331/WMAT B4 Sakura Kasugano vs. Corvo Attano

WMAT B4 Sakura Kasugano vs. Corvo Attano
Date of Scene:	02 August 2014
Location:	WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
Synopsis:	WMAT semi-finals match between Sakura Kasugano and Corvo Attano.
Cast of Characters:	374, 385, 398

---

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The weather over and around Devil's Hand is much as it always is, foggy and gloomy but still possible to see through. And as usual, the cameras are optimized for doing exactly that, no matter where on the field Sakura and Corvo will face off - in the oft-used and -abused ruins, or somewhere on the open field?

Yuna is in her Flight Form again, hovering next to one of the camera platforms, microphone at the ready as she awaits the combatants' arrival.

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    Another round, another fight... would this be the one he finally goes down on? Why does this matter to him? It shouldn't... it's not, like, it really matters, in the grand scheme. It won't bring his daughter back from wherever she's been taken away to. It won't save his dead Empress' people. It won't bring her back. ...Then why does it, matter, to him? It shouldn't... but it's, nice. To try. To compete. To fight in a way that doesn't involve a threat of death for him as well as a guarantee for safety for others. It's fun. It's... liberating.

    It's hard to read any of this, though, since he's suddenly not there, and then he's suddenly there, in a soft 'whf', his mask in place, his body tight, waiting, a swirl of dust around where he suddenly appears in a soft wash of boiling shadow.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    It's been a long tournament, and it's been pretty....taxing on Sakura Kasugano. Not quite in the mental sense, and unlike her opponent, her musings and worries are less on her past and more on her future. Not just her future in the tournament but her future AFTERWARDS, seeing as she's not in school anymore. Still...competition like this will always draw her, especially seeing as its her best showing since she started doing tournaments like this with the Union.

    Walking into the castle ruins that the fight is set to take place in, the schoolgirl doesn't even hear the din of her theme music anymore, the blare of the PAs far from the castle itself. It's a weird place to have a fight like this, that's for sure. "Hello? Anyone? Are you sure this is where our tournament fight is supposed to be?" She calls out, pulling the shoulder around her shoulder off and idly tugging at it as she looks for signs of life.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Hey Sakura! Hi Corvo!" Yuna calls out from her spot in the sky, waving to the two of them. "Let's have a good clean fight today, all right? Good luck to both of you!"

She finishes greeting them just before the signal comes through that they're live, and Yuna swivels around to face the camera, smiling as she speaks into the mic. "This is Yuna Kagurazaka, live at the Devil's Hand venue for the World Martial Arts Tournament, and everything is set for the quarter-finals match of Bracket C between Sakura Kasugano and Corvo Attano! They've both just arrived, and the referee is signalling the start -"

She ducks out of the camera's line of sight, letting the camerawoman (like her co-workers on their own floating platforms) focus on the beginning of the face-off ...

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    The man salutes silently, raising a hand to Yuna. A good clean fight? He'll certainly try. The one time a grenade was employed it was... a mistake. He was all about good clean fights. He might be a sneaky, skulking fuck, but he's always a cleanly fighting good clean fight-

    Other than, throttling people unconscious, of course.

    Anyway.

    Cough.

    But then Sakura is wandering around, trying to find someone out in the ruins Corvo seems to favor. On the one hand, he would sort of look up, gauging distances, and there would be a boiling 'whf' of shadows... and then, oh, there he is. A slight salute... and he's flipping a sword handle, that, unfolds, into a sword. Clickety click-clak! And then a quick swip-swip! of a blade flashing. The cuts, if he connects, would be thin and light and more pain and bleeding than anything- and if she's not quick trying to catch him, there'd be another shimmer of shadows and he'd be gone again, the jerk!

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    Hearing the calls from the sky, Sakura looks up and spots Yuna and the camera crew on a flying platform. Well, that answers one question. And with the announcement to signal the start of the fight, the street fighter hesitantly brings up her stance, knowing better than to be caught off guard if the fight is officially started.

    Thankfully, Corvo drops in, giving her a salute rather than blindsiding her...that gives her some relief knowing that she won't have to be worried about some kind of blindside. Still, with that sword flipping out, she remains tense, and it's a good thing since he rushes in on the former schoolgirl . The slice catches a thin line across her arm, and cuts through the side of her fuku top but little else. Wincing, she quickly tries to retaliate, a sharp jab out for his face and a low kick to try and hamper his movements should he try to escape to the shadows again.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And Corvo seems to be faster off the mark," Yuna starts, "closing the distance to Sakura and opening the fight with a quick little fencer's salute, followed by a couple of quick slashes ... and first blood goes to Corvo, but Sakura retaliates fast and hard, a punch to the face and a kick further down! Even with the mask that punch had to hurt ..."

