Description: Neither Iori nor Sagat are known for having jolly natures. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to see either of them as anything but bad guys! That's why these two men have been pitted against one another in the pit of Rome's very own Colosseum. Ah, but worry not! Kyo has been dispatched to keep either fighter from wrecking too much...by burning the hell out of whoever threatens to ancient landmark. Or, you know, just for fun. (Winner: KYO!?)
The Roman Coliseum. Here, men battled men, and beasts, for the pleasure of the Caesars. The winners received what little glory could be offered to the enslaved who risked their lives for the amusement of others. The losers... well, they didn't get anything at all, except for "chucked out the proverbial airlock." It was were lives could potentially be made but more often than not, they were usually lost... and despite the endless wear and tear of both time and tide, the massive columned building has remained... of course, in somewhat diminished form. Not even the most epic standing buildings of the past are immune to the ravages of age.
It makes perfect sense to pit two extremely experienced and powerful fighters against each other in the middle of THAT, doesn't it?
Contrary to popular belief, only some of the intact arena floor of the Coliseum remains. The rest has been exposed to the air, showing a warren of crumbling walls, side rooms, and passages that once led underneath it. Deciding that fighting down in said area would be a little too annoying for him, Iori Yagami -- a fighter with a long, long reputation for, to be not so gentle about it, leveling historical landmarks he's fighting at -- is waiting on what's left of the arena floor. His plan has been to use these fights to get Kyo's attention... or perhaps even be paired with his nemesis, mostly so he can claw the arrogant prodigy's face off. So far, it hasn't worked.
It's starting to wear him down.
"Already bored," he growls, to more or less nobody. "Just wonderful."
The boredom shouldn't last for long at least. If anything there seems to be some commotion going on as Sagat starts to step forward and into the arena proper. He is dressed in his usual fighting attire and the cyclops looks up and around at those gathered to watch before looking towards Iori. Much like the other fighter he doesn't seem to have a very pleased demeanor. Then again witH Sagat's case it is more that he is ready for a fight and as much as he is about to enjoy what he is about to do it sure doesn't look like it.
"You don't strike me as one that really would enjoy something organized." he tells Iori as he steps in closer. He may have the size advantage and experience, but he is no fool. Iori is a dangerous man and one to keep a close eye on. This will not be an easy fight at all. It is just another man to defeat that is in his way. All part of the grander scheme to be ready for when he finally does run into Ryu. From what it looks like the wanderer has been active again as well. It might not be long until their paths do cross.
He does grin just slightly as he looks around. "I see our agent still hasn't shown. What a slacker." he muses. Does he know something that Iori doesn't? Maybe he is just being a smug old man that needs to be punched in the facemeats.
Yes, where is the Chaos Agent for this particular match?!
It's possible, of course, that Kyo Kusanagi has elected to be late, or even not show up at all, as some sort of petty revenge against being assigned a 'Chaos Agent' role, making him a second banana for this particular fracas despite being cooler, more charismatic, better looking and generally awesomer than either of the actual combatants. In fact, as it turns out, he's a good two, three minutes late to arrive, and when he /does/ arrive...
"Hey, is this supposed to be some sort of a 'man versus beast' theme?" wonders a gratingly familiar voice, as Kyo Kusanagi walks out into the still intact section of the arena floor with, of all things, a folding lawnchair under his arm. Where's he getting the 'man versus beast' idea anyway? Maybe he just watched Gladiator the other night on Netflix (not his own account of course, he stole Benimaru's login information (and filled up his queue with episodes of Veggie Tales)) or maybe he actually paid attention in history class?
...Nah.
"Ah..." Kyo suddenly realises, as he's setting up his chair. "But which one of you is the crazed wild animal then, huh?" With his chair set up, Kyo sits himself down, keeping his distance from both Iori and Sagat for the moment, because he's an arrogant asshole, not /stupid/, and sits with his elbows on his knees and his cheeks cradled in his hands, a look of mock interest on his face. "You guys go ahead and get started... I'll get involved when you start boring me."
"What would you kn--"
Iori is in mid-sentence when he cuts off, and perhaps only Sagat can see how his scarlet eyes shift, the pupils contracting to the size of pins, even before Kyo's first grating, ear-shredding word is audible in the room.
