you can win this! Yay!" Really she's just glad not to be fighting herself.
Where Sorsha may have compliments, Varvara only has spits and curses as she rubs idly at where she has just been stabbed most recently. She can feel that familiar, warm feeling of blood. It's not like the concept's foreign to her (or, really, to any woman - zing), although it is a clear reminder that she's hurt, she's being hurt, and further feels that flight-or-fight instinct that comes so often when she's mugging someone for money or maybe whatever's left in that coffee cup. She tends not to be choosy.
Just as she flexes her upper back to try and squeeze out the glass shard still /in/ there, Sorsha's got her upper arms - she might find them plenty firm enough to enjoy squeezing, if that's her taste. She visibly struggles to pull herself out, even leaning towards the floor in what could either have been a poorly conceived attempt to escape that descending grip or maybe think of throwing her again.
The point proves moot, her back arching and her mouth wide to the sudden surges of pain that go through her shoulders. There's something about the laughter that echoes in her ears that hurts most of all, as though... as though this were something she truly enjoyed. That being this strong is something, /something/ that is a hobby.
For Varvara, it's a need. She growls as she slumps low to the ground before Sorsha, trying to flex her arms to assert she still has them. Thankfully, they're not entirely dislocated - but her arms visibly tremble, as though she may have suffered some nerve damage.
When an official looks down at her as if to confirm that she's down, she raises a leg into a crouch, teeth bared. A run appears on the outer thigh of this leg as she steps up, back still faced to Sorsha.
For all of a few moments.
"You're," she sneers as she thrusts a hand for one of her wrists, "not," she scowls as she draws back an arm, muscles so taught it strains what fabric is on her shoulder, "funny!"
This final declaration is made as she plows this cocked back fist into Sorsha's elbow. If it goes that far, that's not the end of it.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha blocks Varvara's Macedonian Folly.
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Varvara 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Sorsha
The smaller of the two moves about as quick as they can to Sorsha's backside after, locking arms behind her in an attempt to suplex her from behind, although... perhaps things probably aren't going to continue proceeding the way she's imagining (or, really, strongly hoping).
Suplex? I hardly knewplex!
The sudden throw of Sorsha is somewhat countered by both her own mass - she is not small or light - as well as her resistance, however belated. However, HOWEVER -- she had already been hurting, and the impact on the ground (she twists enough to land on her chest, not on her head) as she feels her arms get yanked, just in time for her to wriggle partway out of the grasp, is not very enjoyable.
She has one arm still up, though. Her grip on Varvara's arm loosens for a moment, hand sliding down the younger woman's arm. Past the wrist, to the hand -
Then it jerks around to grab onto her thumb and yank even as she throws her own self back down to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha successfully hits Varvara with Thumb Snapper.
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Varvara 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Sorsha
Varvara says, "ow, my thumb"
Varvara's already moving to continue her little technique, completely unaware - or perhaps, much too dismissive - of Sorsha's ability to fight back. To put it lightly, it's putting one of her own tricks against her. Varvara could boast a better ground game than a lot of fighters of her ilk, that when she's ready to start trying to bend an arm back, Sorsha's not having any of it. Varvara responds by jerking her arm up.
It speeds up the process of getting the hold on her thumb, if not actually putting her /own/ into that powerful arm that has already shown her about city hall a couple times over.
The cry of pain that follows echoes loudly as she's yanked down into the carpet that just feels a whole lot colder to her touch, her thumb snapped at the joint painfully - but a cry that pronounced is as strong a signal as any to a competent announcer, who seems to have the perfect knack for when people are out.
"DOWN!" She cries. Officially, they mark Varvara as done and out, ready to be pulled out - except now there's a complication at play. A complication where Varvara rolls a bit on her back to get her stronger arm out for Sorsha's neck and, legitimately and truly, try to choke her until her breath gives out or someone physically removes her from her - unless Sorsha can muster up the strength or wits to save herself.
COMBATSYS: Varvara can no longer fight.
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Sorsha 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sorsha dodges Varvara's Strong Throw.
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Sorsha 0/-------/-======|
Down?
Not at all.
Sorsha lets herself get choked -- after pulling back enough that Varvara's pressure on her neck doesn't do much but turn her face slightly reddish and make a vein stand out at her temple. She grins rather cruelly at the young woman for a few long seconds, before suddenly, sharply, twisting loose.
And tossing back her hair with one hand as she straightens up. "/Whew/!" she declares, before snapping her fingers towards the first aid man standing by. "Hey, you!"
She needs a little gauze, after all, before /the next challenger/.
Varvara's hand goes limp as Sorsha pulls loose - though dazed, she works up an irritated, if weak scowl up to that cruel grin before someone pulls her away and probably has a word with her about that ballot box thing (on top of everything else).
"LOUND TSUU!" Goes that announcer whose English is bad enough that one wonders why they didn't get a native English speaker in there.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha drops her guard to recover.
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Sorsha 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sorsha takes no action.
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Sorsha 0/-------/-======|
ROUND TWO
Sorsha has taken off her business jacket and has rebuttoned her blouse after having to take it partway off to let the medic slap some gauze onto a chest-related injury that will probably go into the Unrated KOF extras in a manner that is actually not sexy at all unless you are a pervert or Shingo.
This totally only came up because she got slammed into Haggar's trophies.
She is also draining a bottle of water, tossing it aside as the next competitor is starting to come due. Her hair remains dishevelled.
COMBATSYS: Shiden has joined the fight here.
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Shiden 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Sorsha
"So she couldn't get it done, hmm? Well, I suppose there's no blaming her... Publically." Shiden's been monitoring the fight, of course--as the second in line, he's required to, for cases just like this, where Varvara made some mighty effort but failed.
"I'll have to talk to her, later..." But beating tactics into that brain might prove to be a futile endeavor. Still. The doors to the hall bang open, and Shiden strolls in, straightening his tie, tugging on fingerless black gloves, looking every inch a dapper young man, albeit one with a somewhat unsettling light in his eyes.
"So, you did for Varvara. She served her purpose, I suppose..." The man runs one gloved hand through his hair, pushing it back, then smiles, sardonically.
