Description: Sakura and Blanka have met many times--as friends, as competitors. But they've never met on Blanka's home turf--until now. Will the home field advantage give Blanka the edge? (Winner: Blanka)
So... Brazil, ya?
Blanka loves the jungles. His home away from whatever home he had before he fell out of the sky, and really the only home he'd known in most of his life (Other than Dan's dojo, but that place is not for long-term staying!) He feels at ease in the locales, the peace and tranquility mixed with the sudden animal ferocity and brutality of nature quells something that he grew up with inside him. It's his sanctuary in times of trouble, and certainly the place he goes when he needs 'alone time'.
This doesn't seem to stop SNF from encroaching. When he was approached for the battle with Sakura, he agreed - after all, he'd fought with the girl against her idol not too long ago, but hadn't fought against her in quite some time. Impressed with her skill there, there'd certainly been an eagerness to test and see how he compared up to her. But still, relaxation needed to be had. So, a compromise! A limited team of SNF Fight Crews could come to a locale Blanka had picked out, and he would battle there in a most epic fashion with the younger fighter.
So here he sits, waiting idly on a log above a river while the crews set up where they can. He's dressed in his denim shorts, his hair slicked back and down as if he'd recently been diving in the water. Lazily, he chews on a melon and watches the assembled referees and fight casters prepare. He'll be ready when Sakura shows. He's always been ready for a good tussle!
Blanka heh.
Sakura's been all around the world (and she can't find her baby). She don't know why, she don't know why, why he's gone awa--wait. No.
That's not right at all. But Sakura -has- been all around the world. She's encountered Americans, Brits, Canadians... she's been in the tropics, the subtropics, the subzero. She is an accomplished traveler.
But she is also still a young girl, and so coming to Brazil is always a treat. That she's fighting not some young punk or someone with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove--she's fighting a good friend--makes it all the nicer.
Sakura shows up dressed for the weather in Brazil--a brief top, not too brief, but appreciably cooler than her usual, and a pair of snug jean shorts--but she keeps the trademark Converse.
Blanka doesn't have to wait long for Saku-K to show up; the first anyone sees of her, though, is when she drops out of the trees with a hearty shout of "BANZAI!" to land on the other end of the log, alighting nimbly and tossing her daypack off to the side.
"Hey, big guy! Let's have some fun, 'k??"
"Awh-roooo! Blanka sure to do so, Sakura do too!" Blanka's reply is as high-energy as Sakura's eager entreaty. The jungle giant rises up to his full height on the log, and does a lazy stretch to bring himself completely upright and dwarf his opponent. It'll make for good drama from the correct camera angles, which the fight crew is undoubtably already capturing. He leans his head from side to side, a krik-krak as he loosens up and prepares for the battle to come.
Without any real 'signal', he busts into motion, dropping down to knuckles and toes in a hunched over gait - a bum rush with his shoulder leading the charge, attempting to catch Sakura right in the breadbasket. Sure, he may like the girl - but he's gotta challenge her, make her rise up to her potential! Can't just go easy on her!
COMBATSYS: Blanka has started a fight here.
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Blanka 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Blanka
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Blanka's Fierce Punch.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Blanka
Sakura appreciates that Blanka doesn't wait around or posture much. It -can- be fun to do so, of course, but sometimes one is just in a mood for... fighting. For getting it on, so to speak. The SNF crew have to scramble to get the cameras rolling, but they manage to get going in time to see this:
Sakura, grinning fiercely, crouching, leaping--touching down on the rushing Blanka like she were leaping a pommel horse, and flying, legs forward in her trademark vee, over the green man.
"Yeah, that's the ticket!!" she shouts, happily, as she lands--on her hands, not her feet--kicking out behind her, blindly. If she's more lucky than good, or more good than lucky, she'll tag Blanka right in the butt.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Blanka with Strong Kick.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Blanka
She did that to one of Ryu's attacks, too! Blanka's thought processes are caught up somewhere in that train of thought as he passes under the girl. He's going too fast on the moss-covered log to try and skid to a stop, so he puts a little more speed on, in an attempt to get enough distance to keep whatever retaliation that might happen from happen-*WHOK*.