Whether it's a blessing or a curse, their shared connection to the sacred powers of old means that when Kyo is near, Iori just... knows. Never mind that the 'good?' flame-wielder tends to make an entrance where it's impossible to ignore him anyway. But there is something in the way that Iori tenses up that says 'danger.' Considering that the Yagami scion tends to keep his emotions on a pretty tight leash in most situations, such a naked and easily readable display of what he's feeling must come from somewhere deep indeed.
He doesn't turn to look. He doesn't heed Kyo's words, because he learned long ago that down such a road lies madness. But for those brief, terrible moments of being 'ignored', Sagat is probably forced to look at Iori. Looking into those eyes... well. Sagat is formidable, with an iron will that many would envy. And even to such a man, the view might be unnerving.
'You guys go ahead and get started... I'll get involved when you start boring me.'
"How nice," Iori growls, before turning to Sagat and leaping at him with all the speed and power but none of the grace of a hunting cat, one hand extended claw-like to slam into Sagat's meaty shoulder from above and slam him right into the dirt of the coliseum floor in a bloom of amethyst fire. "I was just thinking THE EXACT SAME THING."
COMBATSYS: Iori has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Iori 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Sagat has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Iori 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Sagat
COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Iori's Tsumagushi.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Sagat
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here in the center.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-------
Sagat was really unsure if Kyo would even show up. There is only amicable respect in the fact Kyo was there to help with Orochi on the island even if Sagat was at the time forced to take him on. The last orders from Vega he will ever take. Even so he enjoyed himself in that fight. Kyo was a worthy opponent that night. That might be the only reason why Sagat doesn't fireball him right in the face and ignore Iori for the time being. Instead that single eye narrows at Iori and notices the look.
It is something that probably would leave lesser fighters very unsettled and suddenly not wanting to fight. For Sagat it makes him glance briefly at Kyo and then back to Iori as if he is getting a plan. Not that he gets much time to think too much on it. Iori moves quickly to go on the offensive and the larger fighter is left concentrating on the incoming strike instead of whatever small plan he had brewing.
The hand gets ahold of Sagat's shoulders and the large fighter grasps Iori by the top with his hands as he staggers back a few steps and attempts to keep his balance. "So good to see friends greet one another." he comments and then that usual serious expression turns into a bit of a grin as he looks to just heft Iori up higher and throw him down to where he would land at Kyo's feet. "Go say hi!"
COMBATSYS: Iori interrupts Tiger Carry from Sagat with Oniyaki.
- Power hit! -
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Iori 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-------
'Friends?'
Well, THAT was a mistake.
Sagat's hands close around Iori's shoulders. In any other situation, this would result rather quickly in some intense retribution on Sagat's part for Iori. But the Yagami is fueled by rage, now... the rage that drives the brutal efficiency of his fighting 'style.' There's no grace, no structure. There is simply pure, stupid power deployed as effectively and quickly as possible. And while it often blinds him, and those violet flames sear his blood, Iori benefits from the strength of his rage at the moment. That bloodline flame suddenly blazes to life around his hands again, as the redhead looks up the remainder of the distance from Sagat's tight, six-pack abs to his grim, one-eyed face and says, _loudly_: "DON'T TALK ABOUT SHIT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND..."
And then Iori is airborne, a surprisingly perfect spiral, rising in a two-armed uppercut empowered by Orochi-tainted fire, turning Sagat's attempt at a grab into painful retribution from Iori, who continues to growl, as he drops back to the ground, "...YOU USELESS FUCKING SLAB OF BEEF!"
Well it seems like he may have hit a nerve there. Sagat is known to fly off the handle at times, but in comparison it is nothing like Iori when around Kyo apparently. There is the searing of the energy against skin and the feel of fists slamming into him and taking the large fighter off his feet with relative ease with the force the blow is delivered. Well if his intent to make Iori a bit blinded by rage he did it with flying colors. Now what the hell does he do? Hopefully he can look for some mistakes and openings Iori might leave him.
