Description: Gato, struggling with the surges of emotions that have lingered since his battle with Adon, continues his ruthless pursuit of the League. Takako's fearless tenacity against the unfocused Futaba allow her an amazing performance, but Gato's pride only sees his own personal failure and he falls further into darkness. Will his care be lost forever? ( Winner: Gato )
Amongst Takako's many talents, the English language is not one of them. Her English is, in fact, awful. But she has been watching the League like a hawk. An angry hawk. Unheard of individuals have burst forth from nowhere, ignoring her challenges and her position, to leap up the rankings without doing her the honor of acknowledging her. Adon is by far the worst, and she has a special hatred for him. Thus, when she had watched Gato's fight with him, she had laughed and laughed uproariously. And then she had sent him a letter.
FUTABA GATO.
I am Fujiwa Takako. You are ranked fourth in the League of Neo. I was ranked fourth in the League of Neo just this May.
Your fighting is talent! Your power is maximum! My power, too, thirsts for the glory of battle! Destruction of Adon was gloryous. I am in Sunshine City. We will battle. It is so? Then meet me. Or be coward!
Yours.
Fujiwa Takako.
And good to her word, she is waiting. The Neo League has ways of guiding fighters together, and here, on this piece of abandoned street, in this miserable city, in this miserable country, Fujiwa Takako awaits, the tiny girl with her practice sword laid across her knees. She had a great fight with Rust just earlier this day. Now, she will have a second wonderful fight, and validate her decision to make the long walk from China to America!
Sending a letter to Gato in english is not particularly intelligent, given he doesn't speak it as a first language either. That means that certain words have to be translated yet again, resulting in some monstrous scenario where he finds Takako is thirsty for cows, Adon is full of sunshine, and she is deep under the Neo ocean. Luckily, he is intelligent enough to simply take it to a Neo League official and get it properly translated, within those limited capabilities. The word 'coward' caused a sizeable dent, however. When he awoke from Adon's assault, something had changed within him. A hungry darkness deep inside, a distant desire he cannot name and cannot satiate. A shadow seems to be over him when he arrives at the stated area; not particularly tall, but incredibly broad and muscled. A solid density that would waylay his incredible nimbleness, were he even a gram heavier. His violent intent is likely a clear signal, standing at the edge of the camera-laden area. "...Takako?" he states once, voice solemn and eyes hard. It is questioning.
Takako stands up when Gato appears. She is a serious young thing herself, and meets his eye evenly. There aren't tons of cameras here; there is one. Takako had quite a crew when she began her journey, and could obtain the eye of fighters like Terry, but that has dwindled over the weeks of nothingness to just one dedicated cameraman and an official for similar translation purposes. The letter had been left alone because... well, these moments when she does things /not/ related to violence and fighting? Those are the closest she gets to a high school education these days.
"That is me." She says, standing up and swinging her bokken into her hand. "It is an honor to meet you! I had not heard of you before, but your fight with the Idiot of Muay Thai was impressive. I look forward to testing my skills against yours!"
She is not particularly put off by the aura of violence he exudes. Violence is what she is here for, after all. To fight! To test herself! To become better today than she was yesterday, and better tomorrow than she is today! If anything, it is something of a relief. Too many men Gato's age seem to have some strange hesitation about fighting a teenage girl at full power.
COMBATSYS: Gato has started a fight here.
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Gato 0/-------/-------|
That whirlwind of unsettled violence is kicked up into a storm when Takako reveals herself; had she not been in a neutral stance, it's possible he would have hurled himself forward with no hesitation. What she states is respectful... had the events with the Jaguar not taken place, it would have satisfied him. Yet he can see the League only as a means of hoarding points now, finding the right to challenge those of his increasingly ruthless attention. Billy Kane... if he becomes within the top three, then there is no way a battle could be turned down. Feet whirl through the grass, solidly planting himself upon the ground. Air exhales outwards, and the stance he takes is not one of kimite. There is an intensity here that can only be felt by a practiced martial artist who is going at full power. Whether being happy that he is not holding back will endure the test of the battle or not remains to be seen. "To me... you are only an obstacle." There's not even any judgemental cruelty in the statement. It is solemn and cold. And then he has exploded forward, already moving to assault. No chivalry here... seizing the initiative is also a part of battle. A foot slams into the ground, kicking up a plume of dirt and grass that sends the vengeful warrior skyward. The sun blares brightly behind him, settling him into a brilliant halo of fire before he shoots down; the heel of one foot extended, other curled up slightly beneath... one fist thrust forward to guide, and the other held defensively close to his chest. How the sword wielder can survive the comet that is an angry Gato will dictate the pacing of the rest of the fight!
