Description: Takako continues her quest to fight everyone involved with the Neo League by having a rematch with Faolan. Of course this time it is much more official and alot less awkwardness to start. Can the Ikari stand the little ball of violence once more or does she finally have the Irishman's number? (Winner: Faolan)
Icheon is is one of the foremost ceramics centres in South Korea. A beautiful town with some rich artistry and a rich cultural heritage. Icheon is also famous for its rice meals, but none of that is important today, because today, there is a League Fight to be fought, and most of the village has turned out to see it take place.
Takako is sat cross-legged in the town square, whilst the cameras get set up. The girl's eyes are closed, and her bokken lays flat across her knees. The sun beats down mercilessly above, and she is... tired. It has been a long journey so far, and she still has so much further to go. Whether or not she will stop at all is a question she has yet to answer even herself. Her ranking in the Neo League has slipped further and further down... but that isn't the point of this, anyway. The point is to fight, and to sharpen her skills.
Progress is one of those things it is hard to measure, though. How can she be sure that she is getting better at all? Perhaps she is at the apex of her ability. It is ... an unpleasant thought.
But she had fought the challenger today before. Faolan Sheehan. He had fought her in a theatre and roundly thrashed her. Perhaps, if she can do better today than she did that day, she could steel herself for the journey ahead.
And if she does not? If she fails?
Then perhaps she will have to steel herself even HARDER for the journey ahead. There is no turning back! Only continual, perpetual forward motion. HYAH!
A letter for Faolan? The Irishman isn't used to getting anything like that at the base. If he has contact outside of it more than likely it is just a phonecall back home. Sometimes mum being mum and other times it is his dad telling him he should have stuck with a REAL military operation. The days of getting actual letters or the like in the mail just seem so much like a thing of the past. That is why Faolan thought they were kidding when it was mentioned he got something in the mail. The contents were perhaps a bit more surprising than that.
He remembers Takako and that day at the theater. It was a time when he thought he was going to die from boredom and instead he found himself in a fight with the rather small, but very strong girl. In fact really just remembering that fight is the only real reason he even accepted to do battle with her. He can't go off accepting random challenges all the time. Now if it is someone he knows that will give him a good fight that is a whole different story. All he had to do was contact the League officials and off to Korea he was sent.
From what he understands the young woman has been busy too. Taking on all fighters and seemingly looking to fight just about anyone that would take her up on her challenge. Well from the sounds of it she must be having fun. Why else do it afterall? "Hey there." he calls out while raising the hand not carrying his bata to wave as he steps forward. "Long time no see." He grins abit as he gives her a bit of a nod in respect. He wasn't sure what he was dealing with the last time they met. This time he knows at least some things to watch out for. Time to see what tricks she may have up her sleeve.
COMBATSYS: Faolan has started a fight here.
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Faolan 0/-------/-------|
Takako stands up, and eyes Faolan as he approaches. The good cheer is, not quite what she was expecting. But then, she's been in a terrible mood for a while. The girl stands up, and returns the nod to Faolan. She does have a lot of respect for him, too; he beat her, after all! And the nod is a serious thing. But after she has shown respect in his fashion, she shows it in hers. Both hands come together in front of her, and she bows low to the Ikari warrior.
"Hello." She says, as she straightens. "It has been some time, yes. I hope my letter was not too unexpected, though. Surely you did not think that I would leave things where they were?"
The girl smiles, and it is a genuine smile. Her bokken is plucked up, and brought around in front of her as she takes up her stance, readying herself for the fight, and making sure her footing and weight distribution is perfect... such as there is any weight to distribute.
"I will give you my best. Please, do not hold back!"
Not that she expects such a request to be necessary of Faolan... but hey, he /might/ feel sorry for her, or something. And that, is unacceptable.
COMBATSYS: Takako has joined the fight here.
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Takako 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Faolan
It might be quite a different mood than she remembers, but at the same time Faolan is coming into a fight knowing there will be a good one had. Last time he was just doing boring ass guard duty which would put any real Ikari in a sour mood. This is more like the usual Faolan. A bit on the smarmy side, but otherwise one with good cheer, though it does seem he is fine with getting serious when the situation calls. When it is requested for him not to hold back against her he just gives a bit of a nod. "Don't gotta ask me twice."