He is a bit slow to get up, but that smirk returns. "More than friends then." he comments when he probably just keep his trap shut. Then again it isn't often that Sagat himself can get someone worked up and not the other way around. Will he regret? Doubtful. Will he be feeling some pain in the joints later on? Definantly.
He steadies himself and takes a deep breath. Well it looks like the answer to Kyo's question is Iori will be the beast for this fight. "You hit hard, but I suppose I will just have to hit harder." he muses as the debris and dirt around his feet swirl about and get kicked up by small dervishes that are swirling about Sagat. The large fighter clenches his fists as the energy gathers from the air around them and starts to concentrate around the hands of the God of Muay Thai. "Take the kid's gloves off and come at me!" he says and then chuckles a bit.
COMBATSYS: Sagat gathers his will.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-------
From his current position, it's hard for Kyo to not notice that he's become a topic of conversation, especially as Sagat baits Iori by referring to their supposed 'friendship', which even makes the Kusanagi heir wince where he's sitting. "Oh man," says the reigning World Warrior. "I thought big stoic guys were supposed to know when to keep their mouths shut." Still, while it /would/ be kind of funny to watch an enraged Iori Yagami batter Sagat into a (very large) pile of ground beef, his ostensible role here is to keep things interesting, right?
The folding chair is, suddenly, empty.
With Sagat focused on building up his secret Muay Thai powers and Iori presumably focused on wanting to tear out Sagat's remaining eye, Kyo stops a short distance /behind/ the red-haired fighter, and utilises one of the many ancient techniques of the Kusanagi clan:
Basically he tries to kick Iori in the back of the head. "Hup!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Iori with Heavy Kick.
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Iori 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-------
While Sagat is really joking, the idea that Iori Yagami has kid gloves is beyond ridiculous. He goes for the kill shot without question, each and every time. But he can be conflicted. Right now, he desperately wants nothing more than to rampage across the coliseum floor and crush Kyo's head with his bare hands. But he knows, he KNOWS, that so long as Sagat is on his feet, this is going to get pointlessly complicated. There's no getting around that. And so for a moment, the wild beast that Kyo prophesied is in a mental and emotional tug of war. So many annoyances, so little time...
But then Baldy von Eyepatch just has to go and TAUNT HIM.
"Hey, meat wall," Iori says, turning his upper body toward Sagat. "You learn all your snappy dialogue before or after your stint as Vega's personal patsy? 'Cause--"
To his credit, he turns in time to notice Kyo coming toward him. To his... not-credit, just knowing this information is not sufficient to actually involve doing anything about it, which is why he suddenly slumps forward from the force of Kyo's kick.
Then he comes back up, after a too-long moment bent at the waist, and turns to Kyo with the barest of smiles. "...heh."
And then he's swinging both of his fists toward the side of his rival's head, attempting to just send Kyo sprawling back across the floor where he came from. "I'll GET to you, MAGGOT. WAIT YOUR TURN!"
So it begins. Actually later than he may have expected, but to his credit Sagat probably was the one that kept it from happening sooner. Looks like he just fond the right nerve to keep Iori from going straight at Kyo and in turn allow Kyo to play his actual part in the fight. Of course now things might get a bit complicated and he is unsure what he should do about things. This is supposed to be him and Iori fighting. Iori seems more intent at least for the moment to attack Kyo, though.
Standing there doing nothing isn't going to make things any more interesting even if it might net him an easy win. That is not how Sagat wants a fight to go down, though. He wants to win by showing he deserves it and by showcasing his strength. That is why he is about to start doing just that. It seems like the rolls are reversed in this case than how they were just a moment ago. This time it is Kyo that seems to have Iori distracted enough that the emporer closes in and before the other fighter might catch it he soon has a another foot aimed right for the back of his head. This one alot larger than Kyo's foot and probably alot more force behind the blow being delivered.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Iori's Strong Punch.
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Iori 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|------=
"Heh," Kyo chuckles faintly, at nearly the exact same time as Iori makes a similar sound. Neither one is especially pleasant.
As Iori's hands come around in a vicious axehandle blow at the side of Kyo's head, the Kusanagi heir himself gets his arms in the way, curling himself up slightly to lessen the impact and absorb more of the kinetic energy. Full on, the blow would probably be enough to knock someone right off of their feet... As it is, it's still enough power to make Kyo's shoes skid over the dusty arena floor as he's shifted a few inches to the side.
