Match of the Millennium

As the broadcast goes live, Lou and Tom are standing in front of a screen showing the NFG logo with the words 'SEMIFINALS RUNDOWN' beneath it. TOM: "Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, and all of our other friends! I'm Tom Bradley." LOU: "And I'm Lou Harris." TOM: "And we'd like to take a moment to mention that we work for the New Fighting Generation on a strictly contractual basis." LOU: "For no particular reason. Just worth keepin' in mind!" TOM: "But nevertheless, we and the NFG would like to wish you and yours a happy festive season!" LOU: "Hope you're all feeling warm and cozy!" TOM: "If not, we've got some matches that are sure to light a nice fire to keep you toasty through the holidays!" The picture on the screen changes to show footage of the Metro City Arena from down the street, acrid smoke billowing through a hole in the roof as a ring of fire gutters and smoulders atop the structure like an infernal crown. TOM: "Oh God." LOU: "Well, that's not the fire graphic we were expecting." TOM: "It's okay. This is fine." The screen changes to a show a generic loop of a fireplace decorated with holiday trim and wooden logs burning in it instead. LOU: "Ignore the spoilers, everybody. Let's get ready for the rundown!" (Continued in the next post!)

-=*=- RUNDOWN: CHEVY VERSUS ICHIKA -=*=- The graphic behind Tom and Lou changes to show the same shot of the Metro City Arena, perfectly intact, on a bright and sunny afternoon. TOM: "That's better. Let's go back to the day where Chevy and Ichika faced off for their place in the final." LOU: "This was gonna be a bittersweet one no matter how it turned out, Tom. Team Thunder's two besties trying to best each other." TOM: "Even Princess Lightheart and her pal Shermie turned up with front row seats." LOU: "And for this match, they could actually sell front row seats! Unlike a certain other match this round which will not be named." TOM: "There was only one other match this round." LOU: "Yeah, okay, you got me there. Anyways, this was exactly the kinda match we were all hopin' for." TOM: "Indeed. This was a truly back-and-forth battle where both young ladies were giving it their ass. I-I mean, all." LOU: "And nobody set the arena on fire." TOM: "Chevy had a strong start here, managing to execute an impressive maneuver, as we're about to see." -=*=- FOOTAGE: HIGHLIGHT #1 -=*=- Sparks fly in the first clash, and Ichika is smiling, delighted, to see the ease with which Chevy was able to keep up with her. As she descends, she is already sliding the blade back into place at her side, and this time, as Chevy moves, it is Ichika's turn to move with her. She twirls, and it looks almost like a dance as water splashes not against her hands, but against the back of her jacket. Frozen, the material jerks under Chevy's command - And Ichika raises both her arms. The Thunder-themed garment is torn from her shoulders, and the cheering of the crowd gets even louder. It's easy to see why - it's almost difficult to believe that the pair didn't plan it between themselves, though they certainly hadn't. The end result either way is that the Ichika winds up facing her down again, and now she is without the mundane bit of padding she might have relied upon to cushion those future blows. She'll just have to work around that. Again, she closes the distance fast. This time, though, rather than feinting to the side, she suddenly slides down. It's a somewhat risky move; Chevy has a pole and the ability to sweep with it. But then, when had Ichika ever been afraid of taking the odd risk? She's got to find a way past Chevy's guard, and try to zip right between her legs, only slashing out at the back of the older girl's ankles as she's twisting around to hop back up to her feet, feels like an angle of attack which she might not be expecting - it's rare Ichika tries to take advantage of her shorter stature in that particular way! Chevelle Beaumont is skilled at her craft. But she's... a bit -less- skilled at judging the unintended side effects of her abilities -- particularly when her brilliant, tactically-minded opponent happens to substitute her -jacket- for just her wrist. If the audience thought it was planned, seeing her eyes widen when the jacket is lifted off ought to set that to rest. Making it -easier- for the teenaged kenshi to catch frostbite against the hydromancer was not, in fact, a combat objective. Upon realizing what's happened, she releases her hold on the ice, letting the drenched jacket fall to the mat as she draws in her breath through her teeth as she brings her staff back into a defensive position. "Oops?" Chevy understands her opponent's mindset though. Peeling out of her jacket was a slick evasion to avoid being encumbered with the ice, because speed is a key element of Ichika's style. Stepping back to reorient herself, her eyes snap right back