Description: Rick was out picking out the next adventure for him and Rust to go out on. Somehow Takako has tracked him down to challenge him to a Neo League fight. At least this time a bokken doesn't end up in someone's ass. So many sheep are abused, though. :( (Winner: Rick)
Takako has fought in some strange places before, but this... this takes the cake.
The incessant yodelling of the locals echoes throughout the area, adding to the maddening bleating of the ever-present sheep. The young would-be swordswoman is seated in the middle of the pasture, surrounded by a large flock of them, with her bemused camerapeople having taken up strategic position in a nearby tree. She's been here a while, and it is... driving... her... MAD!
"WHERE IS HE?!" She screams, suddenly erupting from the sheep, sending the cute creatures bouncing around her. "RICK STROOOOOOOOOOOOWD! WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM MY NEO LEAGUE CHALLEEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE?!"
Strange places often seem to be something Rick Strowd is good at finding. So many locations he has dragged Rust for odd sorts of things have lead to so many adventures. Of course one has to scout out places in order to make sure it is a proper location to bring Rust and show him just how awesome the world could be. Of course it is no wonder how the boxer has ended up in this place. The weirder part of it all was there was actually someone here challenging him to a fight when they found out both are in Neo League. Hard for him not to oblige!
"OVER HERE!" comes the reply among the giant crowd of sheep. Maybe he is just hard to make out in the distance because of his white pants and hair sort of matches the wool of the large pass of animals. Fighting through them he bumps and weaves through the large herd as he pulls on his fingerless gloves. It is about damn time to get a good fight in. He wasn't at his best against Aranha so maybe he can find his groove once again this time around.
Shoving aside another few sheep he finally gets closer enough to nod to the younger fighter. "I don't know how you found me out here, but if you want a challenge you got it!" he tells her as he gives a bit of a grin and shadowboxes a bit as he tries to loosen himself up and get prepared for the fight.
COMBATSYS: Rick has started a fight here.
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Rick 0/-------/------=|
Takako would normally be more patient. But the trouble is, these sheep... these infernal sheep! They are really aggravating her! Every inch of the world around her feels like it is full of soft and cottony badness! When she hears that Rick is here, some part of her really is happy to hear that her fighting spirit is not going to be for nothing. She stands up, and draws her bokken up as she does.
"I do want a challenge!" She declares, studying her opponent as she does. "Don't hold back! Because I won't!" Bump bump, goes a sheep against her side. Her teeth grit.
"NOT IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!!"
And with a cry born of sheer frustration, she sweeps her bokken around to smash into the sheep bonking into her, sending the bizarrely bouncy critter sailing through the air, aiming to bounce right off Rick's face, cute little limbs flailing and kicking wildly into the air.
"BAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
COMBATSYS: Takako has joined the fight here.
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Takako 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Rick
COMBATSYS: Rick dodges Takako's Large Thrown Object.
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Takako 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Rick
This is a weird place for a challenge Rick would admit. Even so he isn't one to turn down anyone if they want a good fight. What he didn't expect is the girl to get so annoyed by the animals bouncing about her. What did she expect? It seems her anger knows no bounds as she hefts up one of the poor, fluffy things and throws it right at him. Eyes go a bit wide and the boxer ducks low as the thing goes sailing over him to bounce into a group and they all start just acting as pinballs as they roll and bounce all over the place.
"Hey, be nice to the wildlife, kid!" Of course it is rather hard to do that if you are fighting. Even Rick has a hard time wading through the large herd as he tries to reach the smaller fighter. Some weaving and some hipbumps send a few of them bouncing away to allow him something of a path right towards Takako. One last dash allows him to finish closing the distance as he feints a right then gives a uppercut with his left hand. "Hup.......hah!"
COMBATSYS: Rick successfully hits Takako with Smash Sword.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Takako 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Rick
It is said that the Gods punish those who are cruel to animals.
Takako has plenty of time to wonder whether this is the case as she is sailing through the air by the powerful smashing blow to her chin. She crashes into the ground some ten feet away, ploughing into more sheep and sending them scattering wildly all around her.
As she gets back to her feet, her eyes blaze ferociously. No! She isn't done yet! She has fought ten times in this Neo League, and today she is going to seize victory! Whether the Gods have damned her or not, she will overcome this boxer! No, winning is NOT the reason she'd joined the League, it isn't /really/ important... but to be beaten black and blue in a land of endless sheep?!
"This wildlife..." She growls, sheathing her bokken, "CAN KISS MY ASS!"
And this time, as she tears back towards Rick, she /grabs/ one of the sheep, and swings it around wildly, aiming to CRASH the makeshift, fuzzy weapon right into Rick. The sheep, for its part, looks amazingly startled!
COMBATSYS: Rick dodges Takako's Random Weapon.
