Round 1
The Setting:
Much to the annoyance of several Nerima residents, a few of the roads in the residential districts had been closed down for the evening. Many more citizens, however, were very glad of this. The streets had been closed down to make room for temporary bleachers, which would allow them all a good view of the martial arts battle that would soon be raging. The battleground was a vacant lot in the residential district, which was itself rather unremarkable except for a few large pipes which had been stacked up in one of the corners. It was surrounded on three of its sides by cement walls, and on its other side by the street.
Reiko Satomi walked slowly through the gathering crowds, dressed in a black hooded cloak. For the time being, she didn't want to attract any attention to herself, and was dressed appropriately for avoiding the scrutinty of the onlookers. She moved in as close as she could to the empty lot, and took a good look. The jaguar-girl thought to herself, "Pretty simple field... Since I'm only up against one opponent, open ground like this should be okay. Still, a ninja perfers the shadows, where one can confuse their opponent."
She started walking down the street, her eyes still on the empty lot. She continued thinking, "No water around... that's too bad. Well, it shouldn't matter, cause it looks like it could rain any second." It was true... the clouds were gray and the sky was grumbling. It hadn't looked like that a moment ago, but in Nerima, the weather often changed rather quickly and unpredictably.
After taking stock of the situation, Reiko wandered back into the crowds to get ready for her match. As she did this, Sirach Shinra arrived on the scene. He was dressed in his baby blue colored gi, and all of his other battle gear. Looking up to the sky, he looked a little bit worried. The young man remarked to no one in particular, "Oh man... no one said anything about rain. Well, who cares. It'll be embarassing to fight as a gorilla, and I might not be very fast, but I will get stronger."
He walked off to get ready for the fight, and noticed that the event's staff were hurriedly trying to put up rain covers over the bleachers they had erected. Apparently, no one was prepared for misbehaving weather. As everything got set up, and all the spectators had moved into their places, the announcer took the mic. He said, "Welcome, everyone, to another exciting martial arts showdown! Today we have a couple of competitors who aren't exactly regulars in our fine community of Nerima. Nevertheless, we expect a heck of a battle!"
The clouds grumbled again, very loudly. The announcer waited for all this to end before continuing. He said, "Introducing the first of our combattants. A new employee of the Nekohanten, and a young man who claims to have defeated our own Ranma Saotome, it's none other than Sirach Shinra!"
The young man walked onto the field, holding up his hands so the crowd would recognize him. He was still dressed in his strange baby blue colored clothing, and walked out to the center of the empty lot. As the clapping from the audience stopped, he started a little bit of pre-battle meditation.
The announcer then went on, "And our next fighter... A mysterious young lady who..." The announcer adjusted his glasses a bit, not believing what he saw on the paper in front of him. A little hesitantly, he went on, "... says that he's a dimension travelling demon hunter. The young lady is, Reiko Satomi!"
The crowd didn't seem to buy Reiko's claims of being a demon hunter of some sort, but they'd heard weirder things before out of the mouths of martial artists. The young lady walked onto the empty lot, still wearing her black cloak. Sirach took a look at his approaching opponent, and frowned. He didn't know what was up with all the secrecy and mystery, but he figured it was all just an act.
Reiko made it to the center of the field, and feeling that everyone's eyes were upon her, she pulled off her cloak in a quick motion, and tossed the whole thing aside. Everyone got a look of her wild features... the hair, the teeth, and her cat-like eyes. Several persons in the crowd gasped at her look. Sirach just rolled his eyes.
She frowned. She had expected a much bigger reaction to her appearance from the crowd. After all, she had come into this tournament to get everyone's attention so she could somehow find her partner. "Oh well," she thought to herself, "If I can win this tournament, I'll attract a lot more attention than just this."
Sirach looked over at her, and shook his head. He said rather rudely, "You're not fooling anyone, lady. I know it's all just a big act. Pretending you're all mysterious and strange. Trying to scare people by dressing up like some sorta cat girl..."
Reiko's eye twitched a bit at what he'd called her.