to Ichika... only to find that the nimble fighter is making a -very- unorthodox approach at the taller girl's legs. Awkwardly, she aims to get out of the way, first and foremost -- and she manages this by slamming the pole to her right, and then using it as a fulcrum for her to lean sideways and swing both her legs up and over the charging Ichika. She'd wanted to go between -- this just makes it easier for Ichika to transit. And, in the process, water splashes out of her bucket... But when Chevy -- ever-mindful to keep her eyes on Ichika -- realizes that the water is now -beneath- Ichika, she capitalizes on the moment. As she brings her feet down, she twists the lower end of the staff upward, sweeping the water into a powerful upsurge that catches Ichika in the midst of her attack. COMBATSYS: Chevy counters Evasive Strike from Ichika with Low Tide EX. - CRAZY Hit! - Here, her practice kicks in. For with Ichika now momentarily engulfed in the wave, Chevy's able to catch hold of her -- and she does so by swinging the staff to her side, dropping her elbow into Ichika's ribs, and falling parallel to her as she slams the younger fighter to the mat! It all happens so quickly -- one thing leading into another. If she'd stopped to -think- about what she was doing, she'd have had a nice gouge through her leg to show for it. But as it is, Chevy rolls free of the entanglement, springing back to her feet -- and splattered, head-to-toe, with water from the exchange. Her fans are eating it up. She pants for breath. This fight's -really- lighting off, now...! -=*=- END FOOTAGE -=*=- LOU: "Yup. Knocked her straight into the yellow!" TOM: "Into the yellow, Tom?" LOU: "Oh, yeah. It's a term fighters use to describe that moment in a fight where they really start to feel it, you know? Like, a reminder of your own mortality." TOM: "But why yellow? It sounds like you're saying she peed herself." LOU: "No, no. You know, 'yellow.' it comes between green and red." TOM: "I'm not aware of this spectrum of fighting states." LOU: "You know, like green is like 'let's go,' and red is 'danger danger.'" TOM: "You're making this up, Lou, and I don't think it's going to catch on." LOU: "Trust me, people use this shorthand all the time online. Now, Kasumoto-san managed to get the momentum back in her favour just a little later." -=*=- FOOTAGE: HIGHLIGHT #2 -=*=- Chevy hurls her pole and buckets forward, aiming to lance them past Ichika's midsection. Specifically -- she hopes to hook the bucket right underneath Ichika's arm! "Hrrrr!" And if she manages to do so, she'd use the water left in her bucket as a means of pinning the bucket in place as she seeks to haul the smaller fighter off her feet, spin her about 60 degrees to one side, and then toss her across the mat like a skipping-stone! Ichika's smile is beautific as Chevy rises again. The last glittering traces of bright blue energy hang in the air, and Ichika - for once - has not sheathed her sword again. Instead, as the pole lances towards her, she stabs out. It's a rare motion from Ichika; the point of the katana, the thrust of it, was much more difficult to turn into a shallow and less-than-lethal attack. Surely, she hasn't changed her tune so quickly, especially against one of her closest friends?! Of course she hasn't. "When is a sword not a sword?" The blade passes through the handle of the bucket that Chevy had intended to entangle her with. In the next moment, the lighter girl is indeed being spun around; her eyes sparkle with amusement with her trap; she uses it as a firm point, and the momentum Chevy had sought to use to hurl her across the arena is instead turned to Ichika's purposes - the girl pirouetting through the air as she controls her descent. COMBATSYS: Ichika just-defends Chevy's Quick Throw! Both boot-clad feet land lightly upon the turnbuckle furthest from Chevy, and that beautific smile has turned into a full-on grin. "When it is a lever." And with a long enough lever and the proper fulcrum, she could move the world. She flicks the sword, taking her time to sheathe it once more at her side as she looks down at Chevy from her elevated position. Those sapphire eyes of hers are aglow, the energy within her alive and dancing to the thrum of the battle once more. The challenge she issues is a silent one; come, then. She has led the other exchanges. Now, she bids Chevy to assault the Mountain. -=*=- END FOOTAGE -=*=- LOU: "She just defended that beautifully." TOM: "'Just defended?' What, now you've got some new lingo for elaborate defensive techniques?" LOU: "Uh, no, I just meant she defended that beautifully. Like, just now. It's English, Tom. It's supposed to be your specialty." TOM: "Nevermind. You're right. She did just defend against that attack from Chevy excellently. Why are you on your phone?" LOU: "Oh, just suggesting some new lingo on Hitter." (Continued in the next post!)