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Takako 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Rick
This is not turning out well at all. Rick just wanted to find a fun place to bring Rust and help him enjoy life instead of being a boring old man that just wants to train in martial arts and build benches. This would be a perfect place to bring him! They could go sheep riding! Instead here he is fighting a rather volatile young lady that seems to have no sort of regard for the safety of these poor animals that just seem so damn friendly. The fact that they still flocked to her when she tossed one of them away goes to show how much they like her.
It seems they pay for the kindness once more as Takako picks up another one of those sheep and swings it about. The southpaw jumps back to avoid the animal being swung at him and he grimaces some. His usual love for a good fight is being muted a bit by the the way the young woman is treating the sheep around them. He is bowling through them himself, but he is doing his best not to hurt them. He certainly isn't using them as a weapon.
"Hey, you got a weapon. Use it!" he barks back and he frowns some as he does his best to dance about despite being swarmed by the sheep. He comes in with another quick jab followed up by a left cross aimed at the side of Takako's head.
COMBATSYS: Takako interrupts Medium Punch from Rick with Random Strike.
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Takako 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Rick
Takako decides to give Rick his wish... though perhaps, not, precisely, in the way that he might like! The young woman swings the sheep up and around to block the first quick jab, and draw her bokken in one smooth motion. The sheep goes "BWAAAAAAAAAA!" As it is bonked away into the distance by the punch, sailing off and away...
And the second punch smashes into Takako, in the same moment as she wildly swings the bokken around and up. "KIYAH!" She bellows, slamming her head into Rick's fist, and the tip of her bokken straight up into the side of Rick's jaw, smacking him away as she lands. Her feet hit the ground, and she does her best to recover her stance.
But the creatures really are very insistent, bumping and grinding into her, which makes her sigh. "DAMNIT! You'd think they'd get the hint!" She shrieks, grasping her weapon tightly. "I HATE LAMB!"
That is not what he meant to do! At least it was his first punch that hit one of the poor sheep that sends it flying. Even so he looks a bit shaken by the result which might make it all the more easier for Takako's strike to hit the Native American because he was more focused on the safety of that poor sheep other than himself. The bokken slaps into his jaw and it causes him to stagger back and he goes tumbling over a few more of the sheep and is engulfed by them to where it is hard to even see where he is.
"Why the hell did you challenge me here, then!?" he shouts back as he bursts back to his feet and sends a few sheep off into the air by accident. Dammit, this is definantly not the place to do battle. No matter what he does he seems to be causing harm to the little things. At least they don't seem to mind? They just keep coming right at him and Takako despite the pair causing quite a bit a harm to anything getting near them.
His jaw is split and a bit of blood trips from his chin where he was hit, but he seems for the most part unphased by the blow delivered to him. He moves in close and does a quick dash at the last moment. A forward thrust of his left fist aimed to nail Takako right in the face with his gloved hand as he winces when he accidentally sends a few more sheep flying with his forward dash.
COMBATSYS: Takako Toughs Out Rick's Punisher!
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Takako 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Rick
"BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE YOU WERE, DAMNIT!"
Truth be told, it doesn't seem like EITHER of them know why they are here. Perhaps the whims of fate have just chosen to throw them together in this bizarre place full of strange critters. It isn't as though Takako /wants/ to hurt them, exactly, she just wants them to leave her alone! They are incredibly distracting! It is almost impossible to maintain her focus with them continually getting underfoot!
Maintaining her focus in the face of Rick's crashing forwards momentum, she steels herself, and when he punches her, she doesn't budge an inch! Bracing hard, she forces herself to stay standing through sheer force of will, and, when she's certain that he has /merely/ broken her nose, and isn't going to continue to immediately press the assault, she erupts into motion!
Flinging herself upwards, the girl aims to smack her bokken across Rick's chest, spin, and slam her foot into his knee. If she can manage that part of the three-part combination, she will suddenly leap off, and, spinning wildly like a top, aim to bring her bokken down hard right on the top of Rick's head. All the while shouting her increasingly-famous battlecry:
"KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Rick blocks Takako's Killing Flurry.
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Takako 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Rick
One of them at least knows why he is here. Rick is one of those type of people that seeks out the weird and interesting. The fact that Takako somehow found out here was the more surprising thing. Was she tracking him to challenge him? All she had to do was have an official call him or something if she really wanted this Neo League fight and he would have picked out a less crowded place. Instead where they are caught up in all of this mess of sheep when he was just wanting to check them out for ideas.
It seems that the sheep are distracting Takako more than Rick in the long run. It is allowing the Native American to keep on his toes and avoid most of the strikes. Even then there are times where he won't be able to get out of the way fully. This is one of the cases when the young woman handles the punch alot better than expected. That bokken comes at him. He raises his arms to where the bokken slams into his forearms while he dances back and the kick aimed at his knee finds nothing. Perhaps just a sheep is sent flying helplessly instead.
