Description: The inaugural KUMA LEAGUE bout sees two experienced ursine warriors carry their human opponents to a battle that shall be remembered forever. On this day, history is made, and the first Champion of Bears will soon be crowned. Much to the general bemusement of the competitors themselves, who found their way into the BEAR PITS while looking for something (or someone) else entirely...
Following their combined failure to make direct contact with Johann Gallo, Lynn Baker and her freeloading ally Asuka Kazama had retreated to the Ryu Zui Ken Dojo not to lick wounds - despite the Osakan's best efforts, no battle was joined outside the peaceful if resistant offices of the philanthropist - but to hold conference on how best to proceed. Calmly advised that shouting out the words 'Black Dragon' while attempting to punch public servants in the mouth probably wasn't the most sensible action, Asuka took her reprimand breezily enough before deciding to head out onto the street in search of one of the missing chromatic dragons.
Rumours across Inner Sunshine led ultimately to the outer city, where gang warfare is not the only source of violence; though it's through the gangs themselves that she ultimately reaches a seedy underground network of fighting pits. A couple of evenings spent breaking heavily-tattooed amateurs in half has accomplished little more than mildly irritating the hard-hitting tomboy, but on the third day she receives word that a new group has begun to hold the most dangerously violent competition yet, thanks to a recent influx of sponsorship.
Information comes at a cost, however, and Asuka has all the means of a beggar right now. Fists in tender places only derive a certain quality of intelligence, and so she's arrived at the appointed 'offices' of the Kuma League in Sunshine City without more than a few vagaries. By the time she's scribbled her signature on several long, intensely boring documents and been escorted into a concrete dungeon full of cages by a dimunitive, swarthy old trickster in bizarrely ethnic garb, she's only that much closer to concluding why the hunt for a warrior blessed by legendary power should bring her to a room packed out with noisy, smelly bears.
"Is Arabian hunting bear, very good genes, yes-yes," Natters away her guide as he leads her through the alarming chamber toward a cage at the back, half-shrouded in shadow. "Specially trained! Companion in battle, friend during long, inhospitable nights." Shuffling to the nearby wall, he hauls on a switch that looks disturbingly like those used to empower electric chairs. Lamps flicker on to reveal the big brown grizzly half-slumbering in the cage, and the man turns to Asuka with a gap-toothed grin. "Kazama dojo bring us fortune, yes? So bear bring you fortune. Is best we have; make win for sure, make big money for everyone! You like?"
Clad in her flashy body-suit and colourful boots and elbow pads, the Kazama heiress is utterly out of place in the seedy environment, and doesn't feel any less so when she's faced with those rotting teeth and the prospect of the neighbouring 800lb beast being her tag team partner. Gnawing on her lip and frowning, she considers the astonishingly difficult question-- does she LIKE pushing herself into a gladiatorial arena attached by the wrist to one of these monsters, and being expected to kick another one in the head until it lies still? It's a brain-teaser alright, so she just sort of shrugs noncommittally and changes the subject.
"So, uh, does it have a name?" The tomboy inquires with sceptical innocence, looking the hulking ursine over as she rubs despondently at the back of her neck. There's a quickly-dawning realization that she's plunging into deep, cold waters; that this adventurous soujourn could culminate in painfully unsavoury circumstance. Pealing laughter from the stooped, wizened gentleman does nothing to prevent her ill feeling, hazel eyes rolling back toward him, eyebrows both raising. His merriment seems to suggest her question is utterly idiotic, and she supposes that's fair. Why should a bear have a name? Bears don't even know what names are.
His merriment cuts abruptly short, and he's left with the most serious expression she's ever seen.
"Of course has name," the man states in a level, solemn tone, gesturing austerely at the bear, "Is Mr. Humpy."
Somehow the gravity of the moment sells it, and two minutes later Kazama finds herself riding shotgun in the bear's cage as it slowly wakes up. This process is aided by the container suddenly lurching as a rattling winch alongside begins to turn, lowering them into the forbidding pit below.
"Alright, bear," she mutters, glancing askance at the gigantic, brutish thing beside her. Asuka isn't really 'scared' of anything in particular, but there's something unavoidably alarming about being in proximity to something so primal and ferocious. Separated by nothing but a flimsy leather leash. "It's just you and me, on our way to the Champion of Bears." Which must surely be that guy, right? She wouldn't have ended up here if it wasn't, right? Right. In spite of herself, she swallows, then quickly shakes her head. Trying to get in the proper mindset as the lowering cage begins to shudder to a halt, the Osakan stows the leash between her teeth and begins the exacting process of cracking her knuckles and rolling her neck. When she's done, she spits the dirty leather out and loops it several times about her wrist before clasping it tight in her left hand.
A decisive nod is given just as rusted iron bars creak open, giving way to the sandy battle pit. It's not cluttered with the bones of the deceased and the bleached skulls of the vanquished, but it feels like it ought to be. Stepping out under the roar of Sunshine's least discerning crowds, Asuka smirks.
"I'm ready! Let the best bear wi--augh!!"
And then she faceplants into the grit at the dead centre of the arena, as she reaches the limits of the leash binding her to the distinctly immobile Mr. Humpy. A grumbling, basso snort emits from the recently vacated cage, and the bear rolls onto its back, legs happily in the air as it snoozes.