Oof! Thrown off balance, Blanka falls over the log, and with a wide flailing motion, tumbles into the river below. There's a giant splash, and he goes under the surface. It's not for long, though - in the replay after the fight, the SNF officials will have just enough time to cue up part of the 'Jaws' theme when discussing this attack. And an attack it is! Leaping out of the water with a powerful swing of his legs like a dolphin, Blanka sails into the air, with his mouth open and teeth trying to catch Sakura's noggin! "AWM NOM NOM NOM!" Hurt he may be, but his intensity is still at 110 percent!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Blanka's Wild Fang.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Blanka
Sakura's still recovering from her kick--spinning around in the process of getting to her feet--when Blanka charges out of the water, water streaming from his body and his mouth open like the jaws of, well, Jaws. Sakura shrieks--real, or for effect? and immediately dives to the log surface, rolling underneath the lunging Blanka's body. It's a dynamic move--on his part and hers--and she's pretty impressed that he thought of it...
...and, truth be told, she's impressed that she managed to get out of the way. She'd forgotten just how fast he could move, which was poor form on her part. Still, as she rolls, Blanka is above her, and Sakura has just enough time, and foresight, to concentrate her power. The flare of the blue-white energy pops up, illuminating her and Blanka, as she shouts, her voice carrying nicely, "HADOUKEN!!!!"
And if Blanka's not careful, he'll find his flight path nudged upwards a bit by the flaring sphere of chi that Sakura just threw up at him.
COMBATSYS: Blanka interrupts Medium Hadouken from Sakura with Electric Thunder.
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Sakura 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Blanka
Some of his best moves, too! Sheesh, she is just too wily, like the fish he tries to grab while playing in the river! Whiffing his attack, he starts to arc his body around, twisting catlike in an effort to recover his balance and land on the log again - no small feat from such an athletic jump! As his head turns, he sees the pushed together hands, and hears that word. Oh dear.
As he starts his way back down, he can't really do anything to get 'away'. After all, he's falling towards her, and the ball of blue-white chi is between him and her. However... With a snap decision, the Green Giant throws his hands down and yells out his own howling attack, electricty forming around his hands in a barrier, protecting him from the brunt of the blast as he lands right on Sakura. "AWHROOOKEN!"
Sakura finds herself having to shriek from pure pain--not a sound she enjoys making, but one she's used to making. She's not yet at the point where, well, where she can just shrug off all pain... or be mostly assured that she's not going to be hit. Taking hits is a part of being a fighter. She's definitely looking a bit crispier as she struggles up to her feet, testing her footing on the log.
"Wasn't... wasn't expecting that one, B... good shot..." And she means it, too--that's evident in her smile, pained though it may be. Finding herself not too damaged, the last of the shakiness leaves her body and she draws her hands up, taking a proper fighting pose for the first time in the fight.
The log may be large, but it's slippery with water, moss, lichen... and yet Sakura doesn't much seem to care, as she moves forward, cautiously, closing with her friend in a less wild manner--but, all too soon, in fact in range, where she plants her left foot, pivots, and throws a quick roundhouse kick for Blanka's temple, uttering a perfectly sharp kiai as she does so.
COMBATSYS: Blanka blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.
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Sakura 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Blanka
As he lands, the beasty Brazillian gives Sakura a thumbs-up. Though he's singed and smoking a bit from the affects of her fireball, he's still able to keep his balance atop the rough surface of the log, keeping his optimism up though the thump and thwack of the fighting. Her roundhouse comes in high and fast, and he throws one giant forearm in the way, the impact knocking him further off-balance. He windmills crazily...