"Maggot?" Kyo repeats. "Hey, words hurt, you know." Of course, so might Sagat's giant foot, which Kyo helpfully points out by pointing significantly behind Yagami. The question becomes, of course, what to do about /Sagat/ now, since he ought to spread the love, right?
Taking a step forward, Kyo vaults into the air with what is, in fact, the greatest of ease, getting a height a lesser individual would find physically impossible without some kind of jet pack as he curls one leg against his body and extends the other, perpendicular to his torso, that foot tracing a broad arc in the air and adding twisting momentum to the force imparted by everyone's best friend gravity... As Kyo tries to land that foot right on Sagat's big bald dome.
COMBATSYS: Iori endures Sagat's Medium Kick.
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Iori 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|------=
You're right, Kyo. Words do hurt. Let us love one another and then Sagat's foot kicks that idea almost literally out of Iori's head, where it never belonged to begin with.
Kyo points, then rushes to be 'chaos agent', yet something about both of these facts is just inexplicably infuriating to Iori, be it the idea that he might need the heads up (he does) or that Kyo should be fighting anyone but Iori (he shouldn't). Problematically, this gives Iori few options when it comes to Sagat's kick, but at this point the redhead isn't exactly rating a large number of Spocks on the Vulcan Logic-o-Meter. Which is to say, he turns and lets the massive Muay Thai Emperor kick him right in the stomach.
A little bit of blood trickles from the edge of Iori's mouth because, let's face it, you don't DO that to Sagat's kicks and not expect a price. But the key thing he doesn't do is fall over. "You wanted kid gloves off? Fine with me," Iori spits, amethyst fire flaring into life around both of his hands. "Why don't the both of you BURN FOREVER, FOR ALL I FUCKING CARE!"
His arms come up, and then down in an X-shaped pattern, shortly before a pillar of purple fire large enough to engulf even Sagat screams out of the ground like an angry volcano, looking to put the bloodline flame hurting on Sagat in one swift stroke. And if Kyo just, you know, HAPPENS to be kicking him at the same time, Iori can't be held responsible for what happens.
COMBATSYS: Sagat endures Kyo's RED Kick.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Sagat fails to interrupt Yami Sugi from Iori with Tiger Destruction EX+.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
Oh Sagat does his best to keep his attention on both fighters. He knows Kyo pretty much can strike at anyone he wants to and right now it just happens Sagat is having to deal with him and Iori at the same time. Most fighters would consider this a very very bad situation. Sagat might just be old enough and possibly a bit insane to not really care at being caught up in this. All he can do is try to use it to his advantage and hope something good can come out of it.
He grits his teeth and he steadies himself as he feels the impact of the foot slam into his head and he is rocked from the blow. Probably more than he anticipated since his focus is thrown off and gaze hazey as he starts to punch forward towards Iori. His own hand ignites with energy as he looks to punch right through the pillars of energy to get to the red haired fighter. It seems that it is a bad gamble to make and the emporer underestimated just how strong of an attack things are. The energy sears his skin again and the miscalculation leaves the former emporer fully caught by the blast. There is a growl and a sharp exhale complete with blood coming out of his mouth as he falls forward and slumps into a heap. His body twitches and it almost seems that somehow that Sagat might actually be down for the count so fast.
A hand is raised eventually and it slaps hard on the ground as he starts to pull himself up, that single eye narrowed as he breathes heavily. He can't let himself get manhandled like this. What an embarassment to think he might be ready for Ryu if he is getting beaten by punks like this.
Rebounding off of Sagat, Kyo flips in the air and lands on his feet, a smooth and picture-perfect landing spoiled only by the fact that anyone watching the match is probably paying more attention to Sagat and Iori trying to turn each other inside out.
The 'Chaos Agent' turns, his expression becoming pensive as he sees what's happening, and he... Does nothing. Nothing offensive anyway, instead standing there really rather casually, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans and waiting to see what happens. Well, it wouldn't be very chaotic if he just went back and forth, would it? "C'mon, Sagat!" Kyo calls, in an uncharacteristic act of... Offering support to another person?! "I've seen little old ladies stand up to Yagami better than that!"