So far, so good. Maybe her opponent is having better luck?
No. Unfortunately, her opponent was /not/ having better luck.
Layla is still backstage in the meanwhile, clutching at the taught leather leash of her own bear who she's dubbed 'Asshole' for the time being given his disposition toward trying toward almost completely disobeying her. She'd asked to get the bear out of the cage and interact with him a bit before the big fight, but the closest they've come to 'interacting' thus far has been the 800 lb monstrosity dragging her around the room to get into very nearly everything that's within reach. "...Damn it!" She yells, loudly, to no one. The staff had left the pair alone in a large stone room filled with half-empty barrels of bear feed for a few minutes, and so no one would likely here her shouting.
Finally tiring of being drug about, the girl digs her worn snakeskin beats into the hard surface of the floor and pulls back HARD on the leash, drawing him up onto his hind quarters slowly... and then yanking him onto his back.
- SLAM! -
A beastial roar is emitted from within the confines of the room, and then more high-pitched yelling ensues, finally drawing the staff back into the bear chamber. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!"
%4R...And get her out of there they did. For after about two minutes of playing 'tag' with her bear, running around and around in circles, they finally managed to get the bear calmed down enough to get him back in the cage. There was just one more issue. She had to ride ni the cage /with/ him.
Stepping out from thelarge steel cage, roughly eight minutes after Asuka's own arrival... the dirty, frayed, denim of Layla is looking even more frayed than before... and her bear is unconscious in the cage. For a moment anyway. "Get up, asshole!" She jerks on the drowsy bear's leather leash several times... his body unmoving for an embarassing few moments... and then he begins to stir... getting to his feet and slowly plodding out of the cage.
Exhaling softly, standing there by te empty cage with her slowly recovering bear, she takes those precious few non-chaotic moments to look across the way toward her opponent... and ehr similarly disobedient sack of fur meat. ... A wicked grin winds it's way into her features though... "She looks like a real fighter, this should be exciting.."
Saved not by the bell, but her opponent's own ursine difficulties, Asuka is bought ample time to pull herself upright and stride angrily back toward the cage as the crowd arrayed about the pit's perilous plunge continues to drunkenly roar and cajole. Her cheeks are brightly flushed but she's less embarassed than irritated, mood doing a full one-eighty from the solid determination she'd been able to work up during her fortuitously-uneventful ride. She's got no sleeves to pull up, but settles for tugging on her colourful elbow pads as she draws close to the dozing bear, regarding it with a baleful fume before promptly stepping forward and... tentatively digging in a boot. She's not a bad person, she doesn't want to /beat/ on the damn thing, no matter how she feels.
Her only immediate response is a deep rumble from the beast's massive chest, and a line of drool seeping from the edge of its mouth as that toothy maw stretches out into a sleeping grin. The tomboy's hazel eyes bat several times as she stops and stares at this utterly confounding sight, and then she hears the rattle of a second, descending cage behind her. "Okay, no more Mrs. Nice Kazama," mutters Asuka darkly, narrowing her gaze and retightening her ironclad grip on the bear's leash, before leaning down dangerously close to its face.
She breathes deep, expansive chest swelling, and holds it, holds it...
Then starts screaming.
"WAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPP!!!"
Slowly, one big eyelid cracks open, and the still-grinning bear observes her upside-down, letting out another low rumble. Asuka returns the stare as she pants to restore her breath, shoulders remaining tightly wound and posture just daring her supposed battle partner to further defy her. Their standoff continues until the time that Layla's cage touches down, at which point there's a disturbingly... happy-sounding roar from the 'Arabian hunting bear' and it goes from lounging upon its back to a leaping barrel roll in approximately 0.2 of a reasonable moment. The Osakan barely has time to utter the first expletive that comes to her word before she's buried under the best part of a ton of fur and muscle, hands and feet sticking out to either side as her face is given a thorough licking.
"Pfff!" She spits, flailing about, "This--gah!! Isn't, pff, how! AUGH! Bears... ARE SUPPOSED TO ACT!!"
As though to give credence to the estimation of her opponent, however, and perfectly timed to do so, the tomboy gives a surge of effort and actually /flings/ the bear from on top of her, it falling with a disheartened thump to one side as she rolls free and springs to her feet, raising the leash around a threatening fist. A second standoff commences while her opponent - and her own bear - look on, during which the drool-soaked Asuka seems to make further progress, the intensity of her hazel-eyed stare getting the big animal to sink down onto its haunches.
"Right," she decides, with a nod, "That's progress, I guess. Now uh, follow me?" Turning away with an accompanying gesticulation, with her eyes off the bear she takes a moment to look Layla over before yanking once upon the leash, and starting back out onto the arena floor. Yeah, tough. Just the type she expected to run into; all scars, tattoos and probably capable of putting up a serious fight. She can't tear a small grin off her face, helped by the sound of her companion shuffling along behind her. Reaching up to wipe some of the thick spittle from her cheeks and neck, she casts it aside, then dramatically thrusts a finger toward her waiting foe.