"Blanka may go over.. but taking aroo with!!" As he starts to fall, pushed to the side and towards the river with the impact of Sakura's shin, he swings one arm out wildly, attempting to upend her braced leg and drag her down with him. Coming or going, he's going to sploosh into the water again. Whether or not Sakura comes is ... not entirely up to her!
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Power Throw from Blanka with Fierce Kick.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Sakura 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Blanka
Indeed she is. Sakura makes a most unwise decision--she tries to both pull her leg free of Blanka's grasp -and- to kick him away. She forgets, see, that she doesn't have telekinetic powers, or a third leg, or boots anchored into the log. The moment she lifts her leg... she realizes. And now it's -her- that's flailing, yelling wildly--
--and hitting the river straight on her front. It's a belly flop of -epic- proportions, and even a couple cameramen wince at the sound it makes. She doesn't even go under immediately--and then she sinks.
Sure, she comes up about two seconds later, but still... just wow. Struggling for a moment, she ducks down, touches bottom... and then launches herself up and out of the river, back onto the log... looking wet, bedraggled, and pained. That... was not in the program.
It's hard not to chortle. Yes, Blanka hurts. Yes, Sakura's probably gotten the better of him thus far. But still, he's going strong, and getting a good fight that's involved several elements so far - from the trees to the air, from the air to the water - it's been enjoyable all around. He surfaces and whips his hair back behind him, a spray arc of water flashing through the air, and his bright gold eyes spark with just a hint of electricity. "Not gonna stay in water! Sakura not move fast enough in water, Blanka have advantage. Gonna get you back down here!!" he says, slapping the river a few times to make wrning sprays, to emphasize the way water resists the motions.
With that, he leaps upwards to match her, latching onto the log with one clawed hand, swinging under it and throwing his legs up. Both feet come flying upwards, in a swipe that aims at Sakura's chin, trying to knock her onto her back! All the time, that big giant grin hasn't left his lips - pain yes, but he's genuinely having fun, too!
COMBATSYS: Blanka successfully hits Sakura with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Sakura 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Blanka
Sakura recognizes the kick--one of Blanka's signature strikes, and one that's flattened many a competitor. She -knows- the attack... she's avoided it before. But her lingering daze... the slipperiness of the log... fate. Whatever one calls it, it does for her; instead of jerking her head ouf the way, she slips--has to regain balance--and ends up taking both feet full in the chin.
She flies up, over, and down, landing at the wider end of the log, just in front of the camera men. "Nnh... fightin' on your home turf is tough... bad enough bein' the visitor when they're just cheerin' for the other guy..." She doesn't really seem to mean it, though--half-hearted patter at best. Shaking herself, slapping her cheeks, she blows out a gusty breath.
"Right..." Forward and onward she moves, walking calmly, or as calmly as she gets. Out to where Blanka awaits. As she walks... power starts swirling around her--invisibly, at first, then visibly, as she brings her hands up. She stops maybe twenty yards away from the big green Brazilian, that power concentrating in her hands. Of course, Blanka saw something like this just moments earlier--but this different. More concentrated. More dangerous. "Shinkuu..." intones the would-be successor to the Ansatsuken name, power building up higher and higher, ruffling her hair even damp as it is...
...and then she throws her hands forward, releasing the contained power in a furious, hissing projectile of energy, a bullet formed of her own life-force, crackling and spitting. "HADOUUUUUUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!!!"
COMBATSYS: Blanka blocks Sakura's Shinkuu Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Blanka
"Up, up, you can do it!" Blanka is probably Sakura's biggest cheering section - but that's mostly because of the serious lack of spectators. After all, an hour into the jungle and Blanka's privacy request certainly make for a lack of cheering sections - the oohs and ahhs by the SNF Camera crews only coming up when one or the other fighter gets a particularly solid hit. He crouches down on the log and pounds it fiercely, psyching himself up as Sakura recovers. So far away, he knows what is coming - after all, with that kind of distance, there's only one thing she can do.