Not to mention holding back just isn't his style. He knows Takako not to be weak and it would be rather insulting to the Ikari name if he was just floating by in his fights without really trying. If he isn't going to do something right he isn't going to do it at all. No fun in being a slacker especially when it comes to fighting. That is just asking to have your ass kicked.
The bata gets a bit of a twirl before he grips it tightly and comes forward. He wields it one handed for now as he comes towards Takako and seems to take a quick swing at her side just to keep her on her toes. Watch out for the headbutt. That is pretty much the most he remembers from their last encounter.
COMBATSYS: Takako blocks Faolan's Medium Strike.
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Takako 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Faolan
Remembering to avoid the headbutt is a pretty good start against Takako, honestly.
Takako, meanwhile, is gradually learning the value of something that might pretend to be a defense. The bata comes in for her, and her bokken is brought around to deflect it. The force of the strike runs up her arm, but overall, she remains standing firm.
And then she steps forwards. She's definitely grown as a fighter since they last fought; there is less blind fury, there, and more... controlled determination. She is not going to allow herself to lose! Her foot comes down hard, aiming to smash Faolan's toes under her sandal... but she's already moving with it, aiming to capture the forward momentum of the fight and hold onto it.
If Faolan doesn't stop her, she will crash the hilt of her bokken into his stomach, and then swing the weapon up to smack into his face. The wooden sword just doesn't stop moving, being brought up and around in a graceful arc. She isn't fast, but when she gets going, she can be very tricky to stop!
Her head is hanging back right now, though. That might be a relief. Maybe.
COMBATSYS: Faolan blocks Takako's Killing Flurry.
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Takako 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Faolan
It might be the closest Takako might come against fighting someone with a similar style. While the bata is obviously a different weapon he does wield it in a similar manner as if it was a sword or the like at times. That and he is pretty no nonsense and smashmouth. He just keeps coming and he won't stop until he is finally done. Maybe that is what he likes about fighting the young woman. It might be the closest to a mirror match for the Irishman.
The sandal stomps down on the steeltoe boots he wears, but that is hardly the part he has to worry about. It is that strike that comes in for his stomach that he has to think fast about dealing with. He manages to bring the bata down quickly enough to deflect it to keep at least the weapon from getting his face, though it does slap against his stomach. Just not with as much force as she would have hoped more than likely.
With a bit of a grin he just pushes forward, looking to maybe shove her off balance as shifts to grip the bata by both hands before delivering quick to strikes to drive her back a bit further and make it harder for her to recover quickly and get back on offense. "Hup!"
COMBATSYS: Takako interrupts Windmill from Faolan with Medium Strike.
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Takako 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Faolan
Takako stands firm as Faolan brings the quick strikes to her. The sword is raised, though, and after the second impacts her, she steps forwards, and the wooden weapon is brought up with a leaping jump to collide painfully with Faolan's forehead. There's a surprising amount of power packed into that little body of hers, but then... maybe not that surprising. He has fought her before, after all!
"KYAH!" Takako shouts after the jump, and as she returns to the ground, her practice sword swings around in a wide arc, before being brought back up in front of her. "I have been learning!" She says, and there is some real pride swelling in her chest. That had been a new move! The first time she'd really tried to make use of her reach along with her ability to weather blows. Not to mention... the first fight in quite a few where she hasn't been hit, and immediately felt like she's being ripped apart. That, is a pleasant fact as well!
The only good thing is much like Takako Faolan is pretty well known for having a pretty damn thick skull. Given the fact someone always seems to aim for it to begin with combined with his own little penchant for headbutting it should be no real surprise. Still doesn't mean he enjoys the fomer of those two activities. Getting smacked by the bokken is still enough to stagger him for a moment. "Yeah? That is good." the merc replies while shaking off the blow as he steadies himself. "I dunno if anything interesting has happened since we met. Beat up some weird detective. A supposed Aztec god or some shit attacked our base. You know, normal stuff." Oh those Ikari.