COMBATSYS: Takako has joined the fight here.
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Gato 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Takako
COMBATSYS: Takako Toughs Out Gato's Fuu-Ga!
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Gato 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Takako
Takako has rarely been attacked first, in her Neo League career! It is exhilarating! There are few men who have the raw... /intent/ that Gato radiates, either. She had never managed to fight Vega, but she has to imagine that this is somewhat akin to what standing in that man's presence would have felt like. To command such overwhelming force! Oh, but this is everything Takako could have wanted.
She steels herself, knowing full well already that she is sorely outclassed just from the martial force that radiates from this man. But she will not back down! The foot crashes resoundingly into her chest... and she does not budge an inch! The girl is deceptively tough, and though the force cracks the soft earth underneath her feet, she manages to keep herself standing through sheer force of will.
"HYEAH!" Takako roars, lunging into the offense with her bokken leading the way in return. It is a three step combo, pressing the momentum of her stern refusal to budge for all it is worth. The first strike aims to crash into Gato's shoulder and bring him to earth once more. The second would follow across, a strike to the ribs, and then, suddenly, she is snapping forwards with her head, hoping to just /headbutt/ him right in the chest and keep him on the back foot, a small girl, with enough fighting spirit for a dozen!
"Then I will become... THE BEST OBSTACLE I CAN BE!"
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Gato with Killing Flurry.
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Gato 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Takako
The number of people in a class far above Takako that could weather a determined blow from Gato Futaba is incredibly short. Adon himself was clearly seen unable; a dominatnig lead crushed between two heavy blows, regardless of his defensive prowess. He allowed himself to be hit, believing he could take it, and was proven wrong. The resolve behind the young girl is no less, but she revels where the Jaguar failed. Landing in a heavy crouch, it is in that precise moment of vulnerability that she lashes out with full intensity. Oh, her maneuver does not go exactly as planned. One vertical forearm tries to interject too late, slamming into his shoulder. He lowers, knee almost touching the grass. The second strikes his bare ribs clean, the response akin to practicing upon a slab of granite; confirmed when that forehead crashes into his sternum. He skids back a full meter, dark spot left behind. It was only that thick-headed blow which pierced him, but she managed true. "..." A fist slowly closes, before he looks even more infuriated. Where before he would revel at a fearless youth leaping into superior odds, now he can sense only his own wounded pride and failure. A shift forward, both of his arms whirling overhead before muscles explosively flex outwards, just as he would do an incredibly short-ranged blow of both raised palms leveraged towards her distinct lack of chest. "IMPUDENT!!" Another detonation of wind and dirt flies out behind, kicked up by his internal chi!!
COMBATSYS: Takako fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from Gato with Kami's Roar.
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Gato 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Takako
"I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO IMPUGN!"
Takako is /loving/ this. Gato's rage just makes it all the more delicious. Keeping up the pressure after her initial crazed forwards combo, she draws her head back, and shouts out loud...
"KIYAAAAAAH!"
So it is that Gato's technique does not go entirely according to plan, either. He had been going for her chest, but it is her /nose/ which he punches. Because she headbutts his oncoming fist as hard as she can, and entirely misjudges the angle. "GHACK!" She chokes, actually stumbling backwards with blood splurting in a thick and heavy shower from her broken nose.
To her credit, she does NOT go down, though, and nor does she relinquish her grip on her weapon. Just shaking her head to shower the spectators and much of the arena with her blood, and blink the tears out of her eyes. SHE CAN STILL FIGHT! She's still in this!!
