SNF 2012.10 - SNF: The Art Of Fighting

Description: A new wing is being built in the Metro City Metropolitan Museum of Art, one full of cheap replicas of classic art works, and definitely plenty of knockoffs... and knockouts too, when Maki Genryusai and Aranha are scheduled to have a Saturday Night Fight there! (WINNER: Maki)



Since most of Aranha's grievances were aired with the staff of Saturday Night Fight before the cameras started rolling and Aranha had presented the image of a quiet but pissed off black man during the actual fight itself. The world at large was spared a profanity laced, image destroying tirade.

This week they decided to throw the capoeirista a bone with no crazy conditions beyond fighting at Metro City Museum of Art in a crowded room filled with replicas. Replicas that they could afford to lose since they were exactly that. Replicas. On one hand it would test both fighters' agility, skill, and ability to adapt it wasn't anything that required the capoeirista to put any trust in the hands of complete strangers who might not have his best interests at heart. That was Aranha's biggest issue with the previous SNF.

When Aranha shows up to fight he's incredibly relaxed and seems actually excited about the fight. He takes a few moments to stretch and get ready while the camera crews set up their cams.

It's been a while since Maki has had a good fight. Most of the time has been spent behind the scenes, dealing with personal matters. At least that's what she'll tell you if you ask her about it. Not that it's your business though. And unlike Aranha, she has no grievances to air with anyone really.

During her years on the Saturday Night Fight league, she's learned to adapt to various types of settings and obstacles, but this is definitely going to be a new one on her. Fighting in a room full of replicas. Sounds like something out of an action film or a bad comedy with lots of slapstick involved, but this is reality. And at least Mike Haggar won't mind seeing these things going to waste, since he did put a bit of effort into getting the museum built as well as many of its artifacts put in. In fact, Maki has to wonder if Haggar knows that some of these are just cheap knockoffs, and what he would do if he found out.

"Hopefully, if he loses his cool, it won't be while I'm around," Maki comments idly as she enters the area, taking her tonfa out and holding it firmly as she rolls her neck around a little. "That guy knows better than to get angry at me, but I still don't like being there when he loses it." She's not showing much emotion on her face as she enters, instead simply taking a few moments to warm herself up as well without looking around or saying much to anyone.

Aranha nods when he sees Maki. It had been awhile since he had seen the Bushin-ryu ninja. It was back in the days when Naerose was hanging out Katana of the Mad Gears and attempting to drive a wedge between her and Mad Gear by noting her association with Blackjack. With Naerose's spotty at best memory, it wasn't exactly easy to do so and it ended up erupting into a big brawl anyway with Maki running interference on Katana to make sure he didn't get involved with his grudge with not so much Naerose but Blackjack.

Aranha shakes himself free of that trip down memory lane and into the here and now. He has a fight to finish before he can think about how much of an angry individual he was in the past(and to hear the production staff tell it, still is).

He ditches the denim jacket he was wearing and stretches before waiting for the ninja to join him.

COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|


COMBATSYS: Maki has joined the fight here.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0             Maki


Maki has better things to do than to remember about things she did in the past with the Mad Gears, although Naerose is definitely someone she remembers well. Not for the best reasons, but not for the worst reasons either. As for Aranha, she remembers him too, but the ultimate point here is to finish this fight as quickly as possible. Namely because Maki has things to do back at the Bushin-ryu dojo afterwards. And if Mike Haggar shows up during this and sees that they're all fakes, she will face his wrath just for being there most likely.

"It's been a while I know," Maki says in a neutral tone. "I'd say it's good to see you again, but given that we're here for some action and things like that, I'm afraid conversation doesn't have much place here right now." She rushes in and attempts to trip up Aranha with a swift kick.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Maki's Light Kick.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0             Maki


"No time for conversation. I can live with that."

The Dancing Spider isn't given much to time to say anything else let alone even begin his ginga since the swift ninja is immediately upon him. It wasn't entire unexpected since he has seen how fast she can move in person. As she goes to kick for his legs, the capoeirista steps forward for two reasons. First, that step enabled him to check her movement by stopping her leg before she put full force into the kick. Secondly it gave him a wider base to help him maintain stability.

Once the ninja's approach is dealt with, he starts with a slight step to the side and then releases a kick towards her torso as a bit of a feeling out of the ninja.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Maki with Medium Kick.