"We've no time for niceties, I think," and then
he's running forward, leaping into a low arc, looking to thrash Sorsha's face with the steel-reinforced heel of his right wingtip, intending to land and sweep his free leg around backwards, to assume a basic combat stance, hands up and clenched into fists.
COMBATSYS: Sorsha blocks Shiden's Medium Kick.
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Shiden 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Sorsha
Also watching the fight, a certain woman in red, who was bored during the short intermission is scandalized. Like Woah, "What a mean fella, how come he's talking about Varvara like she's some sort of puppet." Now torn between rooting for her own team and rooting for the other team, the woman in red bites her lip, from the sectioned off crowd area. Meanwhile it's unlikely anyone can even hear her internal conflict, well external because of all the other cheering, but she decides to cheer a little for both sides,
"You can do it!" she exclaims. . without really distinguishing which you could do what exactly. Though once again, it's all probably lost in whatever cheers there are to be shouted.
Sorsha looks at Shiden as he arrives, breathing in deep through her nose. "Yeah, hi," she says, waving one hand sardonically, before Shiden tenses and approaches. He's running at her and Sorsha has not had enough time to get fully over her previous exertions, which means she is forced to raise both arms to X-block that heel sweeping around to hit her face. The force pushes her back, tearing one stockinged foot.
"Served her purpose, huh," she continues flatly. She shakes out both her hands, watching Shiden for a moment.
She lunges forwards then with both hands out. She feints a jab at Shiden's face, but the real goal is to use one to immobilise his elbow and wrench his limb around in the opposite direction from the wrist with the other.
COMBATSYS: Shiden blocks Sorsha's Long Bone Torsion.
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Shiden 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sorsha
"That's for treating your teammates like drug store tampons!"
Shiden's sardonic smile continues, even as he finds his arm wrenched out of position; rather than resist it he waits for the moment of stress and works with it--a temporary dislocation of the elbow, and a violent twist of the arm to remove it from Sorsha's grasp before she can bring to bear her full power on it. "Ah, now, I don't treat her like 'drug store tampons'."
Swiftly, he attempts to reverse the grip, not to harm Sorsha with a pressure point technique of his own, but to keep her from getting away effectively, as he forms his right hand into a claw shape--looking to plunge the stiffened fingers straight into her stomach--fingers that shouldn't be able to pierce flesh, but, that if they strike, most certainly will--five bloody points turned into a circle as he would then twist the hand, connecting the dots, before releasing her and pushing the cop away.
"That's how I treat people like /you/, Officer Carcetti."
COMBATSYS: Sorsha dodges Shiden's Medium Punch.
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Shiden 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sorsha
Unfortunately, Officer Carcetti is either canny or has studied ahead. She takes a quick jinking step backwards, drawing her arms back to avoid any half-aimed slicing techniques from those probably ominous fingers. "Oh look at you, trying to do the Claw. You gotta aim higher to get that one right."
She tosses her hair back and then aims a somewhat awkward kick out towards Shiden, approximately at waist level. It might seem like a clumsy effort to kick him in the Crime Generators, but that is not the plan at all. As her leg comes down it hits the ground, slamming her forwards as she pivots to try and slam into him backwards.
Her hands come up to try and grab at the back of the man's head and press his lower jaw against her shoulder, at which point Sorsha falls downwards and slightly backwards, aiming to trap him beneath her not-insignificant weight and to crack open all his teeth on ... all his other teeth!!
COMBATSYS: Shiden interrupts Strong Throw from Sorsha with Immovable Mountain.
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Shiden 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Sorsha
Not quite canny enough, though, to resist turning her back to her opponent. The clumsy kick -is- easily avoided, true; Shiden merely has to step backwards, twice, but he can already see that the attack is intended to miss. He smirks--not that she can see it--and sinks down into a low stance, turning so that his left side faces Sorsha. When she launches herself into him--she impacts, certainly, but Shiden? He doesn't -move-.
And while she's fast enough to reach up to grab his head, she isn't fast enough to prevent him from slamming a fist into her back--breaking the attempt at the hold--a fist powered internally, and externally, by his chi, used to reinforce the striking hand...
And to add a coruscating orange glow, the external manifestation of his life force energy, a 'stinger' to add just a bit more to the impact that should force her away from him.
Still and all, a decent attempt to break him--it's too bad she's a cop. If she could be turned, well, she and Varvara would certainly make quite a team of enforcers.
Sorsha's spine cracks.
Not like a snap, but with a distinct loud POP as she is subjected to an impromptu chiropractic adjustment. Her body jumps upwards despite her retained grip, her eyes watering for a moment. She is in fact apparently trying to pivot around that fist. Her arms go down, hands grasping at the man's upper arm.
Does she throw him? No!!
She pushes off the ground, moving with agility that her large (and frankly slightly heavy) frame belies. Her legs twist around, knees spreading like the jaws of a dreaded vice; as her calves tuck up, she aims to get them on either side of the man's head and clap them shut.
Her arms are already extending, as if planning to land in a gymnast's stance on the ground behind him. Having done that she twists her hips. And by extension her legs, and hopefully something trapped between them while she's at it.
COMBATSYS: Shiden dodges Sorsha's Xenia Onatop Special.
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Shiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sorsha
It's amazing that a woman so... solid... can move so fast. Shiden's punch has literally broken men's backs before, the concentrated power of a single strike one of the hallmarks of Chongquan--even the diluted form that Antoine and Quon practice. So he is startled for a moment, when Sorsha attempts to throw her frame up and around into a leglock around, well, his head...
And he ducks and rolls, leaving Sorsha to manage how to land on her own--if she does. As he pops up, spinning around, he attempts to capitalize on his evasion with a simple kick--a rising front kick, the toe of his shoe aimed to impact Sorsha right where he'd just punched her--in the back.
He's feeling confident enough to says, his voice just a little above a murmur really, meant for Sorsha's ears alone, "It's too bad you look... the way you do. You have spirit, at least--I can appreciate that..."
COMBATSYS: Sorsha dodges Shiden's Aggressive Strike.