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    It's a good thing he's wearing that mask, because that would- wow, ow, um, ow. That, really hurts- she's rather strong, and it snaps through his mask, aching through his face and neck- ow OW. He's distracted by this enough that when he's kicked he's sent to the ground in a crashing rattle of gear and goods, a couple of crossbow bolts skittering away and an odd little coiled thing sort of tipping onto it's side. He's left sprawling for, oh, a good second, dizzy and disoriented... and then 'whf', more shadows, a blur- behind her! And a swift jab at her, with the tip of the sword. Meant to hurt and harass, and then he'd dance away, a blur of whipping jacket and darkly edged blade.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    Catching Corvo before he can leap away, Sakura gives a silent cheer to herself, managing to ground him long enough to give pursut. She takes note of the bolts he drops and whatever other tools those are, but she pays them no mind for now. Instead, she goes straight for him. THe thrust of his short sort prompts her to twist away, another light cut through her fuku, but mostly just a scratch over her skin as she pivots aside.

    Not wanting to lose track of Corvo, she rushes in and tries to give him a quick side kick to the gut, not one that'll have much punch due to his backstepping, but should be enough to set him off balance.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And sure enough, Corvo seems to be reeling from that punch to the face - but he poofs to behind Sakura and tries to stab her - not deep, just the tip; he's still fighting by the rules after all!" Yuna grins briefly, then continues, "But Sakura's not letting up, and her leg lashes out to plant her foot in his gut ... think he was just on the edge of her range, but that still looks like it left a mark."

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    That... would work, except for the ribs that the guard back in Coldridge had found it funny to break that one time. As she kicks him, it doesn't break, but it certainly creaks and complains, and he whuffles and groans, ducking away, wincing at the bloom of ache in his side. He's a mass of scars, courtesy of the new regime's endless seeking of justice, however heavy a set of airquotes should be thrown on that. She's getting some solid hits, he has to admit it.

    He leaps back- and then leaps sideways, without touching ground, skipping out of range of further strikes. Too much, too close! He slips out of range, whipping out a little square contraption which clicks open into a complicated little crossbow, slapping some of those self-same quarrels in, lean and clean and black, and then would try to pockmark her with a couple of them in quick succession.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    Kicking Corvo flush, Sakura continues her pursuit, but when he starts leaping around, she finds it hard to keep up, and starts to slow down, frowning. She only barely sees the contraption he snaps out, but her instincts help take over when several bolts fly out toward her. The first barely manages to scratch her cheek, a small cut on her face. The other embeds itself into her shoulder, wincing before pulling the bolt out of her. "NNGhh..." Looking around, she tries to finally find him....and ends up leaping out to flying kick at the direction she hopes to find him in, again banking on her instinct.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And Sakura's kick sends Corvo dashing out of close-combat range; he's pulling out -" She pauses, blinking; she's seen it before, but ... "- huh, a crossbow? ... and switches to ranged combat, staying mobile! He's using his speed and his teleports to full effect now, and Sakura can't catch up to land a blow on him ..."

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    Another of those cheap little blooms of shifting shadows, and the man is just out of range, off to the side, dodging her as she sends a flying kick at where he used to be- one of the reasons he tries very hard to make sure he's never where he used to be. But he's burning too much energy, too much mana, too much personal fires, and he can't keep blinking around like a madman. So it's time to hamper her agility, if he can't keep his popping all over the place like a madman thing up. A spin, and a slicing jab at her leg, hoping to injure without wounding. Or is that wounding without injuring? Either way, pain, no real damage. Some blood. That's the theme of the day, apparently.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The flying kick unfortunately hits nothing but air, a small sound of frustration from Sakura as she lands without anything to show for it. Glancing around, she tries to keep track of where the mysterious shifting shadow man is...but she feels the strike at the back of her legs, the cut causing her to buckle a little. "Aaghh!" she cries out, hopping a little at the pain shooting through her leg.

STill, that helps give her an idea of where Corvo is, quickly striking out with a back elbow, pushing forward to push the point of her elbow toward his face. Whether that hits or not, she follows up with a cross, before lifting her leg up, nearly doing a standing split as she tried to drive an upward kick into the stealthy fighter.

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    Augh, BOLLOCKS, why do they ALWAYS GO FOR THE HEAD? He's got a bloody mask! Bloody void, always with the mask. Ow. OW. Ow. But that's nothing compared to the kick which catches him in the sternum, driving him up into the air... nice arc... and CRASH, out of breath, on his back, AGAIN.