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Aranha           0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Maki


How is that ninja feeling? A little out of breath since Aranha struck her in the gut. Namely since she underestimated the angle and velocity of that kick. But she simply shakes it off after a moment and twirls her tonfa a little as a personal effect. She sighs and then says, "My rhythm is a little off." It's not sarcastic either, it's a fact from how she sounds when she talks.

The twirl, though, appears to be more than just a special effect. She continues to twirl it around before attempting to go in at Aranha. She attempts to drive the side of her tonfa into Aranha as opposed to whacking him with it or poking him.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Medium Strike.

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Aranha           0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Maki


After the kick is delivered Aranha, steps back which in turn allows him to go into ginga, swaying back and forth as he allows himself to get into his own rhythm. The twirl seems to be all show at first but then as she gets closer he begins to watch her carefully. Then he suddenly rocks away from her the moment the twirling becomes more than a show and becomes an attack evading attempted swipe at him.

Aranha almost has to smile at the similarity in tactics. Appearance of flashiness being used to hide strategy. He can't but feel a bit of excitement at the idea of matching wits against someone so similar in approach to fighting.

He decides to test how Maki deals with the use of the environment. He leaps up onto a pedestal holding a pottery vase and leaps over and kicks for the ninja's head.

COMBATSYS: Maki blocks Aranha's Sky's the Limit.

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Aranha           1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0             Maki


Aranha be nimble,
Aranha be quick,
Aranha jumped over the... pottery vase?

Maki watches as Aranha goes at one of the many cheap replicas which would be no big loss if they were destroyed. What happens to the vase is irrelevant, since Maki's more interested in protecting her head. As Aranha comes at her, Maki twists her head to the side while using her tonfa to knock the kick away from her head. She stumbles back a little, reeling from the impact but doesn't let it get to her. Instead, she waits for Aranha to land before she attempts to go in from the side and throw him into a nearby replica of a suit of armor. Normally it's used to protect the wearer, but in this case it will do more harm than good.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Maki's Quick Throw.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0             Maki


Aranha couldn

Aranha couldn't do much about Maki's positioning. She was probably going to get that hold no matter what Aranha did. Instead, Aranha has no choice but to do damage control. First, he needs to identify the destination that Maki is sending him, figure out why, and then ultimately keep himself from ending up in a bad position. When he's actually thrown he twists his body so that when he ends up hitting the armor, he hits it shoulder first instead of head first. This results in a well dented knockoff armor. Who knows? It may end up fetching a pretty penny from the fighting memorabilia collectors.

The Dancing Spider grins slightly as he pulls himself away from the dented armor as a hand glows blue with chi. The motion is sudden as he whirls around and then whips that glowing hand around send a blue spider web of chi the ninja's way.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Web Shot.

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Aranha           1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0             Maki


Spider-Man lives, or something like that. At least that's what Maki's thinking as she spies the webbing coming at her from Aranha. A new one on her, but it doesn't scare her in the least bit. In fact, she simply smirks a little before leaping over it, doing a somersault as she does so, before landing for a split second on a wall area that has a replica of the Mona Lisa hanging on it... or did anyway.

"Honestly, I didn't mean to do that. I'm a big fan of Leonardo da Vinci, you know," Maki says as she rebounds off the wall, flying at Aranha with her leg outstretched. At the same time, the cheap painting falls to the ground with a crash.

COMBATSYS: Maki successfully hits Aranha with Hassou Kyaku.
Grazing Hit

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Aranha           1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0             Maki


When Hayato bounced off the walls in the fight last week, that was unexpected. When a ninja does it, it's less so. With a bit less space to work with due to all the knock off exhibits Aranha doesn't have as much space for dodging as he'd like but this is the type of challenge that he likes. One where he has to react to his environment and one where he doesn't have to put faith in anyone but himself and anything but his skills. But those skills only partially save him. When he steps around a pedestal holding a welded piece of metal art he delays his movement just enough that he can't quite fully avoid the kick and it glances off his hip forcing him into a bit of a spin which results in him knocking over a pedestal with a bust on it.