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Shiden 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sorsha
"MOTHERFUCKER WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY"
Sorsha appears to have had a hot button pushed. As the aggressive inwards strike comes in towards her, Sorsha spins around; the foot slams down into thin air as she moves with the same somewhat unexpected speed, rising up to her full height, which is notably greater than that of Shiden.
"Are you making FUN of how I LOOK? Is that some kind of thug thing, is that what you do to your little friend I put in traction" OK not really "so she feels shitty about herself and you can make her do whatever bullshit you want for fun?!"
Her face is turning red. Her nostrils flare. "Here, lemme help you with how YOU look!" She lunges again, her hands leading. They're aiming to slam Shiden in the face!
Or not! (This may be a trend in her style.) Instead they're trying to get BEHIND his head, in order to slam it downwards into her rapidly rising knee.
Twice!
COMBATSYS: Shiden interrupts Combo Attack from Sorsha with Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Shiden 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Sorsha
Whoa. Angry woman comin' through. Seemingly off-balanced by his attack, still recovering, it appears that there's nothing Shiden can do to avoid Sorsha's attempt to collapse his cranium with her patella. So he doesn't even try. Instead, he decides to demonstrate what makes Chongquan what it is--why it was -named- the Fist of Strength--and when she pulls him down...
He -accelerates-, slamming his forehead into her knee, the impact sounding like a gunshot. It's arguable whether it's worse for him or for her--despite the preparedness, the impact still had to do some serious damage to him--and he briefly looks a little drunk, or punch-drunk, as he rises up.
But his voice isn't slurred at all as he informs the cop, with a great deal of exaggerated dignity, "I said..."
"You're -ugly-."
Probably not the wisest thing -to- say, but what the hell, right? If you can't have a little fun, why bother doin' it at all?
The kneecap strike is turned into a horrible reversal. Sorsha staggers for a moment as her leg comes down. It is a very drunken swaying indeed!!
"ASSHOLE!" she says, before she rears back, clearly about to strike forwards again.
At which point she flops over, bonelessly. This leads the referees to declare decisively: "DOWN!"
As Sorsha staggers back upwards, still looking furious, one of those medic dudes come over to tow her off the field. ROUND TREE is evidently imminent. Score one for Shiden...??
COMBATSYS: Sorsha takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shiden 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sorsha can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shiden 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Shiden drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shiden 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Shiden takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shiden 1/-------/=======|
"DOWN!" Comes that Engrish-speaking announcer at Sorsha's fall - it's round three, both teams are down a man, and this announcer seriously needs to be replaced with someone who actually speaks English natively.
"LOUND TOLEE!"
Shiden straightens his tie, and shakes his head. "Good grief. Metro City -does- hire some of the ugliest thugs... I'm amazed she isn't working for Mad Gear," he comments, half to himself. He supposes that the next fighter from Team Metro is going to be up shortly; catching his breath, he glances down at his shirt.
"Ruined another one... but that's why I wear these cheap shirts to fights, I suppose," he says, still commenting to himself, clearing his mind for the next battle. As he recalls...
A man is next... a man called...
"... Miracle? You Metro City folk -are- degenerate."
Sorsha is dragged out of Metro City's Town Hall, out past its front lawn, and towards an ambulance parked near a squad car outside. It's like clockwork, really; doors slam in rhythm, one after another - Squad car door opens, ambulance bay doors open, squad car doors are slammed shut, and then the ambulance is being pulled shut. Sorsha and the aides are gone, and Thomas Miracle strides towards Town Hall's ransacked interior. He finishes off his cigarette on the way in, and flicks it rather expertly into an ash tray outside of the current arena's entryway.
'TOLEE'!!!
"Fuckin' Japs," mutters the cop. He cuts a pretty imposing figure - stout, muscled, maybe in his mid-40s, with a jawline that can cut diamonds. There are also the goddamned shotguns - three of them - strung along his back. One is quickly removed, its barrel SLAPPING into a gloved hand with a solid, weighty sound. The sound brings a slight smile to Miracle's face - and nowhere else. He's busy staring down Shiden.
"Who's this puppy? You took down Sorsha? Damn good job, son." There's not really all that much mirth or approval in his tone.
Attention locked on Shiden, Miracle opens the slide on his current weapon. Rapidly, he starts slipping cartridges into the thing's chamber. This is not outwardly threatening, but any fighter worth their salt can -feel- the way the air's moving around the older gentleman. This is -not- an innocent action.
"Who's fightin' after you, then?"
COMBATSYS: Miracle has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Shiden 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Miracle
COMBATSYS: Miracle gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Shiden 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Miracle
Meanwhile Aranha is watching off from the side with his arms folded as he watches. To say the least, he wasn't too pleased with his team mate's comments about the city of his birth.
He doesn't shout in support. No. He has been studying both his team mates to see how they handle fighting in these types of tournaments and studying these officers. Even if he doesn't face them now, he may face them later and this knowledge could be useful.
Miracle may be older, and armed with shotguns, but that hardly seems to bother the young assassin and all-around criminal abettor. "So, -you're-... ah, I was expecting someone more womanly than your erstwhile colleague," he quips, with an easy, snarky grin that doesn't reach his eyes at all.
"I suppose American TV lies, then--I was expecting a police force of beautiful women and handsome brutes, not... -things- like her. Still, she managed to take Varvara." Shiden loosens himself out, shaking his limbs, and adds, conversationally, "At least she hits hard. It would be a shame to look like that and not have -any- redeeming qualities. But really... a -shotgun-? Are you so insecure that you feel the need to supplement yourself that way?"
Despite all the banter, he isn't just standing there--he's already in combat stance, and now he's moving, sidestepping to his left, his steps careful, catlike--before charging in, or seeming to--jolting forward, maybe a half-step, before planting his feet. In the same moment, he's gathering power into his right hand, pulled to his right hip--and then thrust forward, releasing an orange-yellow sphere of energy, which rips from Shiden's hand towards Miracle with a sound not unlike that of the snarl of a tiger.
"Douche!" Sorsha calls from the sidelines.