Oh, there we go.
COMBATSYS: Kyo takes no action.
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Iori 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
Oh, Iori. You're never going to know JUST how close a brush with a serious beatdown you just had, are you? Never mind that such a tremendous use of his bloodline abilities always leaves the redhead gritting his teeth, bracing himself against the tide of pain that roils in his veins afterwards. The price he pays for... well, for what? For being born? That's about it. A price he has long since given up being angry for having to pay. Now he bears it, perhaps even revels in it a little bit, because to do anything other than that would probably drive him mad.
It also, you know. Makes him cranky.
"What a joke," the Yagami scion says derisively, wiping a hand across his mouth and settling into his waist-bent, slouched forward fighting position. "You talk big, but all you've got in that head of yours is meat. And as for you," he adds, half-turning to Kyo, red eyes heavy lidded and his voice mostly a low growl, "wait your turn. I'm not done with the appetizer yet."
With that, he practically hurls himself at the recovered Sagat, looking to hook an arm halfway around the Emperor's torso and bodily fling him into the arena 'pits', the ruined causeways below the remaining coliseum floor. "Here's your last chance. ENTERTAIN ME AT LEAST A LITTLE! GUOOOOH!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Sagat with Strong Throw.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Sagat
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
Not a good day to be Sagat. Nothing he is happy about at all. Thinking he did so well against Ken Masters had built his confidence up, but at the moment he has to wonder just how far off he really has to go to get back to his old self. He might become a bit of an afterthought to Iori in the end, but at the same time it will just make him strive to improve faster. It probably won't be a fun day for Yagami when Sagat bursts through the wall Kool-aid Man style and uppercuts him in the face. That is a story for another day.
Right now he is more trying to get fully back up and balanced. Something he isn't allowed to do due to Iori reaching in and managing to lift the large fighter and toss him away again. He tumbles down and along the causeway and kind of lays in a heap while that single eye stares skyward. He can't let himself go out so easily. Even if his body is feeling like it fully doesn't want to move he has to make it at least for a tiny bit.
It might not be the entertainment that Iori was looking for, but the larger fighter manages to get to his feet and get back to the arena proper. He is slow and staggering. "Maybe...next time..." he murmurs under his breath and pretty much just running on adrenaline he breaks into a mad dash right towards the red haired fighter. He then flings himself forward and brings up a mighty knee to strike into the man.
COMBATSYS: Sagat can no longer fight.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
COMBATSYS: Iori dodges Sagat's Tiger Genocide.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|
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Kyo 0|-------|-----==
The form is still good looking, but in the end the beating was just taking its toll on Sagat. He is a bit too sluggish to be able to cleanly slam into Iori and he lands on the ground in a tumble. He manages to get back up to a knee then falls right back down on his keister while his eye narrows a bit. He does not look happy about many things. Right now more the fact his body just won't move as much as he wants to will it to do.
If karma means anything, there's an extremely good chance that in some undisclosed future time, Iori will settle gently into bad, and then Sagat will launch from his closet like some sort of guided missile and punch his face clean off. For now, though, the mighty Muay Thai fighter has to endure the bassist's sanguine scorn. Even slowed by fatigue and pain, Sagat is still quick on his feet. But since Kyo isn't taking advantage of his distraction, Iori is watching the former Shadaloo battler, and despite one last ditch attempt to even the odds, he steps to the side like some sort of feral matador, letting Sagat pass harmlessly by, just in time to catch the Emperor's final words.
"Or there could not be a next time," he says blandly, turning to Kyo and shaking his head in annoyance. "What a waste of time. Masters has got a real cute sense of humor."
And now it's down to Iori and the 'chaos agent.' Ask him out, Iori! You've been building up to it all week. You've even scribbled his name next to yours on your NOTEBOOK. Hasn't it been hard dealing with all those CONFLICTING EMOTIONS?
