Description: Katthalla outlasts Sean in a battle in the sand.
Sound Beach, 4:00 PM.
the sun blazes mercilessly down upon the beach, white sand glittering as it reflects the light back out at the world like a hateful bringer of heat and anger. Brilliant blue waves lap at the sand, the hypnotic undulations masking the cold, unfeeling depths below. People mill about, being, people...Alright, so it's a beautiful day. hot and dry, perfect for sunbathing.
With school having ended an hour or so before, there are plenty of young adults sprawled out on beach blankets soaking in the sun. There are also plenty of old adults lurking nearby with cameras, because pervy old man jokes never get old.
A ring of space has been cleared for today's Mishima International Fitness Tournament. People both young and old mill about at the edge of the circle, held back by upright poles strung with a white ribbon. Pacing back and forth inside the circle is a heavily built black man with a huge red and yellow Afro. He wears a black and white striped jersey, red and black checked swim trunks, black flip flops, and a big red whistle on a silver chain about his neck. Most importantly of all, he wears an angry scowl. This must be today's Ref.
A gaggle of sciency types bustle about just outside the circle. Greasy haired nerdy men types set up computer equipment, wearing white lab coats and excited expressions. Much, much prettier young blond girls in white shorts and tank tops smile about at the crowd and flip their hair, a couple of them hurriedly attaching sensors to a figure seated on a bench, their bodies hiding him from sight.
Finished, the female techs step back from the fighter and he slowly stands, long black dreadlocks hanging down his bare back. Wires run from suction cups affixed to his chest, back, and sides. They lead to a smallish silver disk covered in flashing lights, held to his abdomen by a black weight lifting belt. Aside from the belt, the only clothing the short man wears are a pair of tattered grey pants, with black cloths holding the baggy material close to his ankles, upper calves, and waist. His bare skin is alternating dark and tan like the rosettes of a jaguar, shot through with jagged grey scars. He looks, overall, very ragged.
The fighter ducks down low and slips beneath the ribbon to move out into the fighting circle. As he straightens up he glances about at the crowd and lifts his left palm in greeting, a contented grin touching his dark features.
"Your first contestant of the day!" Roars the Ref, backing away toward the edge of the circle, "Katthalla!"
Lo and behold, today will be a battle between the young and the old. The 'old' has already made his way into the ring, so now it was time for the 'young' to make his appearance. There's a flash of yellow weaving its way through the crowd that turns out to be none other then Sean Matsuda, the young fighter in question. Dressed in his usual yellow gi, black-belt, and red fighting gloves, Sean waves excitedly towards the crowd of spring-breakers and people who look far to old to be out spring breaking.
The fighter in yellow leisurely makes his way closer and closer to the ring, shouting out things in what seems to be Japanese as he flashes his best winning smile to the crowd at large. The atmosphere in the crowd was reaching fever-pitch and this only causes Sean to grow more and more pumped up for what's to come next. Sean excitedly ducks underneath the ribbon and springs up into a fist-pump towards the crowd. The young man lets his muscled arm flex in position for a photo-op chance before finally letting his arms drop down to his sides. Cracking his neck from left to right, Sean turns to see with whom he would be fighting and it turns out to be one seriously ragged looking dude who just had graduated from the school of hard knocks. Heck he might even teach there! But a fight is a fight and Sean quickly goes through a series of warm-up punches and kicks just as Ref begins announcing, "And here is the competition..." There is an awkward pause now as the Ref looks down at the titlecard in his hand. "....Sean!"
Sean, in response, does his best to not look crestfallen at the delayed announcement and merely continues his warm-up demo before pumping a fist towards the crowd again. The young man seems like he is quite used to his name not being that well-known yet. He -has- been on something of a hiatus as of late.
"Fight hard, Sean." Katt murmurs toward the younger fighter in flawless Japanese. His voice is soft and hoarse, clearly not used very often. Though his words are probably drown beneath the cheers of the crowd, they are eating up Sean's playing, the older fighter flashes his opponent a brilliantly white grin and steps forward.
The Jaguar warrior's battered bare feet slide through the sand until they are set just a bit more than shoulder-width apart. Settling into a slight crouch near the middle of the circle, Katt lifts both hands to chest height and twists his scarred palms around to face Sean. His smile fades to a look of quiet contentment as he waits for the match to be announced. He might be the shorter, leaner, and more battered of the two, but he does seem confident. At least he isn't too much older. He's only in his twenties, not an old man!