COMBATSYS: Shiden successfully hits Miracle with Tiger's Shout.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Miracle
Miracle isn't really paying attention to anything Shiden says - bullet into gun, bullet into gun, bullet into gun. Unfortunately for the policeman, it's at about the same time that he finishes loading his weapon that Shiden finishes his attempt at disparaging commentary. The resultant wave of tiger-influenced chi slaps bodily into the sassmouthed martial artist's opponent - Miracle is standing in one moment, and simply thrown into the wall the next. It speaks to the man's composure that he's maintained any kind of a grip on his weapon - Thomas isn't the sort that goes down very quickly, at all.
After picking himself up, he moves back towards his original position - and investigates his other weapon. More ammo is loaded, but Miracle's attention remains on Shiden, his eyebrows raised, curious. -He does not look any worse for the wear-. Time passes.
"Let's try this again. Who's next?"
COMBATSYS: Miracle focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Miracle
A little smirk from Shiden, as Miracle postures. "Yes, a very good front," he remarks, looking unconcerned at Miracle's apparent lack of damage--he can tell that Miracle isn't as all-tough as he appears to be. "But stalling and posturing won't win you this fight. If you think I'm scared of a man who hides behind guns, then you're as thickheaded as that she-hulk I just put down."
Shiden smiles nastily, "But I can understand if you're simply afraid to fight. You cops aren't really trained for it, hmm? I guess that's why it's so easy to tear up a beat cop or two..." Is he really talking about things he's done or is he doing some posturing of his own? It's really hard to tell, as the Asian man looks about the hall.
"Shame about this place. I'm sure it looked passable, once upon a time." Toeing up a chunk of something--bookcase, trophy, it's hard to tell, he kicks it into the air, unconcernedly watching as the thing tumbles upwards about ten feet... then as it comes down, Shiden whirls, planting his foot into it--and accelerating it at Miracle, at roughly the same speed as a fastball from a pro pitcher.
COMBATSYS: Miracle interrupts Thrown Object from Shiden with S.C.A.R.S. Aggression.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0 Miracle
Sure, that Chunk Of Bookcase looks pretty, spinning end over end through the air like that. Shiden's not the only one observing it. The difference in Miracle's observation comes in his movement - he's not going to get out of its way, or continue loading his guns. Instead, the officer shuttles forward, effortlessly holstering his second shotgun and instead pulling the double-barrel from over a shoulder. His posture is hunched, his head lowered, eyes squarely on Shiden's chest. That chest rapidly becomes a bookcase fragment because holy shit Shiden is kicking a -bookcase- at him. Miracle continues his bull-rush, brandishing that shotgun like it were a shield.
Officer and wood collide in a good, rollicking explosion. Wood shards are sent everywhere - perhaps a half-second later the Sergeant's own pained, grunted exclamation radiates forth, but he doesn't allow the pain to break his stride. Miracle emerges from the mess, arms torn and bloodied, forehead decorated with several compelling, superficial scratches, eyes blazing. He is much, much closer to Shiden. Close enough to expertly break his hunting shotgun at the chamber, slinging its metal "V" over the sassmouth's neck like some kind of bridle.
"The problem is, son," grates the officer, "We ain't trained like normal cops. Shoot to kill or maim - best criminal's a dead criminal." The older man's forearms pump, pulling both halves of his broken weapon towards him and brutally THRUSTING Shiden's head groundwards. There, it will meet Miracle's politely upraised knee in a fatal sort of manner - except Miracle is fighting Shiden. Shiden can handle it.
"You gonna tell me who's next, now?"
A laugh from Shiden, as he picks himself up off the ground. "You should know already," he says, softly, "'who's next'..." He came in to the fight at a slight disadvantage, but he can't pass up the chance to snark, not even after taking a beating like that. Hell, Shiden knows about 'Section 8'. But why -wouldn't- he sass cops? It's not like they'll act any less crazy if he were inclined to be respectful, which he sure as hell isn't.
He rolls backwards, then up to his feet again, wiping blood from nose and mouth. "Oh, I've heard of you folks. It's interesting... how far you go across the line..." His smile turns sardonic. "As bad as the criminals you chase, no?" Simple fact or meant to be a barb, could be both, for certain... Shiden flicks his gloved right hand down, spattering his blood on the floor.
"Or maybe not," he says, and he lunges, pouncing like a tiger, hands forming glowing claws, hissing through the air with malevolent purpose--that purpose being to shred Mr. Thomas Miracle, as Shiden intends to turn into a whirling tornado of deadly claw, spinning his way up Thomas from waist to shoulder--to sink those talons into his shoulders and pivot, then hurl him, with a full frontal flip, straight into the statue...
... of Mr. Mike Haggar, Mayor of Metro City, and the shark he's piledriving.
COMBATSYS: Miracle Toughs Out Shiden's Raging Tiger!
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Shiden 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Miracle
"Christ alive, you can't even have a conversation with a man. Is your head on right, son, or are you some kind of half-baked 'tard?" Thomas is expecting Shiden to get to his feet. Maybe not quite this fast... but Shiden's already proving himself to be a tough opponent. So when the other man sprouts goddamn claws, it prompts - at best - a raised eyebrow from Miracle. He's not unimpressed - he just doesn't care. Again, the cop begins bullrushing his foe, one hand on a shotgun, the other held before his face for protection's sake.
It doesn't really do much to fend off the attack. Shiden RIPS into Thomas, utterly ruining the cop's compression shirt and treating everybody watching to a completely different type of gun show. Those PECS. Such rounded SHOULDERS. They're all -ruined- by the time Shiden's finished, and Miracle has stopped running - instead, he simply stands, bleeding profusely from dozens and dozens of microcuts, shoulders practically drooling dark blood. It's because Shiden's working into that throw -- and Miracle's just not having any of it.
"Hgn." That's the sound he makes. It's more pained than it is dismissive, and that alone should be a sign. That, plus the blood and everything. Miracle doesn't give Shiden time to recover from the not-quite throw -- instead, he reaches up to GRAB the thug with his free hand, and yank him downwards. En-route, Shiden's treated to a butt-first impact from Miracle's shotgun - straight into his gut.
