WMAT A2 Shizune Nakamura vs. Kasumi

WMAT A2 Shizune Nakamura vs. Kasumi
Date of Scene:	08 July 2014
Location:	Papaya Island - Stadium
Synopsis:	WMAT Shizune Nakamura vs. Kasumi
Cast of Characters:	106, 195, 369

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Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Evening has fallen in the world the WMAT calls home, but the bright lights and the roar of the people render time of day completely meaningless. It could just as easily be the middle of the day in a crowded city. Only one thing could bring out this big a crowd and draw a swarm of hovering newscraft overhead.

Another match in the World Martial Arts Tournament.

There's a spring in the step of Shizune Nakamura as she practically vaults up the stairs onto the fighting stage itself, smiling and waving for the crowd as they cheer her entrance. She isn't one to dally, though; the promise of an imminent fight has her jogging over to one side of the ring already, getting in place to await the start of the match.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
Evening, daylight, the time of day doesn't seem to matter for the nekomata, strolling her way from one end of the arena towards the center, giving cheerful waves to the crowd of onlookers and immediate fans. A trio of weapons line her body: a bow upon her back and sword and axe on her hips. Her ears are perked, tail high and face alight with contentment and happiness as she makes her way onto the arena stage proper, vaulting up and over and ending it with a bow towards her opponent.

"So, the former world champion of the tournament, huh? This will be enjoyable, don't you think?" She slowly approaches, the tap of her boots ring out from the floor, her sword at the ready this time. "Shall we dance the Netheworld Mambo?"

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Yuri Stinson is here on a Dogasus. One may wonder what a Dogasus is, and the answer is self-apparent. It is a horse-sized German Shepherd with color-coordinated wings. The Supernal Exalt circles over the arena on his mighty steed, "Ladies and Gentlemen, both competitors have entered the Arena. It looks like we're about to get underway soon. Will Kasumi claw her way to victory, or is Shizune going to lock in another battle?"

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
"I'm afraid I don't know the steps to that dance," Shizune replies with an amused look. "But I'm sure I'll be able to wing it." She steps closer to the middle herself, adjusting her fighting uniform just so, and then offers the nekomata a respectful bow in return, right fist pressed into left palm. A martial artist's salute. And finally she straightens, then slides back gracefully into a ready stance, left foot and arm both forward. For a moment, there is stillness.

Then Shizune lunges forward as if to toss a quick snap-punch at Kasumi's face, only to shift that momentum down her body into a quick spinning kick aimed at her opponent's waist instead.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
"You're about to find out." Kasumi responds, a grin upon her face as she readies herself, sword held back and feet staggered. The punch comes and she backs up only for the kick to strike home upon her waist, a grunt coming from her. "See, you know the steps. It's not that hard. You just try to kill your opponent!" She charges up the sword's blade with a sheath of white energy, the nekomata jumping back a bit out of the way of the martial artist. "Though, I'm sure we can change it up to the Netheworld Waltz!~"

Kasumi's blade flashes as the nekomata charges forth her sword out to the side, blade end pointing towards Shizune, hoping the dash by will cut up into the martial artist.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Circling overhead, Yuri looks down at the match, "Shizune opens up with a powerful punch-kick combo! Her martial arts skills are always impressive to see," He notes, feeding his steed a dog biscuit, "But her opponent takes those hits like a champ. And then steps in with a sword strike."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
"Kill-?!"

The choice in words startles Shizune enough that she's off her guard when Kasumi comes in, with the result that she takes a cut along her side before she can quite dance out of the way. There's a little hiss of pain, followed by her taking up her stance again - but now she's scowling just a little. "This is a nonlethal tournament. Trying to /kill/ each other will just get us both disqualified."

And then she's on the attack, moving in smoothly to try and undercut Kasumi's range with the blade. The problem with a sword is that someone getting too close will make it difficult to use; Shizune's fighting style, on the other hand, is perfectly at home at grapple ranges. Without skipping a beat, she drops herself low, attempting to duck under Kasumi's weapon and slam her own arm hard into the nekomata's chest.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
"I know!" Kasumi laughs a bit, "Don't worry, I'm not set out to kill you. That'd be not fair. Plus it'd hurt my chances with a contract with the Union and Confederacy if I'm killing allies now, would it." The Nekomata turns around, brandishing blade once more as she readies something else. "Plus disqualifying you and myself would be dishonorable AND hurt my relation with my Overlord! And I can't have that now. Otherwise I'd be out of house and home."