With the pedestal on it's side, he plants his hands on the fallen pedestal and then clasps his legs about the Maki's legs and twists in an attempt to perform scissor leg take down and drop her on her back.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Maki with Strong Throw.
Glancing Blow

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Aranha           1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0             Maki


Maki doesn't know who Hayato is, so she wouldn't know why it would be so surprising. But she is a ninja, meaning to be a ninja you have to be swift. Unfortunately, even the swiftest of swift make mistakes. And Maki is no exception. She gets caught by the scissor lock and falls down to the ground, although her tonfa shoots out to stop her from completely hitting the ground. Albeit with a swift grunt though, but still she manages to keep herself from going down completely. Which also sets her up for her next trick.

Using the spot she's in, Maki abruptly leaps up slightly, and then begins to spin around like a whirlwind with her leg outstretched. As she goes round and round, that foot is likely to hit anyone that gets in her way. Where she stops, nobody knows! At least there are no pedestals or anything like that in her way.

COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Bushin Senpuu Kyaku from Maki with Bad Beat.

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Aranha           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


There was an interesting opportunity for Aranha. All he needed to do was just time that initial elbow and he could reap the benefits. He doesn't quite pull that off. Maki's foot connects with the capoeirista's chin before he can slip in range and throw the elbow her thigh and bring her momentum to a screeching halt.

Aranha reals from the blow spinning in mid air before finds himself hitting knock off statue and sending it crumbling to the ground. Meanwhile the insurance company employees find themselves breathing a sigh of relief. Especially one the ones that keep track of the cost of the stuff they were breaking. If the stuff was real, they'd probably would be in tears.

Now all Aranha has to do his climb back up to his feet and resume the fight.

That statue is pretty much just something that belongs at a dollar store... if they sold things like that there. For Maki, it's just another obstacle in the fighting arena. One that Aranha hit hard, which is preferred in Maki's opinion. "I sure hope they didn't pay too much for that one," She comments as she kicks some of the debris out of the way idly.

"I will tell you now, that if Mike Haggar finds out about this, he'll be mad because he invested lots of money into this place, and as a friend of Mike's, I've seen him get mad before." Maki's bit of trivia is made irrelevant as she attempts to go in with a hard kick to the stomach.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Strong Kick.

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Aranha           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


"I doubt they did pay a lot for that," his tone seemingly conversational which truth be told is kind of surprising considering how the fight started. But if she wants to talk, far be it from him to discourage it in a venue where it isn't life or death and when his opponent or organizers hadn't really done anything to piss him off(this week in the case of the SNF staff). "If I had to guess, these knockoffs were brought in specifically for us to destroy and the real ones are somewhere safe. Especially since this wing is being remodeled soon anyway."

Then that hard kick comes in and it forces the Dancing Spider spin around it in order to get away from the kick and to avoid being herded into a corner or another pedestal. "The color's slightly off on some pieces. Or use materials that are too modern. It would hold up on TV but wouldn't when you have things to analyze it or know what to look for in person." It's clear that Aranha knows just a little too much about this type of thing.

"As for Haggar, I already know about not getting on his bad side. I was born and raised in Metro."

Aranha suddenly bursts into motion, leaning forward as he swings an outside crescent kick at the ninja in an attempt to slap her face with the outside of his foot.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Spin Kick.

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Aranha           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


So Aranha was raised in Metro City. Another testament to the fact that you learn something new each day. Maki wasn't raised in Metro, but she became affiliated after her sister and her father were kidnapped by the Mad Gears. It was how Maki became friends with Haggar and the others. And how she became the bane of the Mad Gears' existence. Not to mention, the beginning of the path that has set her towards becoming the next master of the Bushin-ryu style of martial arts.

Thinking quickly, Maki ducks down and rolls underneath the kick, twisting slightly as she pops back up while facing Aranha. She steps back a few steps and then swings her tonfa, sending a metallic urn off of its pedestal and towards Aranha. Not entirely intentional, but Aranha had best look out all the same. Or was it unintentional?

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Thrown Object.

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Aranha           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


When Maki knocks the metallic urn at the capoeirista, he begins looking for things to throw in its path. The things around him however are either too small, too flimsy, or just slightly too far out of reach for the capoeirista. Only option left is to get out the way. He immediately drops low into a crouch letting the urn pass over head.

Aranha then breathes a sigh of relief before he charges at not Maki but the pedestal that once held the urn that flew his way. This results in pedestal pushed right at the ninja and not stopping until it hits something or it's clear that he's not going to hit her with the pedestal.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Large Random Weapon.