Ducking low the southpaw takes a deep breath. He draws his left fist back and then explodes forward before Takako can perhaps fully recover from her failed assault. Sheep and fighter are possibly sent flying when he erupts forward with a dash that turns into a powerful uppercut that has enough force that he sails skywards when attempting to deliver the blow.
COMBATSYS: Takako fails to interrupt Shooting Star EX from Rick with Kami's Roar.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
-#- Dazing Hit! -#-
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Takako 1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1 Rick
"GRAAAAAAAARGH!"
Takako is in mid-air when Rick comes in for her, and her eyes show nothing but her ferocious fighting spirit. Sure, she'd have liked that to go a little differently... but Rick fell for her trap! She's perfectly positioned to draw her head back...!
And faceplant directly into his fist!
Wait what?
"Ayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The girl cries as she is sent spiralling up into the air. She makes a nice, corkscrew motion on the way up... and when she lands, her entire upper body sinks into the dirt, plunging her headlong into the grass. She wiggles and flails helplessly for a few seconds, before managing to pull herself up out of the ground, bleeding profusely from her mouth and with one eye swelling shut. But... she can't feel it! SHE MUST NOT BE INJURED AT ALL!
Waving her bokken, which she has somehow kept hold of, she stumbles up to her feet, "ISHTHAT HAAALLL YOOOU GOHTS?" She demands, furiously, "HIT MEH LIKE A MAHN ALREDY!" Oh gods, did she bite her tongue? It sounds like she's bitten her tongue.
Well that turned out a bit more messy than expected. Rick wasn't exactly expecting Takako to attempt to headbutt his fist when it came in to strike her. Instead he waches her sail away and then more sheep go flying into the air and away from where the fighter impacted. The boxer visibly winces some from the sound of impact and he is honestly surprised when Takako manages to actually get up and of all things yell at him. He has to admit she sounds like he does when he gets punch drunk. Much like Rick it seems this woman doesn't know the meaning of the word quit when massive amounts of head trauma have been dealt.
He seems a bit hesitant at first, but then again it might be insulting not to throw something at her when she is telling him to give it all he has. He steps back at first then he moves forward, carefully at first and then he wades through the sheep as he pulls his left fist back. "Hnnnnn......." he grunts as the air around that fist seems to swirl before he finally gives a powerful forward thrust that causes sheep to go flying all about as the air kicks up in a powerful concussive blast that is aimed to take Takako off her feet.
COMBATSYS: Takako interrupts Gaia Breath from Rick with Raijin's Strike.
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Rick 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Takako can no longer fight.
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Rick 0/-------/-======|
Takako steadies herself with Rick gathering up her power. It is actually more difficult than usual to think, which means... she just has to go with what feels right! The girl's bokken blazes with swirling wind energy. Wrenching it from the surrounding area, sheep swirl up with it, sent bouncing off into the distance, and at the same moment that Rick comes forward to punch her, she comes forward with a blinding flash. More sheep are sent hurtling off by the detonation.
And Takako is suddenly behind Rick. The ripping slash has, at least, found its mark across Rick's torso... but the problem is that now, her body is starting to catch up with the damage that has been dealt to her. She can tell. The first hint is that her knees start to wobble before they give out. They hit the ground first, and she coughs. "Eye." She slurs. "Ahm nawt okehei."
And that strange, slurring, unintelligible sentence uttered, she finally /does/ collapse, hitting the ground face-first.
And immediately being swarmed by butting sheep, eager to playfully encourage her to keep going. Baaaaa.
It is something that seems to happen in a blink of the eye. He delivered that powerful punch that could even knock a person out from a distance, but Takako almost seems as if she just bursts through it and quickly she is behind him. It takes a moment after that to realize just in how much damn pain his torso is in as he lurches forward and cradles his waist with an arm. He doesn't topple all the way over, but he does stagger forward a few steps to regain both his breath and balance.
A hand rests on the back of one of those overly friendly sheep as he steadies himself and he turns about looking ready to punch at Takako again. It seems it isn't needed. Instead all he sees is a group of sheep dancing about where the young woman was. It leaves Rick having to scatter them so he can heft Takako up and put her over a shoulder. If the bokken was dropped he picks it up too. He may act like an uncouth crazy man alot of the time, but he does have some sense of honor and the like. That and his wife would kick his ass if he left the girl to be trampled by sheep.
"Yeah, I think Rust will like this place." he tells himself as he starts to wade through the sheep as he carries Takako. At least when she fully recovers she won't be among the fuzzy critters. Of course now at this point somewhere in the world, probably in Sunshine City, Rust is getting a bad feeling in his gut that something is about to happen. He is right.
COMBATSYS: Rick has ended the fight here.
Log created on 15:46:31 06/30/2012 by Rick, and last modified on 09:06:53 07/02/2012.