TOM: "Anyway, as we were saying..." LOU: "You know, this next moment really took me back to when I got my start commentating for the women's fighting scene. I mean, these gals were wearing a lot more than the ones back then, but I've always said that you can't beat the determination and the fire that some of these ladies show." TOM: "Indeed. Let's roll the clip!" -=*=- FOOTAGE: HIGHLIGHT #3 -=*=- As Chevy squares up with Ichika, it looks like she's... thinking for a moment. Baby blue eyes glance to the sword, to her grip, to the piercing storm blue gaze. And for one good, long moment, it looks as if the Southerner might be willing to hold back, and wait for her tide to come in. But no. She reserves the right to be unpredictable, too. Chevy takes two quick strides to close the distance to her height-advantaged friend. Attacking? Against someone on the high ground? It might seem ludicrous. But as Chevy drops to a crouch, the pole pressed to her shoulders, parallel to the mat, there's no doubt about it... She's going to try out an attack Ichika knows -everything- about. She leaps skywards, thrusting the bar upwards into Ichika. It looks like she'd plan to ram the pole into the girl's throat -- but no, water would spill out of the buckets a moment beforehand. That water would flash freeze against Ichika's shoulders, cementing it into place. It would seem even -more- ludicrous to Ichika, who knows the pitfalls of the maneuver, and how much trouble Chevy had securing the hold. And yet, the secret lies in one difference: Chevy is already pretty much -soaked- from earlier attacks. Her jump is stronger, her lift greater. And if she manages to contact Ichika, she would flip -over- her. And -- rather than sling Ichika outside the ring, in a potentially -fatal- collision of friend to concrete -- she would change the move mid-strike. To -hurl- Ichika bodily into the center of the wrestling ring. Ichika is indeed a little surprised by the approach Chevy takes. It's not, entirely, outside the realm of possibility - but she had not seen this angle of attack coming. Even less so when she realises what move it is the hydromancer is pulling out of her arsenal. When Chevy does, in fact, go for it, Ichika tries to leap up and over her - to evade the incoming attack. Instead, she winds up with the ice splashing over her shoulders, and Chevy moving with far more speed than she thought was possible from her friend. COMBATSYS: Chevy successfully hits Ichika with Marsh Slam EX. - CRAZY Hit! - When she collides with the ground there's a heavy grunt from the girl, and she rolls several times. That, was a lot more effective than she had expected it to be. But she doesn't stay down for long, and when she rises, she is glowing. In a tournament season which has been defined, in many ways, by increasing levels of fear from uncontrolled energy, it is perhaps startling to see the exact opposite. The power that rises in Ichika is entirely under her command. It will not hurt anyone she doesn't want it to; will not touch them at all, in fact. Her eyes blaze like tiny stars, unblinking and brilliant as she settles her gaze on Chevy. She'd suspected that she would need to, as Tom and Lou had so kindly highlighted, 'not hold back' in this fight. She hadn't, necessarily, expected that she would need to go so far, so quickly. But if she doesn't turn things around now, she is going to let all hope of seizing the momentum back slip away. "The still ocean, vast and deep. The raging storm, ferocious and unstoppable. The twisting river, flowing around all obstacles. I know you, Chevelle Beaumont." Ichika intones. She always has had such a high opinion of Chevy's control over her element. But she's not backing down. She never has. The girl's hand curls around the hilt of her sword. "Your Truth is powerful. Mine... is for Tomorrow." And she draws the Katana. Only once before has she shown this technique, and it was at her most desperate moment then, as well. When it seemed inevitable that she would fall. It takes so much out of her to call upon it; everything she has, in fact. The light around the girl intensifies, and the blade she draws from the saya is not the old, well-worn, mass-produced relic of some forgotten and misbegotten war. It is a beautiful thing. Shining and brilliant, it is everything a weapon should be. Forged to defend, to place itself between the weak and those that would do them harm, to strike down the monsters that poison the world. She had hoped, perhaps, that the next time she called upon it, it would be to bring down Junko, rather than to strike down her friend. But the Katana is also her hopes. Her dreams. Her legacy made manifest. Here, in this arena, she shows her fans and Chevy's the brilliance of that vision. The Art of Fighting made manifest. She asks the world to give her the strength to take the next step on her journey... .. and this, is the Kami's answer. She doesn't so much leap at Chevy, as suddenly manifest in front of the redhead. The Katana descends, and with it, all of that light, all of that power, the full potential that so many people have seen in Ichika for so long, is put into this singular blow. She gives it all she has: she can do nothing less. COMBATSYS: Ichika successfully hits Chevy with Tomorrow's World EX. - Power hit! - -=*=- END FOOTAGE -=*=- LOU: "It's real heartwarming stuff, Tom." TOM: "I never thought I'd say that about someone nearly slicing her best friend in half, but I agree, Lou." LOU: "Straight from green to red!" TOM: "Is red for the blood?" LOU: "Sometimes. What's amazing is that this was really only the midpoint of the match." TOM: "Indeed! The climactic moment came here..." -=*=- FOOTAGE: HIGHLIGHT #4 -=*=- "The final step, then," Ichika says, surprised to find that there are tears welling in her eyes. So much emotion. For once, she's not shouting her defiance and determined to prove herself. She's already done that. No matter what happens, who could deny that Kasumoto Ichika has done enough? She ... doesn't want this to end. She doesn't want the fight to be over, and to be that next step down the path already. A small, sad smile, and she swallows down that thought. They can't live in this moment forever. Everything, even the most beautiful things, has to end. Her voice is soft, but somehow it carries just fine. "I'll see you at