Once he seems to have regained his senses enough it looks like he is ready to go back onto the attack again as well. Moving forward into the fray once more he grips the bata tight with both hands. More to use it as a defense until the last moment until he is ready to strike. He comes in for a swing, but then uses it as a bit of a feint to try to get to the side of the younger fighter and then hook one end of his bata behind a leg to take it out from under her and ground the little ball of violence at least for a few moments.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Takako with Medium Throw.
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Takako 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Faolan
Takako attempts to use the momentum of the impact with the ground to come back... what actually happens is that she hits the ground very hard, and she doesn't get back up again for a moment, her head rattled. That kind of approach always seems to steal the wind from her sails, and it thoroughly breaks her forwards momentum. That... was really very frustrating.
"God?" She says, with a snort, as she picks herself back up from the floor. She has to shake her head to clear it, "There's a lot of that around lately."
And then she is trying to come back again. She comes lunging in fast with the usual cry, "KIYAH!" And her sword leads the way, veering in and seeming to go between Faolan's eyes...
Until she comes down in a sudden veering motion to try and stab deep into Faolan's chest! Good thing she's using one of those wooden training swords.
COMBATSYS: Faolan endures Takako's Determined Breeze.
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Takako 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Faolan
Boy that girl isn't kidding. One would think with a crazy ass like Vega defeated the rest would kinda stay in the woodwork. Things actually seem to be getting WORSE with all the murders and such happening all over the place. Sure there are ones that happen every day, but there have been downright massacres across the globe. He is just waiting for when the Ikari are going to be brought in to try and stop some of them. Hell, if no one else hires someone needs to slap Vice around given who she works for and what she has been doing. Good to see SNF cares so much about the people they let fight.
"Shit, you ain't kidding. Surprise the guy got as far as he did." The guy may not be a god, but to get to the actual Ikari base? That was unsettling. At least the guy has learned his lesson. Now to just hope he doesn't bring friends with him next time. He doesn't get more time to talk, though. Takako is ready to fight and he forgets sometimes it is best not to converse when in the heat of battle. He could be catching up with her afterwards or something really.
He lets her sail in and he steps forward, his body tensing up as he lets that bokken drive hard into his chest. It makes his heart skip a bit from the impact and he lets out a sharp gasp. It isn't enough to stop him from what he looks to do. That would be to jab his own bata into the woman's stomach and then give her a sharp jolt of that electric like chi he wields and has been slowing siphoning into his bata since the start of the fight.
COMBATSYS: Takako endures Faolan's Saying Hello.
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Takako 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Faolan
Takako has learned not to mind jibber-jabber quite so much as she used to. It used to bug her because she /couldn't/ talk AND concentrate intently on the fight at the same time. It is still difficult, but it is far from impossible for her now. And as she listens to him, she nods her head in sympathy. She is not a soldier, but she can understand that it would be an unsettling time to be one.
"I am glad you are not dead." She says, as he jabs his bata into her stomach. She stands firm against it, and her eyes narrow. "This is... /fun/."
Which is something of a personal step. Takako has never really admitted that she enjoys fighting before, but, she does! It is good to challenge herself, and test herself against others. To see what she is capable of and see what others can do in turn. And Faolan is a good match for her. He and she are quite alike, despite their ... obvious differences.
The burst of chi utterly fails to move her. Billy had failed to budge her to, but he had also provided her strategy for dealing with this! Now, with her locked close to him, the girl's bokken is brought sweeping up in a blinding fast move!
The aim is to slam Faolan into the air. If it succeeds, then Takako will lunge up after him, and in a fraction of a second, five powerful strikes will impact across Faolan- horizontal, up, diagonal right, diagonal left, and then *down* again. The airborn kendo girl landing with a heavy thud upon the ground... despite her absolute lack of body weight.
COMBATSYS: Faolan blocks Takako's Fujin's Echo.
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Takako 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Faolan
There is a heh and he gives a grin. As much punishment as the man takes it honestly is a surprise he survives things. He was run over by a damned tank during the war and most would have probably pegged him down and out for good. Yet somehow he just keeps getting back up and moving. It is going to take alot to finally keep him down and put him six feet under. Alot more than some would be god that is for sure. "Yeah, I agree." he quickly replies before finding himself having to step back and think quick.