"I'm Asuka Kazama, Fight Breaker and Bear..." Wait, what do they call people who fight with bears? Is that even a thing? Not for the first time, a treachorous inner voice asks her what the hell she's even doing. "Person!?" It's a misfire, but she shakes her head and carries on anyway, clenching her pointing hand to a fist hard enough to send a loud pop of knuckles across the arena floor. "Don't hold anything back!! Sic 'em, Mr. Humpy!"
At which point, miraculously, the lethargic and loving ursine warrior actually begins to lumber forward. It's on.
COMBATSYS: Asuka has started a fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Layla has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Asshole has joined the fight here.
Watching silently, semi-amused by her opponent's own struggles to get her ursine companion to cooperate, the frayed and dirtied young brazilian-american thug just stands there by the cage with a shit-eating grin. "Well, this looks like it should prove 'interesting'..." The word interesting is tainted by a touch of sarcasm. She didn't quite know at this point if she was going to get the fight she was expecting or not. From the get-go, it looks as though the pair might wind of fighting their own bears... or at least... Layla would.
As the massive sack of fur meat is rolled off of the Kazama heiress, ursine drool pooling at her feet on the dirty ground, and the woman begans to slowly make her way over... a tug is felt upon the leather leash attached to 'Asshole' as he proceeds - entirely on his own - to make his toward the arena center with a nasty snarl and a low rumble being emitted from his closed maw. The brazilian-american thug, her leash going taut, once again finds herself being simply dragged along for the ride.
Stumbling along behind the bear at a quickening pace, as he proceeds to change his movement speed from 'slow, meanacing, plod' to full-blown dart, the thuggish, scarred, female replies to Asuka's proclamation with a simpler one, "SHUT UP AND FIGHT!!!" T'would seem that she and the bear have at least one thing in common. As the pair encroach on Asuka and her partner's territory, Asshole rears up on his hind quarters and takes a ferocious swipe at the face of her accompanying bear whilst Layla charges right down tthe center... carried by his momentum and her own combined... thrusting a booted oot directly toward her oppponent's solar plexus!
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy blocks Asshole's Fast Claw.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Layla
COMBATSYS: Asuka counters Gut Buster from Layla with Falling Rain.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Layla
Grizzly treachery may yet abound, it's true; though in Asuka's case the likelihood is more that she'll receive another faceful of drool and possibly be less capable, after a battering, of squirming out from under the apparently very aptly-named 'Mr. Humpy'. Speaking of which, it's only after she dramatically yells out the bear's name that the fact of it dawns upon her, and Layla's charge is met with a self-disgusted scowl as the tomboy unleashes a low groan, her shoulders sinking. Her battle companion lets out a happy growl in response. Where his forebear is clearly more ready for this, Humpy just seems to be treating it like a big game.
Asshole's claw swipe seems about to impact that grinning face when at the last instant, instinct appears to take the Arabian hunting bear by storm, and his own paws fly up as he takes a shuffling backstep. A little warm blood bubbles through coarse fur, but the worst of the blow is deflected, and as Humpy's paws hit the dirt underfoot he seems to have finally got on his game face, letting out a bone-chilling roar full in his opponent's hairy face!
As for Asuka Kazama and her less-hairy, but no less intimidating opponent, well. Game faces all around.
"Your wish--" She's suddenly yelling, raising her voice to cover for the misery and embarassment of appearing in public shouting the words MR. HUMPY, and - unlike the bear - taking a surging step /forward/ to meet Layla's assault. "Is my command!!" The striking boot is suddenly seized in the Osakan tomboy's free hand, forearm bearing horizontal across her midsection as she completely nullifies the impact and then closes her surprisingly large digits into a grip just as iron as the one she has on her companion's leash. This detail becomes vitally important, as she gives a roar of her own and suddenly spins about, dragging her human foe overhead...
To leave an explosive crater in the sand behind, a massive cascade of the stuff launched in every which direction as she brings the taller, heavier woman SLAMMING down into the floor, still clinging onto her striking limb with that single hand. Where a Japanese college student got so grotesquely powerful is left unanswered, but she's not done, spinning about again to send Layla heavenward with an underhanded whip of one well-muscled arm. "How's that for fighting, huh?" She calls as the woman soars, "The spirit of Kazama-style won't be undone by BEARS!!"
It's about this moment that we should mention poor Mr. Humpy, who's been slung around by the same tight motions that have seen to Layla. The first dragged him in a wide, dirt-scuffing semi-circle across the arena; an ignoble act that ill-prepared him for the rising cloud of grit brought on by Layla's impact, and then half blinded and utterly confused he's spun around by the second motion to fly through the air in a low, heavy arc. For the other ursine warrior, this means he's looking up at 800lb of descending bulk. It's uncertain who has it worse here.
COMBATSYS: Asshole blocks Mr. Humpy's Huge Thrown Object.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Layla
Layla's shit-eating grin suddenly falls apart, becoming a look of astonishment as she finds her kicking leg clutched tightly by her opponent even despite all of that speed and momentum. Not merely had she managed to catch it though, she managed to stop it completely. Under these circumstances, an average fighter would probably be annoyed at least and at worst afraid of such a capable opponent. The only thing going through Layla's mind, however, in those scant few secconds she has before she's lifted into the air is... EXCITEMENT!