the top of the mountain, okay?" And then she twists around, and if it were anyone else, she might hope to catch them by surprise - but she's sure that Chevy knows what is coming, as she catches one of those drifting motes of light on the tip of her blade, brings it around, and unleashes a single, tiny star to streak towards her friend, hoping to guide her back down into that darkness as gently as she can. In a way, it's something of a mercy that the two haven't -had- to fight on stage before. The friendship they had fostered behind the scenes was a driving force in their success. That one fight allowed Ichika to see a fight as a different kind of conversation. That one fight let Chevy realize that -both- fighters could stand to gain from battle. But that's a very different circumstance than a true fight, where the line between victory and defeat is razor-thin. There have been easy fights and there have been difficult ones; similarly, between Ichika and Chevy, there have been easy conversations and there have been difficult ones. The past few months have, without a doubt, shaped the two young women into the two warriors facing off now. It's tempting to push the limits, to go 'all in'. But perhaps that would be an unfitting end to the conversation -- as they both seem perfectly willing to cross the finish line -together-, somehow -- if that were even remotely possible. Chevy seems more than determined to make that happen. After her water blasts needle into Ichika's defenses, she's already moving in for a followup. She swings her right bucket low, scooping up some of the precious water reserve from the pool at her feet.As Ichika recovers, and starts to level the sword at her, she swings her left bucket down in turn... "Of course! See you there, Ichika." But then, Chevy sees the relative lack of motion from Ichika's shoulders, and recalls what that implies. Most people would be moored in place or sluggish, standing in six inches of water. Not so with the waterbender -- for once she makes the decision to move, the water doesn't only -not- impede her: it -helps-. She flings herself just a foot to the right of that sword blade -- the shockwave from the blast tearing past her is such that it even ripples the flesh of her face and the denim of her jacket as she tears past. But one thing Chevy's bold advance leaves behind is... the buckets she'd just filled, which slam together with a loud sound. *CLANG!* COMBATSYS: Chevy parries Ichika's Brilliant Spark EX! And just after that, a second sound: *SPLOORSH* The sound of Ichika's concussive strike splashing down into a bucket. Slamming it backwards. The trick is, though, that Chevy has moved her grip forward, to the end of the pole formerly occupied by the right bucket. And with the fulcrum, Chevy herself, being right in front of Ichika, that means the shot accelerates the counter-clockwise spin of the pole -- a motion that began when Chevy launched herself forward into her attack. If Chevy succeeds in her attempt to reach right past that extended sword and grab Ichika by the wrist, the torque of the attack would serve to hurl the kenshi downward at the mat, shoulders first! Ichika's eyes widen when Chevy not only evades her fastest attack, but is very suddenly in front of her. It actually causes a sharp intake of breath from the prodigy. It's, so rare that something happens which completely blows her expectations out of the water. There was no future she'd envisioned where this was possible. The fact that Chevy would catch her energy within the bucket, use the momentum of it to add to her own counterattack? It's... unprecedented, it's staggering, and it's... It's beautiful. Truly, beautiful. Time seems to slow down for Ichika. She can hear her own heartbeat within her ears. Thump-thump. And it is within the space of that moment, between one beat and the next, that she realises she, can't, let this slip away. There is one, tiny, fragile path to victory. If she didn't at least try to take it, she would always know that she gave Chevy less than everything she had, and that? Is too much for her to bear. "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Calm, reserved Ichika hasn't shouted like that in quite some time. She does, now, as Chevy reaches out to snare her by the wrist. Thump-thump. She twists in the air, and she is so, so close to the mat. She can imagine the impact. The final, crumpling THUD that will spell the end of her journey. And she rejects it. COMBATSYS: Ichika interrupts Riptide EX from Chevy with Price of Progress. Brilliant energy explodes all around her one last time, and Ichika's teeth grind together as she defies gravity, and sense, and logic. It is more than any girl her age should be able to do. Hell, it's more than anyone should be able to do; the final shield shatters, and Ichika's sword crashes into Chevy. The spiralling path she forces them both to take gives them a dizzying view of the arena, taking in all sides of it, and a crowd caught below them in startling tableau. Open-mouthed. Thump-thump. "Together." A single word at the apex of their flight, where Ichika's eyes are bright and brilliant and staring into Chevy's - and then, the girl is gone. She blurs out of existence, only to reappear behind her, one pace above Chevy, sweat pouring from the Justice High prodigy as she reaches those few inches further towards the heavens. Thump-thump. And then she is crashing into Chevy's back, the hilt of the katana powering down into her as she tears back down towards the very centre of the arena, to crash there, cushioning her impact with the redhead, and stumbling back, pain, radiates, through every last inch of her. So much of her wants to give in. So much of her wants to just, rest. But shaking hands raise the sword before her in a guard position. She's come this far. She has, to see it through. -=*=- END FOOTAGE -=*=- TOM: "A spectacular finale in a spectacular match. And with it, Ichika moves forward to the final." LOU: "So, have you heard the rumour that Lyraelle told them to script this so that the one she was cheering for would win?" TOM: "Oh, shut up, Lou." LOU: "No, yeah, I think it's a load o' crap too. Seriously, folks, watch it if you haven't!" (A link to the VOD for the match is presented below: http://motm.kicks-ass.net/log/idx/0012338.shtml) (Continued in the next post!)