The young Sirach went on, "No one is buying it. Only weak martial artists go through all the big productions and shows to scare their opponents like that, and believe me, I see right through it."
Reiko shrugger her shoulders, and said, "Believe whatever you want, it really makes no difference to me. I'm here to win this martial arts tournament, and nothing else."
Sirach snorted, and said, "Whatever..."
The two dropped into their fighting stances as the referees got ready to start the match. At the same time, the clouds rumbled loudly overhead, threatening at any moment to pour down rain upon the battleground.
Comments:
Nyoko Metallium
Well for one Sirach automatically underestimated her form just because he *assumed* that she was faking it. For all intents and purposes she could really *be* a err... "cat girl". She's calm and confident, taking note where all her surroundings are while he appears to be reckless. Her cool poise will eventually result in her triumph.
Tachibana13
Like Spanner mentioned in the Chen/Matoko fight , the polls were a great idea. What we have here is a jaguar lady and a guy who was exposed to this stuff pretty much through out his entire life. While Reiko's appearance may shock some, it doesn't for Sirach. As mentioned when Reiko took off her cloak , Sirach rolled his eyes. And with all of his moves, Reiko doesn't have a chance. She will put up a good fight but it has to go to Sirach.
Zelsy
Because I believe that Reiko has more advantages than does Sirach. I also like her water attack. Sirach is also younger, although there is potential, I believe that Reiko will get angry at the taunts, and will let anger rule some of her actions, leading her to victory.
Hitman25
Don't get me wrong. Reiko is very skilled and all. However, the power that Sirach holds is simply insane. Reiko phisically seems to have an advantage... but in overall power, Sirach would be too much for her. I give this match to him.
Ryouga Hibiki'00
Sirach has this in the bag. He might run into a little trouble because of the rain and Reiko's water powers but with his gorilla strength , he could send her flying. And just like any Anything Goes match , there is always some odd way that a cursed person will return to normal and when that happens , the match will end.
Spanner
Sirach Shinra has a simply blistering array of moves in his arsenal, and his only real weakness is one that Reiko simply won't take advantage of. Sirach is probably a little easier to handle in his cursed form, but if Reiko ever triggers that curse, she'll either change him back, or let him change back on his own (if Reiko tries the latter, she'll be in for a nasty surprise, when Sirach continues to beat on her in his cursed form). Reiko's only hope will be to dodge almost every blow by changing into water. Somehow, I doubt that this is a tactic that she will use. The victor: Sirach Shinra.
Thrythlind
Sirach is being overconfident...he has her pegged as a fake...and is near to really pissing her off....Reiko isn't operating much on restraint right now, she wants to make a big show...she won't hesitate, he will hold back....if he happenes to transform it might slow her down a moment as she tries to figure out what happened, but otherwise he's bound to be on the ropes before he can bring his ki attacks to bear....
The Fight:
The referee shouted, "Fight!"
Reiko thought to herself, "I've got to see what sort of style he uses... I'll let him attack first to get a better understanding of how he fights." Of course, she barely had time to let these thoughts cross her mind before Sirach was on the attack. Apparently he wanted to bring a quick conclusion to the match.
He was very fast, and it was all Reiko could do to jump out of the way of his punches. She recognized that if this kept going on, she was going to get worn out and get hit.
Sirach realized his advantage. He thought to himself, "A fighter who starts on the defensive has defeated himself. Time to put this cat girl down." He brought back his fist and threw another quick punch. Reiko ducked and rolled, barely getting under the fist in time. Sirach smiled to himslef as he thought, "Gotcha..." He kicked out at the rolling Reiko, right into where her evasive maneuver would take her.
At the last moment, Reiko planted her hands on the ground and stopped her roll, allowing Sirach's foot to pass through the air in front of her. She sprung off the ground with her hands, and kicked out with both of her feet at her opponent's jaw. Sirach was not expecting the sudden counter move, and was caught right where Reiko had aimed her attack, causing him to stagger back several steps before regaining his footing.