The little exposition there gives the martial artist a good range of attack, the arm slam smashes right into her chest and sends her skidding back a couple feet, a gasp of air coming from the sword wielding demon. "Mmm. You'd be at home in the Netherworld with those skills." she comments, launching herself up into the air to try and skewer her sword into Shizune. If successful, she'll spin around and around, whipping up a small hurricane in its wake before lifting up with the martial artist and slamming her down into the ground!

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
The Dogasus barks and flaps its wings as Yuri soars through the sky, "They're stopping for a brief conversation about tactics and rules, but then continuing their fight." He looks downward, "Shizune takes a rather nasty nick on the side. But the former champ won't let that stop her. She steps in and lands a heavy hit! Kasumi is a bit staggered and skidded, but coming back in with a mighty sword technique."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Shizune manages to avoid being impaled, but only just. She still takes that blade right along her (until now) uninjured side, and it bites deep even before Kasumi starts to spin. She lunges away, but the damage has been done, and when she comes up she's wincing a little, her stance more wary and cautious. "I suppose I can be satisfied with that," she says, though her tone is a bit disbelieving, given the sword technique Kasumi just used.

But still, she's not nearly out of the fight. Indeed, she lunges in with a pair of quick, almost loping steps, twitching her left hand as if to begin a quick snap-strike... purely with the intention of bringing Kasumi's guard up, so she can lash out for real with a quick chop to the catgirl's wrist. Her second blow comes when she simply drives that same left hand towards Kasumi's sternum, a quick but sharp punch accompanied with a harsh, "Haa!"

Kasumi (195) has posed:
After landing, Kasumi sheathes the sword and switches to her bow. "Good, if you seek me out after this, perhaps I can show you how to use those fists even better." Kasumi lets out a small laugh with a mixed in meow in it. "If you're okay with such!" Kasumi's readies her bow only for Shizune to make her way in, the lunges are seen and, without her blade, she can't deflect it so the next best thing?

Kasumi runs right into it, twisting her body so the fists graze across her body, landing and skidding off her dress. "Glad I had this armored." She rushes past the Martial artist and launches herself into the air, spinning around and drawing an arrow-less bow. "Shizune, was it?" the space between bow and string fills up with an energy arrow, the sound of energy charging into the bow fills the arena. "Dodge." she fires off the energy arrow, letting it split into multiple enemy-seeking homing beams attempting to strike at Shizune or anything around her, exploding into whatever the beams crash into.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Much belatedly, the Dogasus soars of the battlefield, as majestic as it is confusing to behold, "Shizune takes another nasty hit, but she wants to counter with a mighty combo meant to stagger her opponent. But I think the toll of that last hit may be affecting her strength a little. Kasumi capitalizes and wants to come in heavy, swinging a big arrow into her bow and sending it streaking towards her enemy."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
The armored dress comes as an unpleasant surprise to Shizune, who finds her blows only the faintest bit effective and her opponent vaulting in the air above her. She turns to look with alarm, and only has just enough time to lunge out of the way... and then have one of the tracking arrows explode right next to her arm. "Gh-!" She leaps to one side and this time keeps moving, avoiding the rest of the beams through speed and sheer luck, only to suddenly skid to a stop and turn to face Kasumi. "Thank you for the offer, but I already have a teacher."

Her hand abruptly whips out towards the last energy beam, beginning to whirl and spin, the air rippling with her ki as she uses it to carefully redirect the magical attack without ever touching it. The young martial artist directs it around herself in a swift turn before whipping her hand and loosing the projectile back at its owner, a move which causes the dust around her feet to ripple as if from a sudden puff of air. A careful eye might see that it's taken the form of a yin-yang symbol on the ground around her.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
Kasumi nods. "You're welcome." she responds, landing on the ground, sidestepping the returned projectile, having it singe the fur upon her ear. Behind her, the projectile explodes into the grass, framing the nekomata walking slowly towards the human. "You're an interesting person, you know that? Not once have I had someone redirect one of those." Suddenly, she splits into three: A yellow, red and blue Kasumi continue to walk towards Shizune, all three having a smile.

The Yellow and Blue Kasumi's finally dash forth as a beam of light frames the three and hopefully Shizune, in an energy pyramid. "YOu're the first one I get to use this on!" comes the three in chime, firing off a single energy arrow at Shizune. Assuming it hits, the three will turn around and pull on a small beam of light, causing the three arrows to explode.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
The mighty and valiant Dogasus soars through the sky, "Those exploding arrows sure do a number on the returning champion! She's staggered, but she wants to keep going! She tries to turn one of the projectiles back on its owner! Kasumi is ahead of the game, though, and sidesteps! She's advancing with a three-way split of herself!"