When Takako whirls up from the ground where his blow sent her fluying, she can see Gato whisking into view, shimmering form from his explosive acceleration settling into full view. One foot crashes into the dirt, stabilizing him as he lifts his right arm. The beauty of the symmetrical, flowing motion is disguised by the simplistic brutality. The air howls in defiance to the kinetic force leveraged into that descending forward, letting out a grunting "HNGH!" to focus his balance and breathing as well. The aim is Takako's shoulder, trying to send her down back into the far more yielding dirt and grass, likely hard enough to create a neat Takako-shaped crator. This is what she wanted... an unhappy martial artist going all out, striking with blows that could shatter and cripple a lesser girl! Something she can check off her list!
COMBATSYS: Takako endures Gato's Sai-Gaku.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Gato 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Takako
Oh yes, this is exactly what Takako wanted. An opponent not afraid to give her his best, to fight her all out, and she, doing the same! There have been people who have hit her as hard as Gato is hitting her now; she has fought some of the best martial artists in the world! But none of them have been so... uncompromisingly BRUTAL as Gato is right now! If only she was stronger! Her pathetic body is already starting to let her know that she is in agonizing pain. This won't do at all!
She is SLAMMED into the ground, and rebounds high into the air. Only to seemingly steady herself. Sweat drips from her brow, and she checks her shoulder. Good. Okay. No broken bones yet.
"I will give you my best!" She announces, as though Gato should somehow prepare himself for this. As though he should be /worried/. The air whips Takako's gi into a frenzy, and she gathers herself. This is her ultimate technique! The culmination of everything she has, and although she may not earn Gato's recognition... she will honor HERSELF if she can complete it!
Descending from the sky like a rocket, Takako's bokken blazes with bright and powerful wind energy. The air wrapped around the blade as a cutting force, so strong and uncontrolled that it is tearing into Takako just to use it. Which... may say more about her natural abilities to shape energy than it does about the relative power level.
But she is blindingly fast, in this moment. Everything she has ever learned pitted into a five-point strike, delivered so swift as to seem like a single one. Horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals, before she is suddenly behind him.
And all of that wind energy surges with her in a second followup to the initial attack, following the path of the initial blade just a split second behind her. Of course... the technique does end with her /back/ to Gato, and her sinking to one knee, exhausted and struggling to stand after her own technique has ripped into her.
COMBATSYS: Gato fails to interrupt Kusanagi of Dreams from Takako with Ura Fuu-Ga.
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Gato 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Takako
Those resilient bones can be completely attributed to Takako; Gato is not holding back himself. The fact he has not used any of his most destructive techniques is simply because they have not been neccesary, as opposed to any beliefs of mercy. Spreading his stance, instinct roars to life before he slams his foot down. He launches himself straight upwards, fearlessly heading towards Takako's technique. She is faster... that moment of victory might mean more to the girl then the deliciously masochistic beating leveraged. His forehead slams outwards, and the first strike impacts it clean. There is a terrifying moment where the bokken would bend, and the angry Gato pushes forward, but then the onslaught of wind and four more blows completes. He is blown backwards, although only about a foot, before falling straight down and crashing into the dirt behind Takako. But he slowly rises thereafter, hand coming up to feel a stream of blood from his split forehead. Pain. Blood. Damage. This was managed... by a fighter so lesser? His stance resumes, leading palm facing towards Takako, the other settled near his ribs. Although she might be a touch worried by what floods against her. This is no longer the simple intent of violence and fighting. It is satsujinken; someone who removes all limits, and is more then willing to care the opponent. But that also means, if she is brave enough, that it will be the greatest test!
Takako has completed her most powerful technique, and she has bloodied Gato with it. This is what the League is, to her. The opportunity to throw herself into battle. To test herself, and fight, and for those rare moments where her fighting demonstrates her potential. She could not have executed that technique better; it was, for all intents, flawless. If she could only capture that spirit, that moment of flaming determination, in every instant of every fight... then, she would have reached her potential.
When she rises from her knee, and turns to face the bloodied warrior... it is as though she can sense the change in him. This... killing intent. But is this not the heart of her school? Before the League, she had sought to place herself in situations where death is possible.
"To fear death, is to grant it power over you." She intones, raising her bokken again. "You may crush me here... but you have no power over me, GATO!"