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Aranha           1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


That pedestal is definitely not going to crash into Maki. She leaps over it and lands without much difficulty. Typical of a ninja. But given the size of that thing, it'd be a miracle if a huge object like that hit her. She takes one look at the pedestal and shakes her head, breathing a slight sigh of relief. That would've hurt like hell had it hit her.

Maki doesn't rest on her laurels, though. Instead, she spins around and attempts to catch Aranha off-guard before attempting to strike him in the side with her tonfa. She hasn't really used her signature weapon much in the fight, which is surprising, so perhaps she's changing up a little.

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Maki's Medium Strike.

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Aranha           1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0             Maki


While on the surface, the pedestal charge had the intent of catching the ninja with the impact of a large object, there was a secondary objective for the capoeirista. He was using the pedestal as sort of a makeshift shield which in turn would cut off a few avenues of attack and force ninja to bring the fight to him on his terms, at least temporarily.

Maki jumps over and Aranha's pedestal advance comes to a halt as he turns around to deal with Maki swinging her tonfa at his side. Aranha hops in as he pushes a hand into her forearm which it doesn't prevent the blow from landing, it keeps the tonfa from hitting as deeply as it would have had he let the strike go unchallenged.

Aranha is in close and he takes advantage of the location to send a kick at her heel with the instep of his foot to upset her balance before quickly following up to throw a knee right for her stomach.

COMBATSYS: Maki fails to interrupt Change-Up Kick from Aranha with Bushin Senpuu Kyaku.

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Aranha           1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1             Maki


Apparently, that attempt to catch Maki off-guard was done well, in more ways than one. Maki misreads Aranha's intent, and attempts to spin around again, but finds herself getting hit and left completely vulnerable to her opponent. She falls flat onto the ground, hitting her head on a nearby urn that fell on the ground but didn't shatter because it's metal. It did hurt though, don't get that wrong.

"Wow, you really got me good there," Maki says as she forces herself back up. "I'm impressed with your skills. This is going to be a good learning experience for me."

If anyone had asked Aranha if he believed that attack would've landed, he would've internally told himself no he did not before putting a bit of a roguish smile and responding with, 'That would be telling.' Far be it from the Dancing Spider to refuse the smile of good fortune upon him. When opportunities present themselves, he pounces right on them.

While Maki gets herself back up Aranha is carefully dancing into position. He doesn't want her to enjoy being on her feet for too long before he puts her back on the ground again. He wants to keep the pressure constant. "Heh. It'll be a good experience all around it seems."

And then the movement is sudden. He whips his foot around as he swings a roundhouse right for her head and then he brings that same kicking foot back the direction it came, hooking it around the back of the neck and then attempting to pull Maki face first down to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Maki blocks Aranha's Face Down.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1             Maki


Even as Maki gets caught around the neck, she still manages to grunt loudly as she throws it off and staggers backward, rubbing at the back of her neck with a sigh. "Damn, what's wrong with me?" Maki thinks, finding her skills aren't up to par all of a sudden. "I should be doing better than this." Looking up at Aranha, Maki glances at him then shrugs.

"Looks like this is going a bit longer than I anticipated, but there's plenty more wreckage for all of us!" Maki comments as she leaps away, landing by a nearby water fountain and takes a moment to quench her thirst and catch her breath. She's leaving herself open for attack, but that's the way of a ninja when you're in a fight.

COMBATSYS: Maki gains composure.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1             Maki


Aranha raises an eyebrow when she goes a nearby water fountain and several thoughts go into his head. First one is that the ninja doesn't seem to be taking him seriously. Then comes the fact that she's presenting her back towards him, which leads to thoughts about whether or not this is an opportunity. Then as a capoeirista, he begins to wonder if perhaps this might be a chamada(or call) which in turn makes him wonder if it's a trap. Then a glance is spared at the cameras which makes him wonder what attacking the ninja like that would do for his image. He then settles going in and attacking. If she wasn't paying attention it's her own fault and if it was a trap he might as well try to make it as difficult as possible to spring it. This entire thought process took place in a fraction of a second.