"So you're not gonna tell me who's next, are you?"
COMBATSYS: Miracle successfully hits Shiden with Blunt Introduction.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Miracle
Damn! The old man is a lot tougher than he looks, that's for certain--Shiden is caught, and gutbutted, and ends up on the floor again, hissing, rolling away from the impact on the floor. His breath comes in a painful gasp, but only the one--he forces himself, through pure willpower, to breathe normally after that, though he rises to his feet more slowly. He doesn't trust his voice for a moment, and after another breath, he smirks, wiping yet more blood away.
"No... I won't tell you," he replies, as he takes a moment, rather than lunging into the jaws of death again, to center himself. He doesn't look any calmer, but then, he looked calm to begin with, even with the massive pain train Miracle's been running on him.
"You're a cop... can't be assed to do some simple detective work?" He laughs again, a crinkling of his eyes the indication of continued pain, "... no wonder MCPD took so long to shut down Mad Gear..." There he goes with that sass again. Something about -cops-...
COMBATSYS: Shiden focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Miracle
"Mad Gear's still around, don't let those fucking newscasters fool you." Miracle holsters his shotgun, and takes stock of the situation. His shoulders are killing him - anybody watching can see very plainly that the officer is suffering deep gouges there, blood mingling with sweat to rather freely coat the top of his form. He sneers painfully, and regards Shiden with renewed intent, eyes hard. He reaches over his shoulder once again, pulling that monster of a hunting shotgun into his hands once again.
"You're still pinnin' this polite discourse on me being lazy. Frankly, son, I find it more than a little offputting that somebody so obviously brainy as yourself can't get past this little temper tantrum you're throwin'. You sure you don't wanna talk about it? Some crooked cops show you their tallywhackers when you were a kid or something? 'Cause as far as I can tell, all I'm doin' is asking a question." Miracle punctuates his sentence with a heavy *CLI-CLACK* from his weapon, and offers Shiden his very best, most dubious and frank stare. He recounts.
"On second thought, the hurt I've put on you might have somethin' to do with it. If that's the case, I do understand."
COMBATSYS: Miracle gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Shiden 1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1 Miracle
Shiden laughs--right in his face. "Mad Gear's still around... that's a sad state of affairs for you, isn't it? After all... they're just street thugs, right? Shouldn't be any problem for 'elite cops', hmm?" That Miracle hasn't taken him seriously, well, that's Shiden's own fault, to be sure, and he recognizes that. That certainly is adding to the mix of emotions boiling inside the young man.
But he pretty admirably masters it. "Got nothing to do with your petty tricks... I just don't feel like answering cop questions." Pretty simple, that. "After all, you should -know- who's fighting next... you've already been told. And if you weren't... well... that's not -my- fault, now, is it?" God, he has got to focus better, that's for sure. He knows that he can't point to having just fought Sorsha as any excuse. He underestimated this man and he's paid... but he hasn't come away entirely badly.
But that gun thing? That's really petty. The sound of a cocked gun means absolutely nothing to Shiden, and his sneer shows it, a sneer thrown into the face of that frank stare... and then he starts driving forward, for the moment moving without pain, drawing his hands across his body--and forming his fingers into those claws again, striking out with a cross strike, aiming to carve furrows across the man's chest.
COMBATSYS: Shiden successfully hits Miracle with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Shiden 1/-----==/=======|=======\=======\1 Miracle
Shiden's continued insistence on Miracle finding his answers elsewhere has the officer shaking his head grimly - Thomas really does feel his opponent's missing the point. Nonetheless, he watches Shiden rush forward, expression a combination between simple amusement and a simple resignation. He KNOWS how this is going to end. It's going to end the same way everything ELSE has gone for Shiden. This is why - at the very end of Shiden's forward rush, Miracle is briefly very confused.
He'd had the situation worked out in his head; clock the kid in the face, call it a day, wait for the next knucklehead to show up. But Shiden's coming in too quickly. Thomas' quick attempt at assuming a better position for this sort of thing - specifically a position that doesn't have his arms hanging at his sides like dead weight - doesn't work out. Instead, the hasty attempt at a block results in Shiden's "hand" cleaving clean across the policeman's upraised forearm, sending a gout of blood spewing across the tiled floors of the Town Hall. It proceeds further, now into his chest, and sends him flying backwards - it's only a quick thrust of his foot behind him that keeps him from losing his ground and soaring backwards. Backwards would be bad. It's where that Haggar/Shark statue is.
But, now Shiden's got Miracle right next to him, hunched forward, bleeding -everywhere-, like some kind of stuck, anemic pig. The officer's expression is unduly intense, and his jaw set rather firmly - that's where the communication's happening, here. Words aren't leaving his mouth.
The rush forward (of course there was a rush forward) involves both of Miracle's smaller shotguns being withdrawn. One is sent butt-first towards Shiden's chin, while the second is leveled firmly, meatily into his presumably exposed throat. Point-blank, Miracle shows no hesitation in simply pulling. The. Trigger.
Shiden's head, neck, and shoulders will be obliterated behind a flash of bright white, his voice stolen by the magnificent roar of a speaking, furious shotgun.
COMBATSYS: Shiden interrupts Adam's Apple from Miracle with Immutable Mountain.
~ Cruel hit! ~
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Shiden 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Miracle
He's -way- too close to dodge. He doesn't even try. Shiden may not look the part, but his style is -built- on moments like this. The impact is tremendous, hurling Shiden's chin upwards--a perfect target for the explosion of gunpowder and buckshot, a point-blank decap shot that would, literally, kill a lesser man. Shiden's face disappears behind that roar, a bloody cloud blasted back--even the camera crew gasps a little.
But the body doesn't just fall back--no, not at all. And as Miracle is pulling that trigger... Shiden is pulling a different trigger. Point-blank range means that the young assassin is within arm's reach... and his hands explode out of the cloud to impact high on Miracle's chest, that harsh orange light flaring up around them, gathered from elbow to palm--and literally exploding off of them as he strikes, the impact equally tremendous...