-=*=- RUNDOWN: DJAMILA VERSUS JUNKO -=*=- TOM: "Well, uhh, I guess that means that we move on to the... other match that happened this week." LOU: "Just a quick reminder to all you folks that Tom and I are contractors and are not officially affiliated with the New Fighting Generation or its organizers." TOM: "They have, however, requested that we remove certain highlight segments that we were planning to air alongside our commentary for the match." LOU: "So, what's that leave us with?" The picture on the screen changes to show footage of the Metro City Arena from down the street, acrid smoke billowing through a hole in the roof as a ring of fire gutters and smoulders atop the structure like an infernal crown. TOM: "Well, they didn't say we couldn't use this bit." LOU: "Didn't you add that in at the last minute?" TOM: "Well, I had to have /something/ to show what happened." LOU: "Oh, it wasn't a criticism. So, if this were the start of a movie, we'd probably say something like, 'I bet you're wondering how we got here.'" TOM: "And that's what we're here to answer. So, after criticism levied toward the NFG over the past weeks over safety concerns, they really pulled out all the stops on making sure that this match would be safe for fighters and fans alike." The picture on the screen shows a squad of seven-foot Fulgore units being prepped by Corporal Mint Panesh for security duty. LOU: "We had a surprise appearance by none other than Constance Coalbridge." TOM: "Who, as we all remember, was hospitalized with severe burns after fighting Junko earlier in the finals." LOU: "It seemed like her being there mighta thrown Junko off her game, considering how it went." TOM: "Perhaps, but Djamila has been especially on-point lately. Some even suspect Team Metal of using artificial means to enhance her abilities." LOU: "That sounds like my kinda talking point, Tom. And completely reasonable: Ultratech could fit her with all kindsa performance-enhancing cybernetics without us being any the wiser. How else do you explain how she put Kenzo in hospital during a training session? Cyberware gone haywire just makes sense." TOM: "Or perhaps some other means of enhancement. We've seen increasingly violent and erratic behaviour from Djamila over the course of the second split. Then again, she did suffer a head injury in Sunshine City." LOU: "I dunno, Tom. When it comes down to it, we don't actually know Djamila Fadel all that well. She's got a switch that flips sometimes, and then suddenly we start having to censor footage to preserve our PG-13 rating. Here, it started out flipped." TOM: "She did seem insistent on taunting the unstable pyromaniac girl with self-control issues until she snapped." LOU: "I mean, it's a classic heel tactic. It won her the match, hands down. It also probably led to some kinda fiery angel goddess getting so pissed off she blew the roof off the Metro City Arena." TOM: "She does seem to have a history of bringing out the worst in her opponents. Just... generally not to quite such an apocalyptic effect." LOU: "You must notta been following the same Flex convos I was after her fight with Buford. Now that was apocalyptic." TOM: "We were hoping to get Carly Meadows in to comment on the fact that the New Fighting Generation apparently allowed an evil goddess to participate in a competition for rookie fighters, but apparently she couldn't be reached as she's on an extended business trip in the Seychelles." LOU: "Natch. So, folks, if you're interested, there's plenty of bootleg footage of this fight online, since the official VOD has been pulled." TOM: "And once again, we are not officially affiliated with the NFG or any of its sponsors." (OOC: A bootleg of the match can be found at the following link: http://motm.kicks-ass.net/log/idx/0012336.shtml) (Continued in the next post!)