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
There is no time for Shizune to properly react. It's a point blank shot from three angles that has her trapped. All she can do is trust her instincts and move in the spur of the moment. Air shimmers around Shizune's arm again as she moves, whipping herself to one side and grabbing through the space she just occupied. She grabs hold of one of the arrows - an act that sears her hand, causing a grimace, but doesn't slow her in whipping the projectile through a flourish to deflect the other two and then tossing it away.

And despite her hand injury, she turns and uses that hand to drive a blow at Kasumi's chest, waiting for the precise moment three become one again to hit the nekomata with a palm strike. Straight-on this time, no glancing hits or snap attacks, and her ki ensures that the palm hits with the force to shatter concrete.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
Kasumi's copies somersault back into the red copy, righting the nekomata's color pallet, "Seems you have trouble dancing this dance, huh?" the bow is stowed and the axe is drawn. "Here, let me change up my tempo." She smirks, the martial artist getting close. Before the palm strikes, Kasumi throws her axe around the marial artist, sending it into the sky like a boomerang. "Let's tussle." She rushes into the melee, the palm striking chest, causing the nekomata's breath to halt for a moment, gasping out as the sound of something shattering under that dress of hers. Metal falling down to the ground from the dress. A tiny bit of blood escapes her lips, a fanged grin coming from her.

"You're strong, but..." she winds up and sends a palm strike of her own, hoping to launch Shizune up into the air and right into her axe's return path. "Take this!" Assuming a launch, the axe will come spinning down towards her target, hoping crashing into the back of her and slamming her into the ground.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
Overhead, Yuri is calling out the match valiantly, "Talk about two different fighting styles. Shizune is sticking to her FUNDAMENTALS. Good, basic Martial arts. She wants to stick and move and she's flowing naturally, even despite all those injuries. Kasumi, on the other hand, is a full-on weapons master. She's using a number of different styles to try to keep the pressure on her opponent." The Dogasus barks in agreement.

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Though Shizune dodges around the axe on her way in, it's clear she doesn't see it as a threat, having noticed the lack of direct aim in it. But the palm strike lands hard, knocking Shizune right up into the air, and the only way she avoids being cleaved in twain by an axe tossed like a boomerang is by turning herself in the air and slapping at just the right moment. But there's enough force behind that throw that just deflecting it hurls her to the ground, hard, in a landing that actually takes her a moment to get up from. She's gonna be bruised all to hell on top of her other injuries.

But she's taken beatings before, this bad or worse. Her whole body aches, but she can still move, and after a moment she comes to her feet with a grim, appraising expression. Kasumi seems to be a skilled weaponmaster. Any attack she does is dangerous by its nature. The best option is to try and prevent her from attacking.

And thus Shizune hurls herself into range. She is not fast, but she is fast enough. She is not strong, but she doesn't need to be. She flows into a blow that leads to another, a punch to a kick to an elbow, a seamless combination of four blows in total designed not just to attack the nekomata, but to keep pressure on her, to keep her on the defensive.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
The knock to her axe in air sends the axe flying wide from having Kasumi catch it, as it flies way past her and embeds it into one of the stadium walls. Kasumi's eyes were following that, only turning her head back towards the Martial Artist. "That was my best axe you sent flying..." she curls her large paws into a pair of fists and moves to mimic the fighting stance done by Shizune at the match beginning. "I'm not just skilled with weapons, Shizune. Maybe this is a dance we can both share!"

Kasumi launches herself into Shizune moving arms to try and block each strike but the speed at which Shizune's moving her entire body has every single blow ringing true upon the Nekomata, more and more chunks of metal falling down from the dress as Kasumi tries dancing between each blow and failing. Her body's bruised and battered, visibly panting with how long this has gone on. She'll need to end this if this is how her opponent's going to continue.