'Asshole', meanhwhile, his claw strike deftly avoided by his would-be target seems positively annoyed. Especially after after having Mr. Humpy ROAR in his face with all of the ferocity of a.... 800 pound bear. Standing on his hind quarters again, preparing to dig his claws into his opponent's face once more, he gives a mighty beastial shout and draws back with right forepaw... just in time to be smashed backwards by a now flying 800 pound mammal who'd been jerked haplessly into the air by his would-be partner. Though he stumbles visibly, nearly rolling over backward due to the force of the blow, he manages to stay on his hindlegs well enough to drop back onto all fours as opposed to being sent sprawling on his back.
Layla, meanwhile, is very shortly smashed onto hers in the sand of the fighting pit... the wind forced out of her lungs by the sheer force of the impact. "Ugh... that... felt pretty nice..." Yet more sarcasm escapes her. Rolling to the side shortly thereafter, narrowly avoiding the inevitable return of Asuka's own bear to the ground... and avoiding being smashed by its heft more importantly, she quickly scrambles to her feet and reaches for that chain whip clipped to the lip of her jeans - even whilst giving Asshole's leash a hard tug with her free hand. Spinning that long, metallic, chain in a blindingly fast circular about her right hand, she regains her shit-eating grin... "That felt pretty good... LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS." Leaping toward the Kazama heiress, body spinning like a top in mid-air, she lets the chain loose and swings it in a WIDE arc with all the force her body and its momentum - aided by torsion - can muster.
Asshole meanwhile, needing NO prompting from the tugged at leash, bursts into another dart the moment his prior target hits the ground... spreading his massive, toothy, maw wide and lunging for Mr. Humpy's expoed neck with a roar.
COMBATSYS: Asuka just-defends Layla's Spiral Slam!
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Layla
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy endures Asshole's Aggressive Bite.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Layla
Weapons. Strict, traditional teachings and a childhood spent pounding thugs on the streets of Osaka - NOT LIKE THAT - have conspired to imbue Asuka Kazama with the most hypocritical distaste of weaponry, and her nose wrinkles the moment she sees that many-sectioned whip being detached. How many sections? She doesn't have time to count, busy as she is thrusting her finger forth once more, the other hand bunching to a fist beneath her chin. It's an unashamedly aggressive stance, helped not at all by the way she paws the sand with her heavy-booted feet.
"You like that, huh?" She returns, lips curling into some savage point between grin and snarl, hazel eyes hardening even as they're set aflame. Layla's dynamic forward leap is met by a mirroring lunge from the Osakan, tearing up six feet of ground in a quarter-second before she throws her chambered fist forward, retracting the previously pointing hand at the same instant. Fingers part to present a bound palm in the wake of that launched chain, the links actually finding purchase and sweeping about calloused digits and intertwined bear-leash alike. "Maybe if you want more..."
She's showing no pain, the tomboy, and it's easy to miss the gentle cant of her outstretched hand before she suddenly twists into her left hip, flinging the palm out to the opposite side to send the gathered sections of that chain-whip spiralling back the way they came. Completely nullified and deflected. Asuka is quick on their trail, entering a spin to match the one Layla is just now leaving, but she doesn't depart from the ground-- quick footwork propels her instead into a triple pirouette, invisible energy gathering at her core as she chambers a leg en route, and launches herself with all that gathered torque, whipping her heel around into a spinning hook so fast and furious it generates a visible swelling of latent chi, bursting momentarily with a bright flare of light.
"You should try fighting with some /honour/!!"
Y'know, honour. Like kicking your opponent really hard in the head.
Where Mr. Humpy stands on the subject isn't entirely clear, but at least Asuka's deflection of the chain-whip enabled him to move around a little more, unimpeded by the previously-gathered leash. His ursine opponent slams into him, sharp, yellowed teeth tearing a bloody swathe in thickly-furred neck, but the happy-go-lucky beast rolls with it, avoiding tumbling fully onto one flank with a pair of outstretched paws. He's instantly biting back, snaking around the chomping maw to smack his foe away with a headbutt then lunge past to return favour. Despite attempting to sink powerful jaws into a fellow bear's neck, he /still/ appears to be... kind of smiling.
COMBATSYS: Asuka successfully hits Layla with Onikubigari.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Layla
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy successfully hit Asshole with Medium Bite.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Layla
Yet more surprise finds the chain-swining thug, still in the midst of her own aerial pirouettes, as her nine-section whip... normally far too fast for opponents to SEE let alone count the sections... is deflected back at her with a seemingly inhuman, practiced, speed and agility. "WHA...??" is all she gets out before her own whip snaps back into her face... smacking her with all the force of a thrown brick and leaving a large, /red/, gash across her face that begins to bleed profusely. Perhaps even breaking her smallish nose.
But her trouble's are just beginning, for as she touches down up the hard, sandy, ground of the pit.... Asuka's leg... burning with chi... makes contact with her face sending her body flying through the air backwards... skipping along the ground like a pebble skipped across a lake... each hit jarring, and possibly fracturing, bone.