...and then Shiden staggers back, his face and throat nearly obliterated--the cameras pan away, lest the carnage be just a bit -too- much... his face a mask of blood and torn flesh, his throat the same. And yet... he stands.
Miracle's not looking much better. By the time the carnage ends and vision can be reclaimed, those watching at home will see Shiden looking like a goddamn mess -- and some ten feet before him, his opponent has fallen to his knees, entire form slumped, head angled towards the ground - very much a dead man kneeling. The shotgun clatters from twitching fingers to fall on the tiled floor before Miracle, useless for now - his hands aren't up to the task.
His entire form is covered in mangled, half-melted flesh, blood dripping freely onto the ground now. He is - Thomas Miracle is - basically a human kitchen faucet about 99% of the way turned off. Rather than fall over, the man groans, low and loud, and rolls his neck left, then right. He doesn't open his eyes, but he DOES lift one arm.
95% of the way off.
"...Fuckin' bulldozer... You got enough to end it, or are we gonna sit here 'till we figure out who ate last?" His breathing, ragged, his form, wobbling. It's downright obvious that he's not going anywhere.
COMBATSYS: Miracle gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Shiden 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Miracle
"RRRRRRRRAGH!" The sound is strained, mangled, and barely recognizable, as he pulls himself together, barely able to see, knowing he'll need more than a few patches of bandage and gauze after this is all over. It sounds like the sound of a man enraged--but it isn't. It's the sound of a man trying to pull himself together, to finish the fight as Miracle suggests should happen. And in this... in this, Shiden agrees, for sure.
Finally, he can speak. "... oh... we'll -finish- this..." His raw voice is ragged, but there's a small note of respect for the man, who has proved himself every bit as tough as he looked, one of Shiden's toughest opponents to date. Like Miracle, he's wobbling, but he's got just enough power left, enough strength and focus...
To try and ram his right knee into Miracle's face, aiming straight for the chin. Simple, if not elegant, and maybe--*maybe*--enough to finish it out.
COMBATSYS: Miracle interrupts Light Kick from Shiden with Chin Up.
[ \\\\ < > ////// ]
Shiden 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Miracle
Shiden's mangled shout/grunt/yell is where the other man goes wrong; it's what snaps Miracle further into reality. With a start, the officer manages - barely - to pull his head upwards, to make a sort of bare eye-contact with his foe. While he can't maintain anything near an appropriate posture, it's certain that Miracle is -with it-... and as Shiden finds his footing and rushes forward like that, Division 8's lead instructor manages a soft, gentlemanly smile.
Ask him after this, and he'll tell you he was trying -very hard- to look triumphant. Muscles; not working.
It's the knee to Miracle's face that registers that last burst of desperate adrenaline. With a broken shout, the man bears down and manages to drive one blood-soaked elbow into Shiden's onrushing knee; the strike slaps into his shoulder, while freeing Miracle to drive his forehead -squarely- into Shiden's groin. It's less an issue of sass than it is an issue of being Miracle's only actual option -- and he doesn't quite have the energy to move afterwards.
"D-don't get any ideas, son." Well, Thomas is -trying- to move. It's just not really working very well.
Shiden's growl is cut off, without a comic squeak, as he's... groinbutted. He's already starting to fall, wordlessly... but that light in his eyes hasn't gone out yet. It's flickering, guttering like a candle held to one of Haggar's massive, world-famous farts, but it still glows...
Just long enough for Shiden to take one staggering step to his right, balancing himself for an attempt to just punch Miracle in the back of the head, a punch as sloppy as it is weak. But he can be forgiven--he's just been through a brutal battle with two seriously dangerous cops... and he's probably going to steer clear of District 8 for a while, if he can.
COMBATSYS: Shiden can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ <
Miracle 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Shiden successfully hits Miracle with Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\ <
Miracle 1/----===/=======|
*THUD* is the sound of that punch impacting solidly with Miracle's skull. The officer falls to the ground, presumably to be pulled away by whichever medical aids are available.
COMBATSYS: Miracle takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Miracle can no longer fight.
"DLAW GAME!" Comes that announcer at the end of that particular bout - it's gone down to the two very last members of each team. Let's say the fans are probably excited. The people running this shindig whom will have to answer to Haggar for the destruction of some priceless parts of City Hall... not... so much.
"FINAR LOUND!" The Engrish-spouting female announcer states proudly while waiting for the final entries to come in.
Aranha's arms unfold and he moves in closer. His mental state is one of a fighter quietly psyching himself as Shiden gives one last attempt at taking down the second member of Metro City's Division 8.
There's a moment of silence as the two fighters are taken away. Then music begins to play. The Citizens of Metro if they are familiar with rap or at the very least familiar with Aranha know this song. 'Welcome to Metro City' by Cam'ron featuring Jay-Z.
And that's when Aranha walks into the fighting area as he rolls his neck and takes deep breaths. While he's no stranger to the fight scene let alone tournaments, it's the first time he has been on a stage as big as the King of Fighters. He wants to be ready.
Even still, Aranha can't help but send a jibe in Miracle's direction. "Maybe you should've been paying more attention to the fighter in front of you instead of worrying about who's next!"
The Dancing Spider on the other hand, does not plan on making that mistake. The music cuts off and Aranha waits for his opponent to arrive.
COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Aranha 0/-------/-------|
The downside of allowing fighters to pick their own music -- and to do so without meaningful monetary concern for rights -- is that you get some really quirky personalities with some really quirky tastes. Such is the case with Carmine, who has made the unfortunate choice of... wait for it...
The theme to the Justice League cartoon. This is probably an embarassment to everyone involved with the Metro City Police Department.
Carmine strides into the arena, feeling fairly confident. He's survived a few nasty situations since getting into fighting... surely a tournament fight can't be that bad, right?
Cracking his knuckles and removing his jacket, Carmine -- in all his business casual glory -- takes up a position opposite Aranha. The man's competitive spirit is infectious, and gives Carmine just a little more focus on the task at hand.