That might be why the Yagami scion expresses his love by surging forward, attempting to slam his foot into Kyo's stomach, in a perverse reflection of how the Kusanagi fighter entered the battle before. "GRAGH!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Iori's Light Kick.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|
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Kyo 0|-------|----===
And so things come to a dramatic conclusion, as Iori is able to defeat the mighty Sagat. Surely this is how things will end, except maybe with a staredown between Kyo and Iori, the two glaring at each other the way only lifelong rivals representing the latest generation a centuries-long conflict can. And then, naturally, Iori will storm off after pretending to be the same to Kyo, and... Oh, nope. Not at all.
Iori's foot hammers explosively into Kyo's crossed forearms as the Kusanagi heir crouches slightly to avoid taking a boot to the breadbasket, the leftover force sending a stinging numbness along his arms and shoving Kyo himself /back/, skidding to a stop a good foot and a half further back.
"Oh, you wanna give the viewers at home a little aftershow, Yagami?" Kyo wonders, confident as ever. And why wouldn't he be confident, he just watched Sagat soften Iori up something fierce. He knows how Sagat hits, too: Like a Mack Truck and a rhinocerous had a particularly ill-tempered baby, which was raised /entirely/ on steroids. "Normally I'd feel bad for kicking somebody's ass after they got through fighting someone else, but..."
Kyo moves forward with alacrity, his right fist swinging around in a punch aimed at the side of Iori's head, a guttering arc of flame trailing behind his hand, heralding the eruption of sacred Kusanagi fire at the intended point of impact. "..just this once..." Kyo continues, and continues moving, stepping in once to swing his left fist in a mirror of the first strike, flames and all, before twisting around to bring his back leg up in a heel kick, pistoning his leg /upwards/ at the underside of Iori's jaw.
"...I'll make an exception!!"
COMBATSYS: Iori Toughs Out Kyo's Aragami!
> Determined Hit! <
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Iori 0/-------/--=====|
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Kyo 0|-------|--=====
Welp. The logic of fighting says: don't battle one of the hardest-hitting fighters in the circuit, then fight someone almost entirely fresh who also has his own unique ways of putting a really nasty beatdown out of his own. And if you're going to do that, be cagey: dodge, weave, toy with your opponent. And for god's sake, DON'T do something nuts like wade right into a trio of flame-powered punches that is just going to make things worse.
But Iori's not exactly conventional, and so this is exactly what he does, steeling himself for the pain and just stepping into all three of Kyo's swings as if he wanted to just give his nemesis a big ole hug. After all, he feels intense pain every time he uses his own bloodline flame. What's a few punches, really?
This is why Kyo's final punch slams into the bottom of Iori's jaw, snapping the latter's head back... right before Iori's head lolls right back into place, red eyes fixating on Kyo, pupils dilating, and a feral smile spreading across his face.
What he should do is give some eloquent dialogue about how feeble Kyo's punches are, compared to the might of... well, fuck it. What he ACTUALLY does is surge forward, attempting to get Kyo by the head with his palm and then slam the Kusanagi scion into the arena floor, head-first, adding an explosion of amethyst fire if he can manage to do so. "DIE!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo interrupts Koto Moon Negative from Iori with Koto Moon Positive EX.
- Power hit! -
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Iori 1/------=/=======|
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Kyo 1|-----==|=======
After the first strike connects, Kyo can /tell/ there's something wrong. He might be overconfident, but he's still an extremely canny fighter, and more to the point he knows he's dealing with somebody who is crazier than a bag full of rabid ferrets. His strikes simply aren't having the effect that they should against Iori, and combined with the fact that the Yagami scion is actually pretty much just walking right into them, a little mental math adds up to 'something bad is about to happen'.
Iori, naturally, doesn't disappoint.
As Yagami's hand grabs Kyo by his (handsome, often heaped with accolades and honours) head, Kusanagi's fist bunches up in Iori's collar, and whatever is about to happen is probably going to be bad for everyone. The precise details get a little sketchy, but Iori's feral smile is met with a toothy grin of infinite self-confidence on Kyo's part, and then there is very abruptly a massive explosion of flames in the middle of the Colosseum, crimson-orange and amethyst purple fire filling the air, starting out as two clearly defined /halves/ of the explosion before bleeding into one another, striations of orange and purple mingling in the stormy conflagration.