The ref lifts his whistle to his lips and blows a shrill call for the fight to begin.
Katt...just stands there. Exciting.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla has started a fight here.
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Katthalla 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sean has joined the fight here.
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Sean 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Katthalla
COMBATSYS: Katthalla focuses on his next action.
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Sean 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean could swear he heard something just now. It was just a whisper among all the ambient noise of the crowd, the partying in the sun, and the sound of the flexing of his muscles. Eh, it probably was just his imagination decides the 'young' fighter mid-pose. His martial arts demo comes to a close as he decides to 'get serious' about the fight at hand. Which in Sean terms means that he has now turned to face Katthalla fully and has raised his guard up. It's at least something.
When you are a teeanger, anything over twenty can seem super old. But it's Katt's scars and ragged appearance that makes Sean assume the man is older than he seems. But then again, he's a young, brash youth with something to proves; he's bound to make bad judgement calls. And speaking of bad judgement calls, it seems that Katthala is letting Sean make the first move.
Sean grins. That's just fine by him. "Ready or not, here I come!" The slightly younger fighter lunges forward with his left leg leading in. He raises his leg up as if he is ready to strike with it and then....swings his right hand out in a quick jab towards the waiting Jaguar.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla endures Sean's Jab Punch.
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Sean 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Katthalla
The volume of the crowd ups by several notches as the fight begins. Several cameras click, capturing semi-precious moments for the spectators to share with their children in years to come...Or, well, more likely the two fighters will be on a lot of face book pages later tonight. Ah well.
Katt does finally move. Not to defend himself when the left leg faints, but to drop his hands to his stomach when the right hand jabs in. Only once the punch has thumped solidly into his left shoulder does he twist, pushing his shoulder into the blow to halt the younger man's forward momentum. That being done the Jaguar twirls smoothly around and ducks under Sean's extended arm, stepping forward to plant his right foot between the boy's legs. Head bowed and dreads hanging loose around him, Katt lunges up from his crouch in an attempt to drive his right shoulder into Sean's stomach and straighten, flipping him neatly over his back without the use of his hands.
COMBATSYS: Sean blocks Katthalla's Rising Dune.
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Sean 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean can surely relate to the photo taking fight goers as he surely will be on his facebook post-fight as well. That is if he wins the fight of course. If not, Sean may have to impose a face book exile upon himself while he goes to lick his wounds somewhere. A man's got to protect his ego and his pride these days.
The young man with less than half the dreadlocks that Kat does, flashes his pearly whites when he connects his fist against Kat's shoulder. The smile soon turns into a look of horror when he realizes that the older fighter had turned -into- the blow. He was falling into a trap! But before Sean can fully realize his error, Katt is already on the attack!
The fighter in yellow grunts loudly as the Jaguar warrior drives his right shoulder into him. Reacting out of instinct, Sean weasels his way out of Katt's grip and pushes himself back a step to free himself fully from the worst of the throw. He then attempts to charge into Katt himself with his own shoulder leading the way with his arms following in suite. Should Sean be able to successfully tackle the other man, he would follow through the attack with a series of quick punches to other man's body.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla fails to counter Sean Tackle from Sean with Shifting Sands.
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Sean 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Katthalla
Katthalla remains crouched as Sean comes charging back toward him shoulder-first. His expression is calm and collected, unbothered by failure. It remains that way as he fails yet again.
Shifting to his left, Katt swings his outside hand up in an attempt to drive it into Sean's side and throw him off course. He is a bit slow, however, and takes a shoulder to the forehead for his efforts. Tumbling backward, he draws in his hands and does his best to shunt aside the series of blows that follow. Some are absorbed by the flexed muscle of his arms, but most slip through to pound into his chest and ribs. It's like punching a rock.
Katt finally manages to get a knee between himself and Sean, shoving the younger man off to gain a bit of breathing room. Thus freed, the Jaguar jerks both bare feet up hard, throwing himself from his back into a neat back tuck and landing squarely on his feet with a swirl of long black dreads. Giving a nod of respect to Sean, he squares his stance and lifts both hands up defensively before his chest.