Wordless, she starts to go on the offensive this time, twirling around to thwap Shizune with her tail before bringing a high kick up into her, hoping to launch her once more into the air. She would follow with more kicks, launching herself off pockets of air with each strike of her large clawed feet, each spin and kick is followed by a nya from the nekomata. The last hit would send her victim down into the ground with a crater making force.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"What an exchange of blows we are seeing here, folks!" Yuri calls from on the back of his self-made fictional creature, "Neither fighter wants to let up on the others! And it's coming down to a full-on brawl here as the two contestants get in close and start throwing some real slobber-knocker style hits! This all feels like anyone's game right now, and boy it is hard to tell if either one has the upper hand."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Prepared for the counterattack, Shizune brings her arms up to deflect the tail, hopping off the ground in order to let her whole body ride the strike away like a leaf on the wind - but then Kasumi follows it up with a high kick that sends her skyward, followed by several more kicks; the martial artist deflects, softens, rolls with the blows, but each one still takes its toll, and by the end of the attack she's much more battered than she was when her opponent launched it. Injuries are starting to tell, and when she's sent back towards the ground, it takes all the skill and physical ability Shizune can summon up to land without taking further injury.

But no sooner does she land in a crouch than the young lady launches herself right back up into the air. Soaring as if gliding on the wind, she hurtles straight up towards Kasumi, turning herself in mid-air to try and drive a fierce, rising kick right into her opponent's midsection, then push off and away to open some distance.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
Before Kasumi could even land on the ground, the kick smashes right into her midsection, sending her flying towards the edge of the arena, crashing right into the arena with a loud crash. She slumps over from the attack and doesn't seem to move until a large peice of concrete lands upon her head. She yowls in pain and clutches her stomach and head from the injuries sustained, the Nekomata's entire body bruised all over from the melee, groaning as she moves to stand up, undoing her bow from her back and readying herself.

"Mmm.. she's strong. Stronger than I realized, even with my holding back." she mutters, shaking her head a bit. She looks around the area, eyeing her axe nearby. She gives a light nod, dashing towards it then yanking it out of the wall. She places her bow on the ground, end first and pulls back the bowstring before loading HERSELF into it. "Incoming delivery." she grins, firing herself off towards the martial artist.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"Oh man! Shizune is doin some wirefu anime bullshit up in here with a crouching pose into a leaping strike like the mighty wushu masters of old!" Yuri calls, the Dogasus swooping around in the air, "A solid hit landed on Kasumi, who takes it in stride and turns back her assault on her opponent! She FIRES HERSELF FROM HER OWN BOW! Like some totally weird shit I've never seen before. Will it work?!"

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Warily, Shizune circles as Kasumi moves, watching the nekomata with no small amount of caution. She's got the ranged advantage over Shizune, whose options outside of close combat are severely limited, and so the girl does not cross the distance for fear of another ranged attack. So she'll wait for an opening. Wait for the right moment to...

"...you can't be serious," Shizune murmurs a half-second before impact.

The sheer force is enough to crack ribs, resulting in a pained "WHFF!" as Shizune tries and fails to evade. She ends up turning only just in time to let Kasumi's momentum carry her past, and when the martial artist resumes her ready stance, her breathing is labored, her collected injuries leaving her aching. But there is still iron in her eyes. Watching the nekomata's movements. Gauging her. Waiting and observing for some unknown cue-

And suddenly she lunges in again, turning as if preparing to swing an overhand blow, but telegraphing it enough to make it easily dodgeable. Shizune uses the momentum to turn herself upside-down, putting herself in a handstand that allows her to split her legs apart and, with all the strength her arms can muster, begin to turn. One leg lashes out after another, again and again, an unorthodox attack coming from an odd angle with all the physical control and agility Shizune can muster.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
The crash into Shizune and the launch past gives Kasumi enough time to reequip her axe to her hand, smiling. She lands and skids, creating a small dust cloud, looking up towards the martial artist. "I've enjoyed this. You've pushed my skills to the limit and then some. I'd be honored to train under YOU sometime. If to know more about using my fists better. However..." the lunging in causes the Nekomata to step backwards, watching the martial artist warily.

Spinning? Legs out? This is highly unorthodox, at least coming from the nekomata who used herself as a projectile. She makes the mistake of studying the attack only to take the lashing out limbs straight on, each smash of the legs into her body causes her to spin and drop more and more metal armor from under that dress of hers, most of those peices coated with some amount of blood on them.