In the chaos, Iori's roar of 'DIE!' can certainly be picked out, but at the same time Kyo's own voice raises in an order to: "BURN!"
When the explosion clears, Kyo is picking himself up off of the arena floor, which is now... Damaged more than it was before the fighters got there, of course, brushing ash and soot off of his jacket. He looks a little worse for the wear himself, come to think of it.
And what happened to Iori? Well.
For starters, you just don't walk away from a fight with Sagat without taking some nasty hits, even if they're glancing blows. So that's working against him. And while he may be cocky, Kyo can for the most part back up his claims of strength. When that column of flame erupts into the sky, probably sending viewers crab-scuttling backwards from their TVs at home with how vivid and terrifying it is, Iori is quite simply tossed back to where he had sent Sagat not that long before, launching a massive cloud of dust into the air, obscuring the point of impact. And for a while, everything is quiet... perhaps Kyo managed to just tip Iori over into unconsciousness, and everything will be just fine. Right?
Right?
And that is when the rumbling starts. And the shaking. And then, to be bloody honest, what happens is that Iori more or less erupts from beneath the remaining coliseum floor, breaking through from the catacomb-like passages underneath, launching himself at Kyo with a barely-articulate bellow of "KYOOOOOOOOO...!", hands extended, looking to just get some purchase on the Kusanagi scion...
COMBATSYS: Iori can no longer fight.
[ ||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 1|-----==|=======
COMBATSYS: Kyo interrupts Ya Otome from Iori with 182 Shiki EX.
[ ||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|---====
Maybe it's only for a second, but Iori gets the grip he needs... the grip that hauls Kyo forward into a barrage of claw-like hand strikes, kicks, and swipes of the hand blazing with violet fire. "CRY! SCREAM!" And then, rather than the choking finale that Iori's most devastating technique usually ends with, he shoves Kyo away, gathering amethyst flame in both hands, staring at his one-time ally, now lifetime nemesis once again, and shouts -- over the roaring sound of fire -- "AND FOR THE RECORD YOUR TASTE IN MUSIC IS SHIT!"
Oh, Iori. You should have just choked him instead of getting all fucking DRAMATIC.
It just figures, of course, that it wouldn't be enough to put Iori Yagami yet. When he sees Iori launch himself forward, Kyo's expression settles into a look best described as 'you have /got/ to be kidding me', but of course life isn't kidding him. Life is never kidding about Iori flipping out on people, especially him.
As Kyo is grabbed and caught, dust kicks up in a lazy circle around his feet, the speed and force of it building as he gets struck repeatedly by Iori's clawing hands and kicking feet, but when Iori shoves him back, preparing for that terribly dramatic moment, Kyo lets out a quiet 'heh'.
He crouches briefly, twisting his body and then suddenly EXPLODES out of that position, the circular momentum built up by his chi coursing through his body as he unfolds with blinding speed, turning into forward momentum all focused right behind Kyo's right fist as he slams it into Iori's head, with what he /hopes/ is enough force to finally buy him a respite.
"WHAT DOES A BASS PLAYER KNOW ABOUT MUSIC?!" is Kyo's bellowed retort, because he is a douche.
What DOES a bassist know about music? We may never know. Why? Because Iori was running almost entirely on fumes and sheer stupid rage. Sometimes this is enough to power him through injuries sustained that would kill lesser men. Right now, however, it was only enough to power him through making a stupid mistake that gives Kyo a perfect opening. The blow to the head pretty much knocks Iori off the platform a second time, sending to land unconscious in the Coliseum's exposed lower levels. This is probably for the best.
It doesn't seem like the building would survive an argument between these two about what artists they like.
Breathing raggedly after sending Iori flying, Kyo straightens up, looking around carefully. But, luckily, there's no sign of any other violent psychotics about to flip out on him. "Yeah, that's right," the Kusanagi heir mutters, walking back over to his folding lawnchair to pick it back up. "Boy, I'm sure glad I wasn't actually /involved/ in that fight," he adds, before walking back out to the proper exit.
Although, he reflects, he /did/ cause a fair bit of chaos.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has ended the fight here.
Log created on 18:58:23 12/11/2011 by Sagat, and last modified on 09:28:00 12/13/2011.