It seems that momentum is on Sean's side for now as he follows Katthalla down, down, down to the ring's surface below. The gi wearing fighter manages to sneak in a few blows before Katt manages to get a knee in there to push him off and away from the downed fighter. Oof, that man certainly put a new spin on the term 'rock-hard' abs. He was suddenly very glad that he had decided to wear his gaudy red fighting gloves. Losing a fight over a broken hand from punching someone was not the way that Sean wanted to go down. He could already hear the Dan comparions on the lips of the crowd.
Sean scrambles speedily to his feet as well which allows him to catch a nod from Katthala. The young man smiles in return, "You are one tough dude. You took those punches like they were nothing. But how about a ki-yaaaah!" The young and eager fighter cuts himself off as attempts to quickly close the distance with Katt again by launching a speedy kick towards Katt's face. Maybe that area won't be quite as tough as his stomach and ribs. But there was really only one way to find out!
COMBATSYS: Katthalla blocks Sean's Light Kick.
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Sean 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Katthalla
"Hrr." comes Katt's half grunted reply, though whether he is responding to Sean's words, or the sudden arrival of a foot flying toward his face is difficult to tell.
The Jaguar's left hand lifts, arm and chest flexing somewhat impressively as he catches the younger fighter's kick on the meat of his forearm. Leaning forward, Katt flings the foot back down and away, then dashes into a sudden charge that sends sand billowing up behind him, dreadlocks flapping in his wake. Lowering both shoulders he reaches out for Sean's right thigh with his left hand, and his left shoulder with his right. If he can only get the grip, he will heave the boy up into the air and take three more steps, then stomp down hard with his left foot and twist, swinging his opponent in a short arc before hurling him right shoulder first into the sand. A serious show of strength, seeing as he is the smaller of the two fighting.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla successfully hits Sean with Sand Wall.
- Power hit! -
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Sean 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean's triumphant 'Hiyah!' turns into a brief yelp of surprise as the other fighter deftly catches his kick with his forearm and then capitalizes on Sean's sudden vulnerability. The young fighter attempts to squirm his way out of this grab too, but his luck has run out. And then, the young fighter suddenly feels light as a feather. This is because Katthala is man-handling him like he weighed like nothing at all. "Ahhhh!" yells Sean most unheroically as he carried like a babe for a few steps and then hurled down to the ground.
Thump! Sean hits the ground hard and is dazed there for a second from sheer power that Katthala used against him. Oof, maybe it's better if he stays down. No, that's not the right attitude! He can't lose, he hates losing. Sean shakes his head back and forth and his eyes eventually focus on the nearby Katt. Okay, time for some fireworks!
At first, it looks like the young fighter is just getting up. He slowly crouches down and then pauses there for a brief second as if he was getting his breath. But then something spectacular begins to happen, a firey aura engulfs the young man as he lunges low at Katt and brings his left arm up in a HUGE uppercut that is sure to pay Katthala back for bodyslam should this mighty blow connect.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla just-defends Sean's Shoryu Cannon!
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Sean 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Katthalla
having taken a single step back before settling back into stance, Katt watches Sean pull himself up into a crouch. He continues to watch as that restful crouch turns into a raging uppercut meant to send him into orbit. Lucky for Katt, he has some experience with fighters and their flying uppercuts of doom.
Katt drifts his right foot back through the sand and leans away from Sean's rising fist, shifting so his weight rests mostly on his back foot. Once the strike has swished past his nose he snaps his right hand out and grabs Sean under the elbow,attempting to force the arm higher, and then higher, until his feet leave the ground. Continuing to hold Sean's arm up out of the way he lashes out with his left elbow towards the younger man's exposed torso, attempting to smash two quick, hard blows into his ribs. Hit or miss, he will release Sean's arm and slide his left foot back to take up his stance yet again.
Katt's motions remain calm and composed. It is now that he really starts to show his iron self control. Nothing is out of place, and there are no signs of slacking. Even the flashing disk on his abdomen shows a steady heartbeat and breathing rate.
COMBATSYS: Sean endures Katthalla's Fierce Punch.
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Sean 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean can feel the rush, the exhiliration that comes with pulling off a flashy move in the middle of a fight. The problem is that he doesn't feel the meaty connection that his knuckles should be feeling right about now. Pfft. Like anyone could see this coming. Sean's eyes grow huge as he begins to sail past Katt and then gets grabbed midway. It seems that Sean is having an unexpected passenger in the worst way possible as his ribs get pummeled by Katthala. But it's not like Sean has much of an option here, he is already mid-uppercut.