Her bear, is however, still completely occupied with Mr. humpy... completely ignoring the hard tugging of the elash at his throat as his handler goes flying to the very limit of the leather restraint. His teeth are still well-embedded in Mr. Humpy's flesh as the other Bear smashes his skull with a headbutt... catching him by surprise and forcing him to turn loose long enough for Mr. Humpy to sink his teeth into his own neck as his maw wraps around his thick matted mane. Roaring savagely, the aggressive bear tries to stand on his hindquarters again.. despite the violent tugging of teeth at his now profusely bleeding flesh... and swing those massive forrepaws at Mr. Humpy and rake sharp claws across his body.
"Ugh..." Gathering up her weapon in her right hand and clambering to her feet, she emits a low exhale of exhasperation... pausing to catch her breathe. After a moment or so passes, the thuggish brute straightens... laughing almost maniaclly... and then whipping on her heels around at her opponent's location again... charging in with an look of almost insane glee on her sand-covered... bloody... face. "WHO GIVES A /FUCK/ ABOUT HONOR??!" She yells, as she screams into Asuka's territory again like a bullet train... fists balled tightly... the leash till clutched in her left. She then skids to a stop as she approaches the woman, spinning on one foot, bringing an elbow around toward her head... followed by another hard knee aiemd at the heiress's midsection.. and ending with a HARD stomp at her foot wih a savage roar that sounds like it'd belong more to an animal than a girl.
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy fails to interrupt Combo Mauling from Asshole with Fierce Mauling.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Layla
COMBATSYS: Layla successfully hits Asuka with Frantic Combination.
- Power hit! -
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Layla
As Layla goes skipping and bouncing away, the battle bears are putting on quite a show for the bloodthirsty spectators. The belligerent Asshole hauls himself upright, teeth dragging scathing furrows through his neck that leave flesh hanging and blood spilling freely into the charged air, but he's free; Humpy staggering forward in a failed bid to maintain contact, dark eyes flashing not toward his opponent but to the form of Asuka - who he can be assured is absolutely fine, slipping easily back into her stance with a cold smirk at her own opponent. This show of bearly concern costs him, as swiping paws descend, one catching across the muzzle.
Mr. Humpy roars a protest, swaying away then attempting to rise to his own hindquarters, powerful haunches bracing and then throwing him upright-- but the parting of his jaws and the thunderous outthrust of his own mighty paw comes too late, at least for him. Asshole's blows continue to rain down, driving his foebear muzzle-down into the sand, more crimson flow painting his fur to blackest midnight as he sinks down with a whimper. The crowd are baying, bets changing hands frantically as the balance of momentum seems to shift between bears. Meanwhile...
Layla's screamed question yields no immediate reply, because the bright-eyed Osakan is busily eating an elbow straight to the mouth, her response turned into a very articulate, "Hrbl!!", as she's flung back a pace, head turned sidelong as she tries to spit out the nasty wad of blood and saliva erupting from the strike. That costs her double, the lack of any evasive action forcing her to eat also the lunging knee, and finally, the insult to the injury; as her SECOND sanctioned bout features a repeat of the first, her foot crushed by a heavy stomp. She does wear heavy, clump boots; but against a trained fighter this is as good as going in nude.
"What the /hell/!!" Her voice is thick from the wound, but Asuka still manages to carry across the most incensed, disgusted outburst at her own failing. Teeth grind together as she stamps forward, ducking her rapidly-reddening head with a furious outrushing of breath. What ensues is simple, in theory; a headlong takedown, the leash-bearing hand rushing around behind the thug's left knee as the other goes high to push against her breast and plow her down into the dirt for a second time. "ANY good warrior cares about HONOUR!" Asuka yells as she maintains her footing, reaching down to snatch the other woman by the waistband of her jeans and the front of her t-shirt.
If she even gets that far, she'll complete her vengeful assault by once more scooping Layla up, twisting her own improbably athletic form to send her hurtling on an attack course right for-- her bear!? They're far enough away she probably won't manage it with any real sense of purpose, but the message is there.
"If you DON'T, then I guess you belong with the DUMB ANIMALS!!"
It'll be at that moment she takes stock of her own dumb animal, and her face falls.
"...what... what is he doing to Mr. Humpy?"
COMBATSYS: Asuka successfully hits Layla with Power Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Layla
What is he doing indeed. For, even as the crowd's excited shouting reaches a climax... the thunder of thousand voices filling the pit area, Asshole seems to keep right on mauling Mr. Humpy furiously even after he's collapsed to the ground. Once he has Mr. Humpy beneath him, however, the bear gives an arrogant almost disdainful snort... and then roars LOUDLY into the open air... giving a primal declaration of his dominance for all to hear.
Layla, meanwhile, is not faring so well. For even as she finishes her powerful combination of blows against her opponent... she can feel her consciousness waning under the strain her body is under as well as from the loss of blood. She stumbles back a step, catching herself barely before Asuka recovers from the beating to stalk toward her again. "A-..." is pretty much all the thuggish girl manages to get out after falling back into her stance, before her attacking knee is jerked out from under her person and she's nearly thrown off-balance once again by her dauntless and highly skilled opponent. Then before she can even muster an attempt at retaliaton, Asuka's hand forces its way inbetween her breasts and presses hard against her sternum... knocking what's left of her balance completely off kilter as she's knocked to the ground with an heavy THUD.