Aranha goes in feet ablazing as he moves in. He delivers outside crescent kicks, inside crescent kicks, roundhouse kicks, spinning side kicks, all either to head body in rapid succession, both blue chi engulfed feet contributing to the potential carnage as he attempts to drown the ninja in a flood of kicks with a finale of Aranha tilting into a handstand and whirling around like a human tornado.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Royal Flush.

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Aranha           0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1             Maki


Maki watches Aranha, but doesn't let him faze her at all. Instead, she leaps away from the fountain with a backwards somersault and lands behind him... or in front of him or to the side of him, depending on his orientation after he finishes. Once he does, Maki nods a little. "Another nice technique. Unfortunately, it didn't do much good. You didn't hit me at all, so I'm afraid I'm still going. The question is, are you still going?" A contrast from the lack of conversation earlier.

Maki doesn't try anything fancy like her opponent did. Instead, she just grips her tonfa firmly, and then swings it using all of her might, attempting to strike with the whole weight of the tonfa instead of just swinging it normally.

COMBATSYS: Maki successfully hits Aranha with Genkou.
- Power hit! -

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Aranha           0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1             Maki


Aranha not only put her in a high pressure situation where Maki was forced to deal with a flurry of attacks from a variety of directions, he had been setting her up for it so that she had only one out. Maki had done exactly what Aranha wanted her to do. The problem was she did it a little too well and moved just a bit faster than he had anticipated or wanted her to move for that matter and so he chases after her but ending up a just fractions of a second the ninja's movements.

When he finally rights himself up from the handstand kicks he barely has time register the fact that she's swinging her tonfa until just before it's about to hit. By then, it's too late. He practically gets smashed off his feet by the powerful strike. He slowly gets up, and shakes off the effects of the tonfa strike and then stares Maki in the eye.

"Still going? Let's be fair... You were the one who went for the water fountain first." He rolls neck for a bit letting out a loud cracking noise and then he beckons to the ninja. "I'm not done yet. How about earning the right to trash before you actually do?"

He then holds out a single hand and beckons her with it in the universal sign for, 'Bring it.'

COMBATSYS: Aranha gathers his will.

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Aranha           0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1             Maki


"If you want me to bring it, then I won't disappoint you," Maki says with a slight smirk. "I'm ready to up the ante a little bit. The question is, do you think you can handle it?" Maki looks at Aranha and shakes her head. "You look determined enough, but can you really handle it?" Maki steps back a little, trying to find something to perch on. In desperation, she knocks a cracked vase off a ledge. Hey, it's cheap and it was already cracked, so no big loss, right?

"It's time to go all out!" Maki yells as she begins to glow with her chi emenating around her. She flies at Aranha with her leg outstretched, attempting not just to kick him this time, but have him go flying across the room with her if she hits!

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Maki's Tesshin Hou.

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Aranha           0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0             Maki


And when Maki leaps out at him with leg extended, Aranha slides over an inch with arm raised as he spins with the impact which does two things. Keep him from taking the full brunt of the impact and also keeping himself from getting knocked across the room since he kept the impact from hitting dead center. That isn't to say it didn't hurt because it did but not nearly as much as it could have.

As much as the capoeirista would hate to admit it, he's getting run down and he needs to do something fast or else he'll be staring at the ceiling.

Aranha's body suddenly begins flaring up, engulfed completely in blue chi, and then he charges Maki leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake before suddenly veering off and then launching himself off of a pedestal. That is only beginning. He bounces off more pedestals, more knockoff art objects, off of walls, off the ceiling, all in an attempt to kick the ninja from a variety of directions and angles.

When he's done, he slides back away from Maki in a three point crouch position and gulping mouthfuls of air.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Joker's Wild EX.

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Aranha           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Maki


Gasping for air. That's something both Maki and Aranha are doing big time... although the former will be stopping that long enough to avoid being hit by the flying Aranha. She calculates a few things mentally, then leaps out of the way, rolling a few times as well before landing opposite Aranha. "Not bad, you almost got me there." Maki says this after taking a few breaths of air. "Looks like the rip-offs in here, though, are another story. But the fact still remains that this fight must be finished once and for all."

In spite of her slight sluggishness, Maki attempts to leap onto another pedestal, this one already clear of artifact clones, and then attempts to leap directly at Aranha. If she succeeds, Maki will grab Aranha and then literally flip over and throw him across the room while she drops to the ground onto her feet.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Tengu Daoshi.