Once released, Sean attempts to mentally and phyiscally recover from that crushing blow to his body and his ego. If he was taught by Ken, then there was no way that would have missed. But Sean has to win fights before Ken would even dream of teaching him, so he can't give up. Not yet!
The battered and hard-breathing fighter goes on the offensive once more. This time it is a quick series of three kicks that propels Sean over closer towards Katt. Each kick comes in rapid succession, but the kicking fighter seems to be overall moving a little slow. Maybe, he's starting to tire out against Katt's iron defense.
COMBATSYS: Sean successfully hits Katthalla with Tornado Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Sean 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Katthalla
Katthalla digs his toes into the sand and braces himself, left arm sweeping up to intercept the first of the incoming kicks. Flexing, he absorbs the bulk of the damage, but the force of it staggers him back a step. Shifting his guard to try and stop the second kick, he is unable to halt the blow, his arm being slammed back into his chest. Still calm as ever, the Jaguar manages to halt his backward stagger and starts to throw himself forward in an attempt to duck the final kick. He is too slow, however, and the heal of Sean's foot cracks him square in the left eye. Head snapped back by the impact, Katt jerks back upright and lets out a soft snort of surprise. His eye is already starting to darken and swell. It will probably be swollen completely shut before the fight is even over.
A kick in the face isn't quite enough to shatter Katt's composure. Stepping in close to hopefully prevent more kicks, Katt stomps his left foot, throws his left shoulder forward, and aims a heavy elbow strike toward the same spot on Sean's ribs he so recently attacked. Not letting up, he steps his right foot forward and fluidly shifts to follow it, right shoulder coming forward and elbow striking for the younger fighter's sternum. Another stepping left elbow is aimed for Sean's uninjured ribs, before Katt pivots and swings his right knee up toward his opponent's stomach. He ends the combo by stomping his right foot back down and pushing off of it, aiming a lunging forehead strike at Sean's face. Each move is quick and fluid, but holds all the forward momentum of his body behind it.
COMBATSYS: Sean endures Katthalla's Hail of Stones.
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Sean 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean breathes a quick sigh of relief followed by some much more labored breathing as he finally connects solidly with that final hit in his combination attack. His opponent's defense was impeccable and the only way Sean seemingly has found a way around it was to launch a flurry of blows instead of a singular one. The young man in yellow puts his hands back up as he lands back on the sand. Okay, time for a breather!
Nope, now is definitely not the time for a breather as Katt is quickly on him again. That old guy sure could move -fast- and Sean is caught too unaware to try to dodge of block his way out of this one. Instead, he painfully rolls with the punches...er...elbows as his ribs get played like a regular xylophone. Katthala continues to make painful music on Sean's ribcage until he finally rocked by a blow to the head. That was one punishing series of blows!
And yet, Sean somehow is still standing after all of that. He drops down to one knee, bruise, battered, but not beaten yet. He forces himself back up to his feet and looks for an opening, any opening. But he doesn't see one. Instead, Sean takes a moment and focuses himself completely on his opponent. And then, he strikes forward in what looks to be another iconic Sean Tackle (tm). But this is all a ruse, as Sean rears up into an uppercut at the last moment, and then launches a flurry of tornado kicks towards his opponent's ribs. The assault doesn't end there as Sean attempts to finish this combo with a downwards spiraling axe kick towards Katt's head.
COMBATSYS: Sean successfully hits Katthalla with Hyper Tornado.
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Sean 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Katthalla
Katthalla lets out a breath, already starting to set himself back into stance as Sean goes down to a knee. He is ready when the younger man comes rushing in for the tackle, both hands lashing out to grab him by the shoulders. He can turn this into a throw quite easily...Or he could have, but suddenly there is a fist swinging up between his arms and the boy is surging up, up...Katt tries to push down and halt the upward motion, but it's too little too late.
The Jaguar eats the initial uppercut, staggering back a step after it hammers into his chin and snaps his head back, dreadlocks flaring out in all directions from the force of it. Then come the whirling kicks. Somehow Katt manages to catch the first on his left biceps, being battered a step to the right from the force. The next few smash through his attempts to block and hammer home into his ribs with solid 'thumps' of foot on toughened bone. He retains just enough presence of mind once the beating is done to twist off to the left, taking the final axe kick to the back of his right shoulder, rather than his head. Taking a kick like that to the head probably would have ended the fight outright.