"...Honor is for the...." she gasps out, intending to finish her sentence with 'weak', but finds her clothing suddenly in the clutches of the other abnormally strong female... who then proceeds to swing her wildly in circles so fast she can barely see. "HuRK..!" She can feel her stomach begin to turn as all that is visible suddenly blends into a smattering of blurred colors.... the alchohol she'd imbibed before the battle very nearly coming up. No sooner does this sensation of intenstinal upset hit... and suddenly all of the colors once more completely unblend and she fends herself saiing toward her violent, alpha male, of bear midst roar.
The pair clash hard... human skull angainst ursine skulll as Laayla and Asshole collide in mid-air... and Layla wins out. Her bear goes sailing through the air away from Mr. Humpy... possibly unconscious... and Layla crash lands right onto the ground where he stood... sand flying everywhere.
For a good while, it might seem as though it were over. Asuka had proven just too strong and the ambitious young challenge was simply too weak or too inexperienced... but then...
For those even remotely familiar, the subtle taint of Psycho Power is in the air... rising off of Layla like a slowly building heat. ... And she pushes herself slowly up off of the ground again, body aglow with the subtlet aura of wine red coloring. Spitting sand... she shuffles to her feet silently... barely contained blood thirst building to an explosive climax within her frame... threatening to explode from her violently. "...WHO..." staggers forward a step or two, then suddenly she's darting back into her opponent's territory again with a speed thrice that she had been capable of just prior... "...GIIIIIVES AAAA FUUUUCK..." ... and she skids into Asukas territory again.. an elbow enshrouded in subtle, but visible, Psi energy and thrust it toward her midsection again. This time into to tear through her like bull through an old wooden gate. "ABOUT HONOR??!!" If the blow connects, it will soon by followed by another spinning elbow to the head, and another foot stomp, followed by a HARD knee to her midsection and ended with a solid headbutt... the force behind the attack sufficient enough to break not only her an opponent's skull but perhaps her own as well. "GO TO HELL!"
COMBATSYS: Asuka Toughs Out Layla's Go to Hell!!
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Asshole
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Asuka 1/------=/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Layla
Psychic emanations are not something Asuka has been fortunate, or otherwise, enough to encounter; in any form, the fiercely harrowing edge of Psycho Power, or its supposedly cooler and gentler - but no less discomfiting -sibling, Soul Power. It's with consequent little regard beside the usual lingering wariness that her gaze shifts to Layla from the sliding, possibly unconscious form of her brutal bear companion. That simmering energy does set something prickling at the nape of her neck, but she dismisses it as a side-effect of adrenaline and anger; her opponent hits like a truck, but she's got no tact or grace, and Asuka just wants to put her down. Or she did, before seeing poor Mr. Humpy eat dust, his matted fur thick with blood and--
"Ugh!" Shaking her head wildly, Kazama tries to focus on the task at hand, keeping her attention upon the suddenly encroaching form of Layla. That energy is tearing at the back of her skull now, manifesting some bizarre migraine-like sensation the closer it comes, which just annoys the tomboy all the more. Mouth setting in a grim line, she slams her fists together before her, then steps directly into the searing elbow that opens a truly savage combination from the brawler. The Osakan says nothing, but she barely reacts to the pain either, barely shifting as sick impact is made with her abdomen, simply releasing a scathing outbreath as she tightens against staggering.
When her foe spins, aiming a second shot for her head, she all but headbutts it right back, a welt rising just beside her temple as she deflects it with a dismissive *thwack*. It SOUNDS horrendously painful, as do the attacks that follow, but it's only at the stomp that Asuka reacts beyond the freakin' Terminator, letting out a taut, hissing shout as she eats the subsequent knee and bends just enough to meet Layla's eyes on the final, skullcrushing headbutt. Bone meets bone, and something *cracks*; though on what side is unclear, until a trickle of blood runs from Asuka's crown. She's smiling in spite of it, however, smirking even. Cold and confident.
"I," she states firmly, not shifting her skull away, seeming not even to register the pain, "Give a fuck."
"I give a fuck about honour," she states the words with an oddly distant calm as she finally reaches up and pushes Layla away, back in a battle stance as she smoothly steps around and begins circling the other woman. Her guard is up, her paces swift, and any immediate attempt to attack her is evaded with a nonchalance that... well, it shouldn't really be. Her words grow more heated, and as she circles she seems to be leading her opponent out into the outer fringe of the arena. "I give a fuck about winning fair and square! I give a fuck about being the /best/ I can possibly be, not just for me but for everybody! And..."
She breaks off, and darts to one side, entering a flip that carries her off the arena wall in a tight spring, a roll across the sand bringing her up beside the drowsily recovering, hugely lumbering form of Asshole. No longer looking at Layla, she fixates hazel eyes upon those of the bear.
"I give a fuck, ABOUT MY BEAR!"
So saying, she lunges, rising from a crouch with one hand sweeping high and fast, seeking to lift the ursine clean off his feet with one mighty, gut-wrenchingly Herculean effort. "SURRRRRRRRR---" Spittle and blood flecking her lips, the battered but gloriously battle-ready Kazama seeks to not only heft the 800lb beast, but spin it around, focusing past it onto the matching form of Mr. Humpy, who - still tethered to the Osakan by that leash - is rising to his own feet, growling low and rumbling as he watches this display. Though in mid-yell, Asuka's mouth turns up at the edges, a primal sort of grin erupting in the instant before she /hurls/ her body-weight forward, forced to bring her other hand up to assist in slamming the giant grizzly down, head and back first into the sandy pit. "YAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Boom. It's a singular, brutal smackdown that any strapping man would be proud of.