Pulling back he is about to get the bata positioned to absorb most of the initial blow looking to put him in the air. The force still lifts him off his feet, but he is in a far less dangerous position than he would have been if that initial strike hit home. He does land a bit awkwardly as he staggers back a few steps in regaining his balance. He is panting a bit, but that grin remains plastered on his face. Fun indeed. This was worth the trip to a place like Korea.
He takes a deep breath as he draws on the energy within him. Siphoning into his bata once more as the blackish energy starts gathering on one tip. Larger it grows as little motes float away and start to form a circle of about seven in all. Baseball sized at best if one had to guess, they start to slowly float towards Takako before starting to merge together into one much more giant orb. An orb that starts to careen right towards Takako to run her over once the Irishman makes a thrusting motion with his bata.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Takako with Black Friday Rule.
- Power hit! -
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Takako 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Faolan
The blast of energy is ... impressive. Takako braces and faces it down, fully intending to stand firm against it, but in the moment that it impacts her, she finds herself being driven into the earth instead. There's a grunt as she is smashed down by it. Faolan certainly hadn't done that the last time they fought; she is almost certain that she would have remembered that.
She doesn't stay down for long, though. Pulling herself out of the ground, and leaving a small Takako-shaped hole in the concrete as she does, the girl shakes herself down and raised her sword up. Phew. Well, that had been, unpleasant, but she isn't down yet.
Desperate, she does the only thing she can think to do. With a roar, Takako comes tearing back across the distance, trailing pieces of concrete as she does. There's... little real /skill/ in the assault, just a crazed, mad rush to throw herself at Faolan, and, hopefully, barrel him right into the ground, much as he had managed to smash her with that energy ball!
COMBATSYS: Faolan dodges Takako's Random Strike.
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Takako 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Faolan
It isn't exactly something he uses often. The smaller and much less painful counterpart is usually the one that is broken out. In fact that might have been what Takako could have been expecting until the time the third or fourth ball of energy was created this time around. It also seems to have winded him quite a bit. The trail of chi that can usually be seen curling about his bata is almost non existant as well. As much as he has improved his control over it stuff like that still seems to take alot out of him.
It could result in bad things. Very bad things. Such as thinking of what to do when you got an incoming Takako coming right at you to run your ass over. The Ikari actually gets abit wide eyed and in something he isn't too prone to do he decides to get the hell out of the way of that. He dives to the side at the last moment as Takako goes screaming by him at high speed. "Jesus...."
Slowly he gets to his feet and he looks to go chase her down. Maybe if he is lucky he will catch her off guard given the fact she didn't find any sort of Irishman to trample in her charge. Coming forward he looks to just gives a quick kick to the back if he can find it exposed and throw her off balance.
COMBATSYS: Takako fails to interrupt Light Kick from Faolan with Kami's Roar.
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Takako 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Faolan
Takako comes up fast, and there's a growl on her lips as she whips her head right at Faolan's foot... but the striking blow is, too quick for her to build up the full amount of momentum she usually needs to pull off the famous headbutt, so, instead, she winds up being knocked back onto her ass.
She sighs, and starts to stagger back up to her feet. More irritated in herself than in the fact that Faolan had bested her. She should have read that situation better, but she was too eager to try and turn the tide back. Stupid. And though she doesn't say a word, the girl looks like thunder. How quickly things turn from fun to frustration when you feel you have let yourself down!
He can tell the hint of frustration. The girl has been trying. Oh how she has been trying. she is probably taking him to task more so than the last time. It just seems that maybe, just maybe that blast from earlier took her off her game enough to give Faolan some good luck. It is one of those tricky times now. Press the attack and hope the frustration works against her or to go in and perhaps getting torn up by the bokken the young woman wields.
Good thing he is no coward. Not to mention she told him not to hold back. There is little hesitance and maybe just even a moment's thought on what to do. Instead he moves forward. "Yer doing fine. Just keep going!" he urges her on. Yes it might cause him to take a hit to the face or the like, but if he cared about that sort of thing he wouldn't be fighting now would he?