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Aranha           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Maki


Aranha has to admit that it was an interesting situation where everything he has manuevered the ninja into every situation that he wanted her to go into. But just as adept as he been managing to manuever the Bushin-ryu ninja into his traps, she has been just as adept in manuevering out of them. Truth be told, the Dancing Spider is incredibly impressed.

The chi engulfing his body gradually fades away and then the blond haired ninja suddenly leaps at him as he's bringing himself back to an upright position and he has to be just as quick to avoid her leap. He dives to the side and lands on his hands as he lowers his body so that his torso is resting on one of his elbows. Once there, he snaps out a quick snap kick to her ribs before getting back up to his feet once more.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Maki with Snap Kick.

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Aranha           0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0             Maki


When Maki misses with her technique, she lands on the ground all the same, but unfortunately finds out too little too late that it's not exactly the best thing to do. She tries to leap again, but her lack of steam causes her to stall and she gets hit in the ribs. Meaning that at least one of them is most likely bruised now, and that coupled with the feeling of weakness going through her body is not something that is exactly enjoyable.

"I wonder how many trials like this the average grandmaster goes through," Maki wonders to herself out loud. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Before looking back up at Aranha at which point she shakes her head. "Never mind what I'm saying right now. Now is not the time for talking to myself." She attempts to go in with a tonfa strike to get Aranha off-balance, and if successful, she will grab him and fling him onto the ground.

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Armed Combo.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0             Maki


Aranha would tell her to focus on the challenge in front of you instead of distracting yourself with the future. But letting her remain distracted is in his current best interest. Besides he's not a teacher and probably won't ever be without making some changes in his life.

As a result of him being focused on the here and now, he's able to see her attempt to utilize the tonfa strike to unbalance him and so he performs an aerial(handless cartwheel) over the tonfa strike and then crouches under the attempt to grab on to him before he plants his hands and propels himself towards Maki feet first, right for her stomach.

COMBATSYS: Maki interrupts Thrust Kick from Aranha with Bushin Senpuu Kyaku.

[                         \\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0             Maki


Weak as she may be, trying to keep from collapsing and taking a nap, one might think Maki would just stand there and try to absorb the incoming attack to save on her stamina. But Maki doesn't have it. She drops onto the ground, albeit with a little limpness, and then starts to spin around like before, except just as Aranha makes contact, she makes contact as well. The two of them are hit, and Maki goes flying a little, landing in a slumped over position. "Owww... Why?"

Maki pushes herself back up, wiping her brow off before shaking her head, still catching her breath. "I admit I pushed myself there, but it was worth it, I hope." Then she gasps for more air.

Aranha's intent was twofold. He was fighting carefully so that he wouldn't gas himself more than he already had by going for those really big attacks so close together earlier in the fight. Secondly, he wanted to continue wearing down the ninja so she would end up in a vulnerable position.

What Maki does next, however, surprises the Metro City native capoeirista. It was one of the rare moments in the fight that Maki had veered away from the scenarios he had set up for. While it wasn't exactly his ideal outcome, it may have presented something that he could still use. Maki is still using up her stamina while he on the other hand is still trying to make some attempt at pacing himself. He gets blown off his feet by her kick just as she ends up getting folded by his. End result is that they're both on the ground.

As he rises to his feet, he realizes that he doesn't any more time left, he needs to use what precious little stamina he has left.

Aranha's hand glows blue just as he winds back and swings.

COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Dead Man's Hand.

[                          \\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Aranha           0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0             Maki


But that hand doesn't connect. The speed, the proximity was all designed to at the very least encourage a flinch. But then Aranha quickly follows up another glowing swipe to the face. And this time the strike is a real attempt to strike the jaw with an open handed strike which then is followed up with a spinning back heel.

Maki still attempts to catch her breath as she watches Aranha, unsure of what to make of what he's got coming next. Fortunately, Maki's instincts to get back pay off, since she finds herself getting back long enough to initially avoid the first attack, then she rolls sideways to get out of the way of Aranha's next incoming attacks. She wipes her brow again and shakes her head. "Nobody wants to lose, no matter how tired we are. Typical of a good fight."

Maki takes her tonfa and attempts to knock a small vase towards Aranha with it, although it's obvious she feels like she's lifting a barbell or something frmo the look on her face!

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Maki's Small Thrown Object.