Staggering a bit, Katt lets out a huffing breath. His vitals still show calm, even flickers. He isn't out yet. In fact, he's coming back in.
Whirling back around to face Sean, the Jaguar warrior staggers a step toward him, regains his balance, and charges the last step with determination. Leaping into the air he attempts to plant his scarred hands on the boy's shoulders and shove down hard, curling his abs and putting all the upward momentum of his body behind a single flying knee strike aimed for his opponent's chin. If he can land it, he will throw himself backwards and kick off of Sean's chest to land a short distance away.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla successfully hits Sean with Reverse Gravity.
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Sean 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Katthalla
Sean's feeling good, he's feeling alive as he flies through the air with his kicks leading the way. His final kick lands with a smack, but it misses its mark by mere inches. Which leaves the young fighter looking absolutely dumbfounded at Katt. He expected that guy to be smushed down in the sand, not standing tall a mere meter or two away from him. This guy was -inhuman-. This guys must have a killer training regimen. But now was not the time to gawk as Kat was on him once more!
Arms flail wildly in 'defense' as Sean tries to counter grab the grappler who had just stepped in on him. But it's too little, too late. He's pushed down and knee'd upwards into a great display of agility from the other fighter who flips away off him. Sean's flip is less graceful as he lands on his butt in the sand. He collapses backwards, sprawled out. Was it finally over? The young fighter grits his teeth and pulls himself up into a crouch. No, if he was going to lose, he was going to give it his best. He was going to put everything into this one last, move.
Summoning what little strength he has left, Sean throws himself forward in a crouched lunges towards Katt. Once he takes a pace forward, he brings his arms sharply back and then uppercuts both arms forward and up in a spinning, desperate, two-fisted attack.
COMBATSYS: Sean can no longer fight.
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Katthalla 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sean successfully hits Katthalla with Dragon Smash.
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Katthalla 1/------=/=======|
Katthalla lands in a crouch a short distance away from Sean, hunched over in pain from the various bone-deep bruises across his shoulder, forearms, and ribs. Despite the pain his expression remains calm and intent, vitals flashing steadily across his middle. he can deal with pain. Pain is something he's managed before.
Then Sean is up and berserker charging him again.
Slowly Katt forces himself up to his feet, just managing to reach full height and get his hands up before the wild strike lands. His guard has taken far too many hits today. Sean's fists impact his forearms and force them back against his chest. With a quiet grunt the Jaguar is lifted off his feet, flying backward a couple of yards before smashing to the ground back-first.
Immediately he smashes both hands down into the sand and hauls himself up to a sitting position, but that is as far as he makes it. Slumping forward, he takes a couple of deep breaths and focuses on the pain raging through the bones of his arms, dark eyes scanning the sand...to find Sean down as well? Slowly shaking his dread locked head, the fighter sits and listens as the Ref starts to count to ten, shifting forward and letting out a grunt.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Katthalla can no longer fight.
Sean once again feels like he is flying, and it's a great feeling. And sure, it was not true shoryuken, but it was -his- shoryuken. He gets to feel that good feeling of actually connecting his uppercut this time. However, on the way down, he feels increasingly light-headed. He truly was flying, flying straight out of conciousness and straight into the sandy groud, Ka-thud! And with that, Sean is down and out for the count.
Katthalla continues to sit and watch as both he and Sean are counted out. Lifting his left hand to his face, he slowly probes the area around his left eye, testing the bones around his eye socket. The eye is swollen shut, but at least nothing seems to be crushed.
The count ends, and medics flood the field to gather up vital sensors from the fighters and check over wounds.
The ref stalks off to have a short conference with a couple officials in lawn chairs. Eventually he nods, afro bobbing, and turns to announce the winner of today's fight.
"And yoh winner iiiiiiis," booms the heavily built man, crowd falling silent, "Katthalla!" What follows isn't' exactly cheering, but there is a fair amount of clapping. The older fighter wasn't exactly the crowd favorite. But, it was a good fight!
Log created on 14:39:47 05/10/2014 by Sean, and last modified on 09:03:27 05/17/2014.