If she can pull it off, it's enough to send the ursine warrior bouncing and rolling across the floor, carried on a gout of erupting sand into the waiting form of Mr. Humpy himself, who opens his yellow-toothed maw for a meaty roar then springs off his haunches into a forward leap bears probably shouldn't really be capable of, meeting the tumbling form of Asshole in mid-roll with all eight hundred pounds bearing him straight down into the dirt by way of a terrible snapping maw straight to the belly. A lesser bear-fighter would be torn asunder by this alone, let alone in the wake of such ferocity from Asuka Kazama, who stands in its wake staring once more at Layla.
"We're not goin' to Hell," she declares, standing and once more thrusting out a finger, "You are!!"
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy successfully hit Asshole with Ferocious Bite.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/------=|>>>>---\-------\0 Layla
COMBATSYS: Asuka successfully hits Asshole with Rangetsu.
- Power hit! -
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Asshole
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Asuka 0/-------/------=|>>>>---\-------\0 Layla
At the tail end of her chain of furious blows, the dull glow of Psi energy surrounding Layla's battered form begins to subside, the girl suddenly finding herself hurt FAR worse than she'd have expected to even after the skull bash. She hadn't realized it while blinded by the haze of psyho-powered anger she was absorbed in, but as it wears off the consequences of using her uncontrolled power in such a manner becomes apparent. Every fiber of every muscle was SCREAMING... it was a foreign sort of pain she'd not felt in a long, long, time. Because of this, pushing the girl aside and escape would prove child's play for the Kazama heiress... Layla collapsing again on the dirt and slumping against the wall... battered and broken and unable to aid her ursine companion as that painful onslaught begins...
In the midst of the overhead throw, the bear himself stirs only to find that now his world too was spinning uncontrollably. Flailing, rolling, and throwing his body weight about as best as he's able within the iron grip of the Osakan girl, he lets out a furious, yet panicked, sounding roar before the bone-breaking maneuver drives him into the ground with an audible bone-breaking CRUNCH.... limp, broken, body going bouncing toward his previously dominated opponent who rouses finally from his pained stupor to seize upon the quickly encroaching bear and snap shut his maw on his midsection... blood from punctured intenstines seeping out from his jaws onto the ground...
Seeing the abuse of her own bear, culminating in a possibly lethal bite, draws the brazilian-american thug to her feet again slowly... fighting her broken body with every ounce of energy she has left. The dull glow of Psi returns briefly s she stands... and then fades almost as soon as it came... "I hate fuckin' hypocrites..." She practically whispers to herself, unable to find the energy to resume her prior shouting... "T-... talk all the shit you want... but you're killin' my bear too bitch..." She staggers forward a bit, almost losing her footing.. "...Unlike you... I'mnot going to go on a rant about it though.." Though she'd really love to beat the self-righteousness out of her right now... instead however...
Letting her chain go slack... she proceeds to start swinging in a circular orbit close to her person again... she then tosses the blindingly fast, metallic, nine-section whip towards Asuka's bear while darting in toward it and attempting to seize on the chain should it wrap itself around the Bear's massive neck. Provided she can manage to do that, she'll tighten the chain to choking and heft the ebar... possibly still clutching her own in it's maw... and sling it around toward Asuka with possibly the last bit of energy she has... hoping to knock both her combat and her bear out in one go.
COMBATSYS: Layla successfully hits Mr. Humpy with Beat Yo' Ass!.
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Asshole
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Asuka 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Layla
COMBATSYS: Asshole can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Asuka catches Large Thrown Object from Asshole with Rolling Mist Thrust.
- Power hit! -
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Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Layla
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Asuka 0/-------/-----==|
In hindsight, Asuka may be able to pin at least some element of her... violent, unpredictable activity here on the prickling energies brought to astonishing bear by the thuggish woman she's battling. But despite her unhinged no-selling of the last assault, the Kazama heiress is feeling the pain herself, and the combined injection of natural coping mechanisms from every pertinent organ in her body is conspiring to render her momentarily incapable of being either reasonable or tolerant. Staring determinedly, and rather ruthlessly at the larger woman, she claps hand to hip, closing her pointing finger once more to a knuckle-cracking fist.
"Then that settles it," she declares, voice not quivering in spite of a sudden, dizzying surge of adrenaline. She's still feeling that throbbing at the back of her skull, but puts it down to excitement, taking a step forward as Layla spins her nine-sectioned weapon about again. It's a nasty thing, even if she's evaded it thus far, and it's with a background air of caution that she raises her guard before her. Palms cross to form a swift and solid 'x' before her, and it takes a beat before she realizes the whip isn't intended for her at all.