    A few more bolts roll out... and another of those funny little things. It sinks down, and goes 'clk'.

    And his eyes go wide, under the mask.

    Then he's up, diving over the device, at Sakura... and there's no teleporting. He's lunging at her, trying to push her away- and the thing would go 'twingg!'

    A grenade?

    More like a mass of flying razorwire, filling the air with flashing metal. Him driving her back would be part of the potential damage. Hopefully it's the only thing that hurts her here. Springrazors are nasty.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna shakes her head a bit, "Corvo is REALLY moving around pretty fast, I can't even keep track of him except when he -" She pauses, wincing, "- lands a slash on Sakura ... owie. But Sakura's still fighting back, and I'm pretty sure she's hitting more often than she's missing. And -"

Another wince from the idol-turned-commentator, "He DEFINITELY felt that one. I hope that mask's armored and padded, for his sake! But still, headshots aren't stopping Corvo - what'd he just toss at Sakura? Compressed piano wire ... ?"

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The combo strikes home, giving Sakura some more confidence in pursuing Corvo, knowing that her attacks are hurting him. The bolts are...weird, but she isn't about to get too hung up on them. However, suddenly, she finds herself being tackled, the shoulder shove sending her back and landing hard on the ground. The twing of the spring razor is hurt, and she looks on rather surprised. She struggles to get some breath in her lungs, but she at least manages a nod to Corvo...not aware that it was his own device to begin with that nearly went off in front of her.

    HOwever, this IS still a fight, so as soon as she gets back up to her feet, she turns with a back kick, trying to thrust her sneakred foot into his chest and knock him away.

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    And he's kicked again. He's getting tired of her kicks. It IS better than being stabbed, or shot, but really? Not much fun. He scrambles up, before whipping his own foot down and around, trying to knock her off her feet too- turn about is fair play.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Well, whatever it was Corvo tossed at Sakura," Yuna continues, "it looks like he tried to push her *away* from it at the same time - and I still don't know what it was, but that's probably for the best given how he shoved her ... but Sakura gets back on her feet and back into the fight. She's pretty devastating with those kicks - and Corvo finally tries to give her a taste of her own medicine, with a kick of his own! Not sure how badly that's going to hurt her though, it didn't look as practiced as Sakura's own."

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The kick ends up connecting with her ankles as Corvo retaliates, but Sakura is able to catch herself on her feet, mitigating most of the damage from the fall. And with Corvo attacking close quarters like this, Sakura is a lot more confident in attacking him without him pulling out a sneaky shadow move again. So if that's how he wants to play it...why not? While she's down there, Sakura quickly sweeps her own leg out toward Corvo's leg and drop him down as well, keeping him from bamfing away hopefully.

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    He hits the ground. AGAIN. His ribs hurt, they HURT. They've been broken so many times and they HURT. Every time he hits the ground he reevaluates the whole 'better than stabbed/shot' thing, wincing and rolling and whimpering faintly. He twists, writhing, and- to be honest here completely out of spite- snaps out a kick, sort of, at her side, sort of sliding him across the ground but just that full of pique at the moment.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    That was definitely a kick worth writing home about. The sliding kick hits Sakura not only right along the ribs, but also right where one of the earlier light cuts was, doubly damaging her by nearly snapping something as well as tearing that cut open into something far more substantial than it was before. A cry of pain echoes through the empty castle ruins as Sakura rolls away, clutching her side where she got kicked.

Labored breathing comes in ragged gasps as he looks at Corvo, knowing she has to escalate now. Lifting her hands up to her forehead, a blue glow starts to surround her palms, collecting before she thrusts them out forward, the same manner as a certain half-Saiyan. "HADOUSHOU!!" she screams, as the blue energy explodes in a spark of chi, trying to blast Corvo away.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Corvo's good enough to trip Sakura up, though - did her guard waver a bit? - and she goes down as well ..." Yuna blinks. "And they're just kicking each other on the ground for a bit, before Sakura gets back on her feet and throws a - I guess that's a ki blast of some kind! Didn't look too focused, more like a shockwave of some kind, but it definitely packed a punch!"

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    The blast hits him, knocking him back and making him cry out in pain. He's flying, quite an arc and hits the ground hard. A skid, a wince. His head goes down... and then snaps up, eyes narrowed under the mask. He's running, faster than men can go, dashing, sliding... and then his own hand is thrown out-

    It's not a ki-blast, but the hard wall of wind would toss her back like a ragdoll, possibly into some of those nearby walls.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The mimicked Masenko seemed to do a good trick on Corvo, sending him flying and giving Sakura some room to breathe. Slowly pushing herself up, she nursed her ribs and tried to gauge how much damage was done to them....however, she had a lot less time to check that than she thought, as Corvo is suddenly running back toward her, in her face and...apparently tossing out some kind of wind attack, one that sent her flying backwards. "WAHH!!" She manages to twist away barely from a fallen column, instinct and body control rewarding her with 'only' a hard fall back to the hardscrabble castle floors.