The name is turned into an impromptu kiai, a bellowed roar and challenge. The power that she had gathered still lingers about her, and in that instant, she focuses on it, grabs it, and just hurls it forwards.
The air around her and Gato is again brought flaring into life, a maelstrom of whipping, sharp winds and gusts, aiming to further tear into Gato and push him back, keep him down. Takako is not holding back either! If she has the ability, she more than intends to win this fight!
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Gato with Explosive Tornado.
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Gato 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Takako
Truly, Takako and Gato have joined for the same reasons. He is inexperienced in battling opponents, something that Adon preyed upon with brutal effectiveness. But he had already been on a precipice, judgemental and cold. It was all too easy to fall further within that dark spiral. His eyes close, as he begins to build his focus. How peculiar. He had only been filled with empty focus before, but the rage... the storm... he can sense the power it offers. And he grasps it. The hurricane of chi strikes out, cutting through his shirt and pants, baring more of his iron flesh already carved by wounds more ancient the Takako herself. While she is still in the midst of attacking him, one arm flows backwards, pivoting his foot away. "Mou-ko..." And then eyes snap open, before his entire body whips forward in one of the strongest techniques he learned in that torturous hell years past. Yet this is something meant to strike down Masters in a single blow... to use it on a child, all limiters removed, would be inhuman. To anyone who did not understand, at the very least. The ground actually jumps slightly, dirt and grass and dust kicked up behind. "KOU HAKAN!!!" His readied palm, aiming for the very core of her being!!
COMBATSYS: Takako blocks Gato's Mou-Ko Kou Hakan.
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Gato 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Takako
Takako sees the attack coming, and the limitations of her current state are made, shockingly plain to her. Gato does not care that she does not fear him. He does not care that she has done well; he cares for victory, to prove the superiority of his style, much the same as her.
But... he could /kill/ her, and in the moment of that realization, Takako also realizes that... for all she tries to embody the heart of her school, she does not yet have it. She does not want to die. She has to defend!
And, defend she does. Bracing hard, one hand finds the back of the bokken, and she manages to crash the blade into the palm strike. Once again, the wood bends... but this time, it goes further, and, it breaks. Splintering under the impact of the powerful technique, and then being ripped asunder.
Gato's palm carries on, and smashes into her chest, forcing the girl to stumble back a couple of paces. She looks... confused, more than anything else. "You... broke, my sword." She says, as though it had not occurred to her that such a thing might be possible, fight with a wooden 'blade'. And then, she chokes. Coughing, blood trickles from her lips, and she sinks to one knee.
Her body... chooses /that/ to be, the point at which she cannot continue?! NO! She won't have it! In anger and frustration, showing all the petulance of the child she is, she /hurls/ the fragments of her weapon at Gato, that being, about the only thing she could think to do...
And then she topples over into the dirt, unconscious. A testament to her own toughness that, despite all that, she is not, actually, dead. Merely defeated quite resoundingly.
COMBATSYS: Takako can no longer fight.
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Gato 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Gato fails to interrupt Thrown Weapon from Takako with Shin-Ga.
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Gato 1/-------/=======|
So the spirit burns on further?! Gato narrows his eyes for a moment, and growls out his own angry defiance when she goes so far as to fling her weapon at him. "STAY DOWN!!" Just before she would finish falling over and passing down, a blur of wind. The Martyr of Vengeance rushes forward, forced to close his eyes by the pelting wood. His palm strikes just past her face, missing by the barest fraction of an inch. The sheer power he leveraged behind it, against a fighter who was already defenseless against him beyond the depth of her spirit... it is good that he failed. When she finishes crumpling to the ground, Gato's trembling fist clenches. No... his center has been ruined. He cannot fight as he did. He must find a new method...!! The rather slackjawed Neo League people make no move to intercept the Futaba as he strides away, thoroughly taught the strength of Takako's resolve and forehead strength. They almost pierced to the pure and righteous fighter within the satsujinken soul, but his care was not quite to be reached... THIS DAY.
COMBATSYS: Gato has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:41:33 06/26/2012 by Gato, and last modified on 09:03:51 06/28/2012.