The distance is closed quickly and he comes in low. A powerful shoulder is aimed to ram into the young fighter's chest before he starts to follow up with something that might be a bad idea really. He looks to deliver a headbutt of his own after the initial rush and just tries to see who has the harder forehead between the two.
COMBATSYS: Takako interrupts Celtic Crush from Faolan with Intercepting Strike.
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Takako 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Faolan
Takako is actually MORE annoyed when he tells her to keep going. As though she was going to give up! She grits her teeth, and when he comes in at her, she stands firm. "Don't tell me stuff like that!" She barks, and there is some real anger there. She's misreading Faolan's hesitation as him believing that this fight is already over. She won't take that! She is not going to let him get away with that!
His shoulder comes in for her, and she takes it, but whilst he might be expecting her to interrupt with a headbutt of her own... she instead, brings the bokken slamming up between them. The point of the weapon collides powerfully with Faolan's jaw, and it just keeps going. She leaps up after it, twisting the weapon, and when she comes down again, she is breathing hard, angry, bloodied, but daring him to come back again!
"I am not finished yet!"
There are just some people you can never gauge correctly. In a way Faolan does get Takako fired up, but in a different way then intended. Instead of urging her to do better, she got offended and well, really the sudden action she decides to try works rather well. He finds his face smashed against that bokken rather hard and it just stops his forward momentum completely. His nose is busted open and his forehead cracked open as well from the impact.
Staggering back he reaches up to wipe at the blood a bit, just getting it a bit more smeared than anything. He just grins some. "Eh, whatever works. You just look annoyed. Can't have that." he tells her with a bit of a chuckle. He knew it was far from over. She is just like him. Only way it is over is once the body has had so much abuse it refuses to move. When all the adrenaline is just finally gone and there is nothing left to give.
That bata is gripped tightly and he comes forward. He lunges with a thrust to try and slam it into the stomach of Takako and then heft her upwards. Energy once again starts siphoning his chi into it. He looks to lift her overhead with the momentum he creates and then unleashes the energy to blast her off and away.
COMBATSYS: Faolan successfully hits Takako with One for the Road.
[ < > ///////// ]
Takako 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Faolan
Far from over may not be entirely accurate - but, she hadn't finished yet. That much was true.
Faolan rallies perhaps faster than she had expected. For once in her life, she decides that it is time to try and get out of the way of the attack. She ducks backwards, and... nope. She's too slow. The thrust hits true into her stomach, teaching her that dodging, is in fact, only for /wimps/ and /losers/.
She is lifted overhead, and when she is blasted into the air, the girl's eyes close.
As she comes down from above, her sword leads the way, and the last, desperate motion is to try and smash Faolan with it, and rebound him up into the air...
COMBATSYS: Takako can no longer fight.
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Faolan 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Faolan blocks Takako's Fujin's Echo.
[ \\\\\ <
Faolan 0/-------/--=====|
... and that is all she wrote, collapsing into the dirt after her last ditch effort is expended.
He staggers some once he has that added weight he was holding up blasted off. Between that and another powerful blast of energy exerted he can feel himself running on empty. If that doesn't get her he isn't sure how much else he has left in the tank. He steadies himself after a few moments and just in time to see Takako somehow finding the energy to come at him once more. Both hands grip his bata as he brings it down to meet with that upward slash and while he stops the blow, the force of it still pushes him back several steps before regaining his balance.
"Tough as always. Yer getting better for sure." he says under his breath as he seems to have somehow weathered that storm. Shit, maybe he should take up this whole idea of challenging everyone. It seems to be making her stronger and it isn't like it has been ages since he last saw her. Then again it certainly feels that way given the war and all that. Sadly the mercenary life really doesn't allow for such traveling and so many fights.
With the fight looking done he gives the young woman a bit of a salute as some of the officials that had been watching come to tend to her. He thinks he will have himself a well deserved drink right about now. A fine way to follow up a good fight.
COMBATSYS: Faolan has ended the fight here.
Log created on 10:08:05 05/27/2012 by Faolan, and last modified on 09:51:16 05/28/2012.