    Wincing as she pulls herself back up to her feet, Sakura notices she's pretty far away from Corvo now. Which...well, looks like she'll have to fall back on her usual ranged option. Cupping her hands to her side (her good side, mind), she lets energy collect between her palms again, much like with the 'Hadoushou', but more concentrated. "HAaaaaaaaaaaaa...." Once it's about basketball sized, she thrusts her hands forward, letting the blue ball of energy fly straight toward Corvo's position. "-DOUKEN!!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"He gets knocked flying, but Corvo gets back up in short order - not just standing but *running*, how does he move like that?" Yuna shakes her head slightly. "And he throws a 'blast' of his own at Sakura ... I have no idea what it was but *she* gets knocked flying and has to steer clear of the rubble!"

Yuna pauses, blinking. The fight roamed that close to the ruins? "It's a rough landing for Sakura, but she gets back on her feet, gathering up a bunch of ki and throwing it Corvo's way in a focused shot!"

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    That hurt.

    He goes flying. Again. Slams into the ground. AGAIN. Things go rolling. AGAIN! He twitches. He smokes. He pulls himself to his feet... and then he's charging her, just flat out charging her. He's hurt, he's bruised and aching. He's not bleeding buckets but he's got his fire up, and although he doesn't hate her or anything, she's got his blood flowing. His blade goes back... and he would try to crack her upside the head with the hilt, before launching into a combo of his own. His moves are pure Serkonian, the fighting style vaguely mediterranean, a flurry of fists and boots and ire if not anger. He's smiling behind his mask, but it's a grim sort of smile.

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The Hadouken did the job, and it gave Sakura some time to advance in. But again, Corvo is faster to get back up than she gave him credit for, and by the time he charges at her, she's off balance enough that he's able to tear into her, at least figuratively. THe hit smash stuns her, sending the young street fighter reeling before his combo follow up batters into her, aggrivating her ribs and the cuts all over her and compounding all the minor damage she had taken earlier into something major. However, she realizes at this range is her best bet to survive.

Trying to shut out the pain, Sakura tries to find an opening before leaping up, leg extended out as she tries to spin and batter Corvo with repeated spinning kicks, shouting "SHUNPUKYAKU" as she gives him her version of the Ansatsuken Hurricane Kick.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"And Corvo breaks out his own martial arts skills, going hand-to-hand with Sakura as soon as he can get back into range!" calls out Yuna. "Fast but efficient and laying out the beatdown ... and Sakura comes back, retaliating with a special move - a whirling spin-kick of some kind, didn't quite catch the name she called it -"

"Shunpukyaku," interjects Elner.

Yuna sweatdrops. "Er ... right."

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    Battered, kicked, kicked, so many times kicked, and he's dropping back, hand shaking before his face in what would have caught a spill of blood from his lips- save that it spatters on the inside of his mask, leaving him to curse- and leaving it to leak out a bit between the wired-shut rictus of that grisly grinning visage, leaving a rather gruesome cast to his already rather creepy features, the skull mask apparently drooling blood now. Fun times!

    And then he's a whirlwind of blades- slashing, stabbing. Never very deep, but so many strikes, a flurry of cuts, a storm of swordwork. Shing, shingshingshingshing, SHING!

Sakura Kasugano (374) has posed:
    The Shunpukyaku hit, but not nearly enough to make up the damage that Corvo managed in his earlier combo, though the spill of blood from his mask looks quite nasty. Something she could appreciate later, but unfortunately for her, by the time she lands, she ends up caught up in the whirlwind of blades that Corvo creates, slashing and crashing and cutting into her enough that after a sharp cry of pain and anguish, Sakura can take no more, dropping down with several cuts and gashes over her, passed out on the hardscrabble castle floor.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Even with all those kicks so close together, Corvo's still on his feet - and he comes back with his blades, slashing at Sakura -" Another wince, although Yuna's voice doesn't reflect it. "- and she goes down hard ... the referee's calling it, and the win goes to Corvo Attano!"

Corvo Attano (398) has posed:
    Corvo... takes a moment to sit down. A lot of sitting down. In fact it's more of a falling over. He's still technically up, but oh he's winded... and worse. A few of his ribs are probably broken.