He sees the projectile, feels it in the raised hairs on the back of his neck before the sound reaches him, the fury and coalesced energy rushing towards him. All he can do is throw up his hands in front of him in a cross-block, and dig his toes deep into the log. Great furrows rip up as he's knocked backwards, standing but panting hard, his feet stuck for just a second as he tries to pull them off the log where they've dug in. *schpock* *schpock* "A-ah! So strong!!" he howls, encouraged!
So far away - really, Blanka has no 'distance game'. It's a common thing in his fights, where people will chuck giant balls of what have you at the beastman, thinking he has no way to retaliate - but gaps are nothing to him, when he's got ground to cover. He falls forwards, and tumbles into a ball - the spin cycle bursts into power, and he's a blur, racing down the log, straight at Sakura. Behind her, the camera crew are already moving - she's dodged enough things that they don't want to risk being behind her when he comes bowling through!!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Blanka's Rolling Attack.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Blanka
Now this, this Sakura has -also- seen. Maybe she went for too flashy--too Fei Long an evasion--on the somersault kick. Here, she forgoes some of the flash and glitter--she doesn't plant her feet, but she does keep the flashy movements to a minimum, crouching, then jumping over the spinning Blanka--though she does put a neat little twist in midair, to face him as she comes down.
Running forward, she closes with the still-spinning Blanka, waiting only the barest of moments for him to stop spinning before she launches her attack--a sequence of two attacks, actually. A short, leaping right uppercut--really more of a hopping one--which, if it connects, will set Blanka up for a longer, higher uppercut, one with a bit of a stepping rush to it, her aim to hammer the green guy's jaw twice--and maybe knock him down.
COMBATSYS: Blanka interrupts EX Shou'ou Ken from Sakura with Direct Lightning.
- Power hit! -
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Sakura 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Blanka
"Oh no, he's coming RIGHT FOR US!!" The camera men are scrambling now - Sakura dodging as she is wont to, such an epic skeedaddle that Blanka can only skid under her. He's already got the breaks on as she goes up, but he can't raise his height in the spin, so he sticks his hands and legs out and /grabs/ the log, which creaks dangerously as he translates all his momentum through the log and just comes to a jarring stop. "Sakura... too fast for Blanka!" he says, nostrils flared and mouth open.
And then she moves, coming in from behind the Jade Giant with her first rushing uppercut. He's started moving by then, turning to face her and taking the impact on the jaw. It rocks his head back, but doesn't stop his words, easily heard by the closeby camera crew. "So Blanka hit you.. when YOU HIT BLANKA!" And when she closes her distance and that second uppercut hits - well, Blanka explodes into blue and white electricity, his feet digging into the log to keep himself upright. The electricity illuminates his body, and Sakura's body at the same time - though more likely than not, when it fades - she's come out the worse of the two!
This is the -second- time she's been shocked by Blanka... in this fight. It -does- tend to happen around him. The cameras are treated to quite a sight--Sakura fluorescing briefly, as if her skeleton should be visible normally--and that lasts for a bit longer than it should...
...and when it's over, Sakura is... well. She's passed out unconscious, smoking from burn spots on her body. Blanka has indeed come out the better--Saku doesn't stir for a few moments, almost a minute, but when she does, it's to raise her face--all smudged and bruised--and say, weakly, "Alright, big guy... you win." Then she flops back down.
COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.
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Blanka 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
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Blanka 0/-------/-----==|
Blanka throws his head back in a howl of victory, when Sakura falls. It's certainly for the cameras, and he's sure to keep the concern and worry out of his eyes until the fight official and camera crew motion that the fight is officially 'over'. Once that is done, his demeanor changes. He drops down by Sakura, and then scoops her up to carry her towards the standard faito medic. Just to make sure, she's his friend and he doesn't want her to have anything but some aches and bruises to remember this! "You fought really good, Sakura!" he says quietly - not for the cameras, but for her.
COMBATSYS: Blanka has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:37:53 11/14/2012 by Sakura, and last modified on 15:17:00 12/09/2012.