Officer Kolodzik's ridiculous Brainy Smurf tie, however, might /disrupt/ the focus of anyone else nearby.
COMBATSYS: Carmine has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Carmine
"LEADY.... GO!" Goes that Engrish-speaking announcer.
Carmine's music choice has the poor capoeirista in stitches. It takes him a few moments to regain his composure which is fortunately just before the announcer says to start the fight.
Aranha's lips curl into a relaxed smile as he lets his body ease into ginga, swaying left and right in his battle dance as the fight begins.
This is the first time Carmine's had a fight that had some real, significant stakes behind it; his other competitive things have mostly been Neo League, and while that has stakes, it isn't the same. This... this is intense. He's got to make it count -- his whole team is counting on him!
As such, he decides to play it safe -- no big risks right out the gate for him. He's always been more toward prudence, anyway -- especially when it comes to unpredictable styles like Aranha's. Sticking to a maneuver that might well become his most explored technique as he refines his fighting style, Carmine brings up his hands in a gunman's posture.
You've got time, Carmine thinks to himself, before pantomiming firing two quick shots, one after the other. At first, it looks like nothing's happened... at least, until bolts of force rip toward Aranha's body.
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Carmine's Stray Rounds.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Carmine
The capoeirista sees Carmine finger point towards him and he finds himself raising an eyebrow as continues to dance and continues to make himself a moving target and then he see the pantomiming of firing a pair of shots and Aranha tilts to the side of one before tilting to the other side to avoid the second shot.
The second leaning motion leads into him tilting into a one handed handstand and with his free arm, he swings his arm around sending him into a spin before he lands on his feet. That's when he cartwheels right at the psychic kicking out at him as he closes the distance with his acrobatics.
COMBATSYS: Carmine blocks Aranha's Medium Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Carmine
Bringing his arms up in a quick, solid block, Carmine defends himself handily enough; the cartwheeling kick stings, but it's not anywhere near as bad as it could be, he thinks. If all the shots are like this, he just might have this one in the bag... but he knows that if he spends too much time thinking about how good he's got it, he's not going to have it so good anymore soon enough.
As such, he decides to spend a few seconds feeling out Aranha's style. It's capricious, sure, but it's got rhythm. If Carmine can get into that rhythm, he can disrupt it -- and if he can disrupt it, he's got Aranha where he wants him. Feel the rhythm, Carmine tells himself. Feel the rhyme.
COMBATSYS: Carmine calculates his next move.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Carmine
The capoeirista's feet don't find an opening however his constant movement and the fact that Carmine doesn't press the attack gives the capoeirista an opportunity to retreat. He leans back as he reaches down to the ground before launches himself backewards on that one hand bringing himself vertical before landing on his feet again. His feet upon touching the ground spin him around as he whips his arm outwards sending out a web of blue chi right for the psychic.
After that he lets his body relax once more as he dances to the rhythm in his head.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Carmine with Web Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Carmine
/That/ was something Carmine wasn't expecting. The web of chi rips into Carmine, knocking him back and nearly sending him sprawling; it disrupts his feeling of that rhythm for a moment, but it's hard not to get right back into it. He's got this. He's got Aranha's number now -- even if Aranha thinks he doesn't.
Wasting no time, Carmine runs forward, the rookie deciding that right now he's got to keep it elemental and efficient to make up for lost time; swinging his arm forward at full speed, he aims a solid punch straight for Aranha's mouth, then another for his gut... and makes sure to time them /just/ off-rhythm.
COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Carmine's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Carmine
And while Carmine tries to punch him just slightly off rhythm, Aranha stubbornly maintains his rhythm and in spite of it, manages to evade it by dropping to the ground under the attempted punch to the bread basket in a crouch as he extends one leg forward. His own grin becomes bigger as he, then wraps that extended leg around the police officer's leg as he clamps his other leg on the same leg the his first leg was wrapped around. Then he twists... Hard.... He intends to slam the police officer on his back.
Regardless of whether he succeeds or not he's going to pull his legs back. Capoeira's takedowns do tend to be in out affairs.
COMBATSYS: Carmine counters Strong Throw from Aranha with Undertow.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Carmine
Presenting a leg to Carmine is never a good idea. Wrapping a leg around Carmine's is an even worse one. The technique Aranha tries is exactly the same technique Carmine uses to counter many of his foes -- and he's turned it into an art form. When that leg wraps around, Carmine abruptly firms his stance up, gripping Aranha by the throat for just a moment.
"Sorry," he says, before simultaneously pulling hard with that wrapped leg and shoving downward with his hand, slamming Aranha neatly into the ground. Landing a hit -- a hit that forceful, at that -- gives him more than adequate cause to smile. He's not out of the woods yet... but at the very least he can see the exit.
Aranha instantly finds his attempt at taking the police officer down not going exactly as he planned finding his back slammed hard to the ground.
As painful as that was, the Dancing Spider brings himself quickly to his feet, swaying for a moment before the dance is abandoned. He runs past the police officer and then leaps for the statue of Mike Haggar piledriving a shark before he kicks off of it leaping feet first at rookie cop.
COMBATSYS: Carmine blocks Aranha's Sky's the Limit.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Carmine
The foot-first leap meets with hard shoulder and solid stance as Carmine turns his body toward Aranha; this guy can go like this all day, he realizes, feeling his heart sink a little bit. He needs to land some solid shots, and fast, or he's going to end up looking really stupid while this guy plays silly-bitches with him all damn day.
But first, he needs to do something to gauge how he deals with more conventional assaults. Trying to meet speed with speed, Carmine swings a quick, efficient little punch right for Aranha's midsection, simultaneously adjusting his stance just the littlest bit.
COMBATSYS: Aranha interrupts Quick Punch from Carmine with Bad Beat.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Carmine
And then as the quick punch heads towards his midsection, Aranha goes further inside of the punch range and slightly off to the side as he swings a quick elbow across Carmine's jaw. The result is that the punch just glances off of his rib cage as his own elbow connects. The he swings a second elbow across the face before dropping down low to grab the police officer's legs and pull them from under him.
After that, he hops back, the relaxed grin still plastered across his face.