"Nngh." she coughs hard, some of that blood coming out again with the cough. "Nngh... need to finish this.." she lunges again towards Shizune, swinging her axe into an uppercut motion, light trails following the axe head. She's hoping to launch the martial artist up, follow her and smash her down into the ground then rip up the ground with her axe and drag Shizune's face with it, creating an earthquake as she goes along. Somewhere, on this planet, quite a few trees drop and might make a sound.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"What an intense match this has been so far, folks! Both competitors have been taking bone-shatteringly powerful attacks and then dealing them right back out without a moment's pause." Yuri calls from the back of his mount, "And another round of that is happening here and now! Shizune is leaping in with a mighty set of kicks, meant to be a handstand combo of some incredible level of skill! Her opponent takes a good number of them and boy does she look tired from it. But Kasumi is also not going to give up here. The feline fighter launches a brutal series of attacks with her axe that look incredibly painful."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Shizune makes the mistake of trying to go over the lunge, leaving her in the air to take another slash from the axe, and throwing her into the air for the incoming slash. She only just manages to brace herself against the drag and keep from getting utterly mulched, but it still scrapes her up badly, tearing at her skin and slamming at her body hard enough to exacerbate the injuries she's already taken. When she finally breaks free, she's even more of a mess. Breathing hard. Barely standing. Even her glasses are cracked.

For a moment, she stays in that wary, pained stance. And then her eyes close, and she takes a breath. Lets it out. Nice, and slow. In her heart, she accepts that she's probably lost. Her opponent is just too much.

But accepting loss just means that you have nothing left to lose. And so in accepting her loss, Shizune decides to go all out on a mad gamble.

Another breath. In, out. Slowly, Shizune flows through a kata. Smooth, graceful. Anyone who knows anything about martial arts or the fitness craze at all could recognize the slow and elegant movements of a tai chi form. Her arms move across herself. The air around her ripples as if disturbed by her breathing. She ends in a stance with one arm lifted but curled down, and one arm lowered but curled upward, and the dust still clinging to the air briefly forms into a yin-and-yang symbol behind her.

And then she is forward motion. She is not swift, but she is sure. She is graceful. She draws her ki through her body into her hand, whirls through one last, graceful wind-up, and attempts to simply drive her fist into Kasumi's body underneath her guard, with all the physical force and supernatural energy she can muster, enough to make the air ripple like summer heat on a blacktop road.

Kasumi (195) has posed:
The move not only finishes off those trees elsewhere, her axe snaps in two, the blade stuck in the ground as she is left there holding the handle to it. A Netherworld curse is muttered at it before she lobs it behind her, readying her fists once more. "This was well fought, Shizune. I appreciate the combat. We should spar some more when its not a bunch of money and honor on the line now, should we?" she smirks, her tail snapping around a bit in an excited manner.

She lids her eyes a bit, watching the pained stance, listening to the breaths. She's seen this before, or a variant of it. "Hmm? Netherworld Martial Arts relaxation technique? Oh sardines!" Kasumi rushes in, her fist glowing as she readies something, its now or never. She winds up and heads to meet the martial artist fist on fist and face to face. Thrusting her fist forward, she lets off a blast of energy that clouds the area in dust, letting out a loud groan of pain as fist hits body!

Dust swirls, the laser continues on its path and crashes into the wall. Did the laser cut right through the martial artist?! As the dust settles, the nekomata's fist is shown to the side and past Shizune's body, completely off the target while Shizune's fist is right in line with her chest! "Well... done."

The stored up kinetic energy blasts the nekomata across the arena and into the wall once more, sending more and more rubble down upon her, the nekomata slumping over and not responding when another concrete bit smacks down on her head. As that dust settles, the one thing showing on the nekomata's body is a thumbs up from her large pawed hand and a smile upon her face.

Yuri Stinson (106) has posed:
"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS!" Yuri calls from the back of his mighty Dogasus, "In a battle where these two competitors matched eachother almost blow for blow, where every round was too close to call, and every hit could almost be felt up here in the commentator's box?" The announcer cries out, "Kasumi has been buried under a pile of rubble, but is STILL a good enough sport to give her opponent a big thumbs up! What a great competitor! And congratulations to Shizune Nakamura, who will be moving on to round three!"

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Shizune holds her posture for several seconds, her body low, fist at full extension, her body visibly heaving as she takes big, gasping breaths. That was a full exertion, pushing her body to what would already be her limit were she completely uninjured. Quite literally everything she had.

Which naturally means that she has nothing left. Her left leg finally gives out, and she collapses to the ground, not even able to support herself on her arms. The girl ends up lying on her back, still bleeding and battered, utterly dazed; but as the medics come to collect her, she does finally manage to lift her arm, turning to look in Kasumi's direction.

A thumbs-up is given in reply. Good match.