[                          \\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Aranha           0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0             Maki


Aranha on the other hand doesn't so much dodge as lean to the side in a well-timed but still temporary surrender to his fatigue. His body tilts to the side as he leans on a pedestal for support which in turn pulls himself out of the path of the small vase.

He then sways in his visibly fatigued ginga as he attempts to close the distance between each other.

Once he's in close range, he suddenly turns as he extends his leg behind her knees to buckle her legs just before he uses elbow to hold her in place before he leans backwards an sends her to the ground. He then follows up with an attempt at a moonsault. Who says he didn't learn anything from his times teaming up with both Rylee and El Fuerte?

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Maki with Kick Combo.

[                          \\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Aranha           0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1             Maki


Maki stumbles around, trying to keep from getting hit, but fails. She gets hit and finds herself flat on the ground once again. Her eyes are barely open, almost like she wants to pass out and fall asleep. But something inside her doesn't let her do that. Instead, she struggles, grunting heavily as she tries to get back onto her feet. Her movements are very slow and sluggish, and it's obvious that she's leaving herself vulnerable.

But Maki is doing this on purpose. She figures she has nothing to lose right now, so if she takes the time to gain a little more steam, she can fight a little more. If she loses, then that's just the way it is.

COMBATSYS: Maki drops her guard to recover.

[                          \\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Aranha           0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1             Maki


One of the most important things Aranha had learned as a capoeirista is that there's a difference between presenting vulnerability to lure the opponent into making an ill-advised attack and presenting a vulnerability due to a tactical miscue. Aranha believes that her choosing not to attack in this case is the later.

Aranha, who is visibly tired, bruised, battered and bleeding, goes into a lethargic looking ginga as she gets back to her feet. He doesn't want her to settle in on her feet for too long without attacking. Determined to keep up the offense while he can still lift his feet to kick and his arms to guard.

Aranha steps to the side and turns as he puts his entire body into the roundhouse to end all roundhouse kicks directed right for the ninja's body.

COMBATSYS: Maki blocks Aranha's Colossal Kick.

[                          \\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Maki


Maki turns around, having gained a little more oxygen into her lungs and some more fuel in her body... but not for long. She tenses up as best as she can and brings her hands down to try to protect against the kick, and while it does succeed, it still hurts all the same. In fact, Maki doesn't even try to hide the pain on her face as she gets hit. "Son of a...." Maki mutters to herself before glancing at Aranha again.

"Sorry to prolong things, but if things are going to be resolved properly, sometimes a little extra steam is necessary to keep me going!" Maki then sends forth a weak kick that shows just how tired she seems.

COMBATSYS: Maki successfully hits Aranha with Light Kick.

[                             \  < >  //////                        ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1             Maki


A weak kick perhaps, it was all that was needed to send the battlescarred capoeirista reeling. His body wobbles. His legs buckle and then all of a sudden his entire body flares up with a sudden build up of blue energy.

He doesn't go in directly at first, running around the fatigued ninja as he leaves a trail of afterimages behind him once more. He bounces all around the room like a rogue ball of flubber in an attempt to distract. And then he closes in bouncing all over the room as he attempts to deliver kicks in a variety of angles and directions. It didn't work before but the last attempt he made for delivering the Joker's Wild attack was before he managed to wear her down.

Regardless of the results, Aranha's body has nothing left to give and he falls over to the ground kicking up the debris from all havoc wreaked upon the knock offs of art objects.

COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Maki             1/----===/=======|


COMBATSYS: Maki dodges Aranha's Joker's Wild.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Maki             1/----===/=======|


Maki gasps for air, but somehow manages to do the trick as she gets out of the way in the nick of time. She then falls flat on her rear, gasping even harder than before. "Damn, what was that?!" Maki says in disbelief as she tries to get back up. "Whoa, I think I'm getting out of it... am I too tired?" Maki hunches over, still not getting enough air into her lungs as she thinks, but finally she looks around and shakes her head. "Whoa, we did a good number on this place."

Maki then looks to Aranha and gives a weak thumbs up. "That was a close one actually. You fought a good fight. I haven't had this much of a good fight for awhile. Thanks for the action." She then stumbles up against a nearby wall and gasps for air again.

Log created on 19:31:42 10/28/2012 by Maki, and last modified on 11:02:31 11/06/2012.