The elbow shot and subsequent quite literally going ass-over-teakettle leave Carmine smarting, both physically and mentally; Aranha's just screwing with him. More than that, he's screwing with him and gaining a tremendous lead by doing it; if Carmine doesn't do something dramatic, immediately if not sooner, he's going to end up knocked clean out.
So, of course, it's time to go for the dramatic. Raising his hands, Carmine decides to try something a little different than normal with this next trick -- something he learned from his mentor. Rather than stay far away and rain shots helter-skelter in a panic, Carmine pulls himself up and goes for more of an infighter's stance, sticking close like Miracle would.
Taking one last deep breath, Carmine lets loose two incredibly heavy shots of psychic energy, one from each hand, leaving Aranha no time whatsoever to react... and more importantly, aiming for his ears, hoping to leave them ringing and his rhythm damaged.
COMBATSYS: Carmine successfully hits Aranha with Hot Shots.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Aranha 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Carmine
Aranha knows that even in the best of times, he would have trouble getting out of the way of those shots fired in close proximity. He tries to swing an elbow to cover his ear but he's just a tad too slow. The fact that it's fired in his ears ends up not only severely damaging him but throwing his sense of balance off kilter.
He wobbles to and fro for a few moments and then he tries to shake off the effects the psionic energy. When he has enough a clear head to work with, he drops low to touch the ground with a single hand as he swings a spinning back heel right for the cop's temple.
The smile he was wearing earlier is gone.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Carmine with Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Aranha 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Carmine
Heel smacking against skull, Carmine finds himself in a world of hurt that he wasn't really expecting; his body aches, but by some small miracle, he manages to stay standing. He realizes that he's not going to get out of this one in anything approaching a clean win; if it happens, it's going to be by the skin of his teeth -- nothing more and nothing less.
So he decides to try a big, risky gambit that looks, on the surface, almost milquetoast. Feeling that sudden seriousness incoming, Carmine decides to test it with the most mundane move he can give -- a quick little grab-and-toss. He knows all sorts of things could happen here... but he's banking on this conservative little maneuver paying dividends soon.
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Carmine's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Aranha 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Carmine
Aranha doesn't quite move quickly enough to get out of the away of the attempt to grab him but oddly enough he doesn't seem as though he wanted move out of the way either. In fact, he lets himself be grabbed preferring to control how he lands instead dropping into a roll the moment he hits the ground to not only distribute the impact but to also get himself back in kicking range.
The smile returns just before he swings his leg in a powerful roundhouse. If that first kick should connect, he'll bring that leg back the other way to hook the heel behind his head and violently pull him face first to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Carmine counters Face Down EX from Aranha with Slapstick.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Aranha 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Carmine
The maneuver never gets past the roundhouse. As soon as that kick comes up, Carmine grabs the leg with a force that he likely hadn't made it clear he could muster earlier on in the fight; his Brainy Smurf tie flutters wildly in a wind that, inexplicably, only it experiences. "Too slow," he says, dispensing with the apologies this time and simply chiding Aranha.
Then, all at once, Carmine swings Aranha down into the ground, face first, as if he's getting ready to book him. Driving his knee into the rhythmic fighter's back, he draws his nightstick and gives him a single forceful crack along the back of the head; he then at last gets off him, checking for any signs of continued struggle.
Aranha was surprised to say the least. He has been keeping a moderate pace as far as his fighting was concerned. The moment he turned up the pace and attempted to finish the fight in a devastating manner, the rookie manages move faster than he had expected and he ends up going to throwing a powerful roundhouse to ending up face first on the ground and getting his head cracked by his night stick.
Aranha growls as he pushes himself back up to his feet and then whips an outside crescent kick around in the attempt to slap the police officer in the face with the outside of his foot.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Carmine with Spin Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Aranha 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Carmine
That quick kick catches Carmine dead-on across the face; for an instant, he looks like he's about to answer it -- but regrettably, his footing shakes, then crumbles to nothing. After that fairly heroic showing, he goes down like a sack of bricks; he just can't keep up with Aranha's several years of experience on him.
His Brainy Smurf tie looks so sad.
COMBATSYS: Carmine takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Aranha 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Carmine can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Aranha 0/-------/-----==|
"KAY! OH!" The announcer cries out at that final hit. Time seems to freeze for no readily apparent reason, before allowing it to continue for Carmine to slump down to the floor.
"YOU WIN!" She calls out, as those at home see a display of thick white letters reading 'WINNER ROGUE' with the 'rogue' having a blue-ish outline.
Aranha waits for it... and waits for it...
Eventually he realizes that it's not gonna come. And the capoeirista finally relaxes but not quite enough to truly let down his guard. He glances at the other Division 8 officers before he turns his attention to Carmine.
"There's two types of people who apologize during tournament fights. The cocky jackasses and half-hearted people who have no business being in tournaments like this. Quite frankly, you're not skilled enough to be cocky against someone like me. Guess which catagory that leaves you in?"
Aranha had to admit Carmine had heart and normally Aranha has respect for tenacious individuals who fight hard even in spite of a difference in skill level. But there was one thing that rubbed the Dancing Spider the wrong way. Unjustified cockiness. It showed when Carmine apologized after landing one attack and it showed when he caught the set up roundhouse to his Face Down and proceeded to counter it adding quip about it being 'Too slow.'
He then turns and walks away giving a dismissive hand gesture to Carmine as he walks off.
Suddenly, the scene cuts out. A thin strip of white light fades back into view, and fades into a view of the city hall. Still portraits of Shiden and Varvara are in the back to a fanfare of some sort.
................ aranha
winner.......... shiden
............... varvara
life bonus...... 003000
time bonus...... 110000
survival bonus.. 000000
perfect bonus... 000000
total score.... 0113000
Aranha does a one-handed handstand in front, a big grin with his other arm wide out to the side.
________________________________________________
Everyone is so quick to count out the
spider but there's a reason he climbs
up water spout again. It's his heart.
________________________________________________
COMBATSYS: Aranha has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:51:51 02/12/2011 by Varvara, and last modified on 01:36:37 02/19/2011.