Mr. Humpy is caught unawares in mid-chomp, that silly grin still in his bloody maw as he turns his head up from an impromptu, cannibalistic feast - hey, he is a wild grizzly bear, it's perfectly normal! - and is met by those lashing, constricting links. The ursine warrior is even more surprised than Asuka at what ensues, his wounded neck spurting fresh gouts of ichor as he's picked up and unceremoniously flung through the air. He doesn't bring the downed Asshole with him, which might make the Kazama girl's life at least a little easier... but only a little, as she spins about with a sharp, wordless kiai and throws out a gloved palm.
"I'll... stop talking, and you throw a bear at me?" Her words come with some distant confusion as she stops the poor beast dead in mid-air, exerting - seemingly instinctively, since she's not a Scholar of Bears, which may or may not be a thing - just the right amount of pressure to achieve this without causing any additional damage. Humpy looks down at the palm holding him in place, and smiles all the wider before he's dropped to the sand with a heavy *thwump*. Asuka retracts her blow and looks toward Layla, tossing her head triumphantly.
"Sic 'er, Mr. Humpy."
A tug on the leash and an outthrust digit is all the encouragement the slighted bear probably doesn't need, glancing at the tall Brazilian-American and immediately breaking into a lumbering, deceptively-graceful bound across the cratered, bloodied sand. He closes in a relative flash, getting up a good head of steam and bursting at the last into a roaring lunge, bringing one massive paw up in a fiercely clawed swipe to the midsection. This isn't really 'siccing' her as such, but the bear doesn't speak Japanese. He just speaks Violence.
COMBATSYS: Layla blocks Mr. Humpy's Medium Claw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Mr. Humpy 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Layla
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Asuka 0/-------/-----==|
...And with that tossed bear, goes seemingly the very last of Layla's energy... the girl finding herself standing where she is yet unable to move. Not a muscle in her body will respond to her, despite her urging. This leaves her almost a captive audience as Mr. Humpy goes hurtling toward Asuka like an 800 lb bullet, dropping the dead or unconscious Assshole before he does, and then... getting stopped in mid-air... and ever so gently dropped to the ground. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU----
For the space of a few moments, Layla does not respond to Asuka's verbal prompting. Too busy picking her proverbial jaw up off the floor really. ... Then she starts to laugh softly, even as Mr. Humpy starts hurtling toward her. She was utterly outclassed here, that much was apparent. So the only thing she seems to do is wait... her laughter slowly building as the massive 800 lb mammal closes in on her and stands on its hindquarters...
Then her whip drops to the floor... gonig slack for the slightest sliver fo a second... and she manages to muster the energy to swing that whip once more in an attempt to wrap it around Humpy's massive paw beforeit impacts her face and drag him toward her. If she succeeds... she'll drag him forward... barely dodging that swipe and swing a vicious elbow directly for his dome. If she fails... well, this just might be the end of her...
COMBATSYS: Layla can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy blocks Layla's Tangle Whip.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Mr. Humpy 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Asuka 0/-------/-----==|
Inexplicably beaming as he has been for most of this bloody, brutal bout, Mr. Humpy is indeed a highly-trained BATTLE BEAR and seems to be somewhat ready for his newfound, human opponent's wily ways. Rumbling a growl that, were he a prince among bears - like Kuma - would probably translate to 'Oh no you don't!', the so-dubbed Arabian Hunting Bear hauls back on his snared paw, then abruptly plants it to the ground, using his full, ridiculous bodyweight to keep himself pinned in place. The whip gets a good snag, digging through coarse hide into the flesh beneath, but Humpy holds fast, turning to look at Asuka once he's sure he's successful.
It's just possible his grin is bigger now than it's ever been, and as he turns to amble toward her, the Osakan gets a sinking feeling. "Woah!" She yells out, throwing up the leash-bearing hand and waving it wildly as the bear picks up speed, breaking into an unstoppable sprint. This leaves the girl with a choice-- punch out her own, loyal companion, or submit to the inevitable. She picks the third option. "Woah, woah! No way! NO GODDAMN WAY!!" The third option is 'protest but end up buried under 800lb of grizzly bear anyway', which is precisely what happens. "MMF MMMMF!!!" Flailing her limbs once more, the girl is trapped and thoroughly soaked in slobber by the time she manages to crawl out ten minutes later, gasping for air and... standing in a completely unchanged arena.
Mr. Humpy won't be so easily denied, and is nuzzling with frantic strength against one smooth-skinned leg as she desperately tries to ignore him, repeating some calming mantra over and over. It does the job, aided by that irritating background hum of Psycho Power finally stilling.
She'll think about /that/ later. Right now, she's got bigger concerns.
"So uh..." The Osakan tomboy reaches up to scratch at her head, glancing between the fallen woman and the other bear, bleeding and slopping his guts all over the sandy floor. "Is there, like, a bear-a-medic or something?" An enquiring eyebrow is raised, as she glances up toward the seating above the bright lights. It's hard to really see much of the crowd from down in the pit, but she can certainly /hear/ them, and she's not actually stupid; there is literally zero chance of any form of assistance from up there. Which is why, after a moment's thought...
Asuka Kazama reaches into her top and fishes out a trendy electric blue cellphone, to dial 911.
COMBATSYS: Mr. Humpy has left the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Asuka endures Mr. Humpy's Quick Toss.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Asuka 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Asuka has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:45:57 07/13/2012 by Asuka, and last modified on 11:46:14 07/15/2012.