He rubbed his jaw a bit where he had been hit as he stared at his opponent. She was smiling back at him, much to his annoyance. He said, "You got a lucky hit... But you won't get a second, cat girl!" He quickly pulled his prayer necklace off of himself and threw it out at his opponent.
She saw the projectile coming, but didn't know what to make of it. It didn't look like a particularly potent weapon, but nevertheless, she didn't want to be unpleasantly surprised. She shot a stream of pressurized water out of her hand at the necklace, intending to deflect it.
Sirach saw what his opponent was doing, and smiled to himself. He shouted, "Kouraiju!" just as the stream of water connected with his necklace. A bolt of lightning suddenly struck out from the dark, cloudy sky above and hit the necklace. In an instant, the electricity traveled through the stream of water and into Reiko. The dimensional traveler was caught completely by surprise, and after being thoroughly shocked, she fell down, steam rising off of her form.
The Lucky Gods martial artist raised a brow at his fallen enemy, and said, "Is that it? Geez... I thought you were supposed to be some big shot demon hunter or something. I guess I was right about you... I mean, it's too bad, really, after you went through all the trouble of making yourself look like a freak in order to scare me."
Reiko was still conscious, and Sirach knew it. After hearing his words, especially the part about the 'freak,' Reiko gritted her teeth, and started to stand up again. She growled, "What did you call me...?"
Sirach expected that his words would annoy his opponent, although she seemed a little more angry than he had anticipated she would be. "It doesn't really matter," he thought to himself, "An angry fighter is a sloppy fighter, and all I need is a couple good hits to end this match." He brought his hands together as Reiko started to charge him. He shouted, "Neo Star Buster!" However, just before he could do his move, it started to rain.
Sirach was soaked almost instantly by the sudden downpour, turning into his cursed gorrila form. This change completely threw off his concentration, causing his ki attack to fizzle. Reiko saw what happened as she charged, and was confused. Her enemy turned into some sort of large animal. She came to a stop, and asked the referees, "What happened to him?"
The referees tried to warn her by pointing to the gorilla frantically, but she didn't catch on. Sirach did what was most appropriate in the situation, punching her in the gut while she stood there. As a gorilla, he wasn't anywhere near as fast as he usually was, but he was much stronger. Reiko reeled from the blow, and stumbled back a few steps. The attacks she had taken so far, although few in number, were doing a lot of damage to her. Still, she hung on, and said, "You animal! I don't know where you came from, but you're going down!"
Reiko's realm of extertise wasn't in fighting quick, human martial artists. The gorilla, whoever he was, was much more along the lines of the demons she usually faced. She jumped up into the air, trying to get in a kick at his head. Sirach responded by throwing a strong punch again, but it was slow enough so that Reiko could twist her body in the air to get around it. Getting through his defenses, she kicked him right in his face before springing off to get away from any possible counter attack.
Sirach growled. The attack didn't hurt him very much in his current state, but it annoyed him that he was in his cursed form now in the middle of a tournament match. This was NOT what he has planned on. "It doesn't matter," he thought, "even in this form I can perform most of my moves." He looked around, searching for his opponent so he could lay down some hurt. Much to his dismay, he saw nothing but the dirt of the empty lot, covered in a few small puddles thanks to the rain. He turned around, thinking, "What the... did she run away?" The crowd, apparently being more aware of the situation than he was, simply gasped as they watched.
Suddenly, he felt something strongly impact with the back of his head from above, sending him face first into the ground below. He growled and got up, looking all around for his enemy. Still, he could see nothing. He closed his eyes, and thought, "I'll search her out... Dragon Fist True!" His senses extended out across the field, but he couldn't pick up his enemy's ki signature anywhere. It didn't make any sense...
Again, he felt two feet slam into the back of his head again, but this time he didn't fall down. He quickly reached back behind him and grabbed into Reiko's feet. "Now, it's over!" he thought as he flung her quickly down toward the ground. As he looked, however, all he saw was water falling... his hands were empty. He tried to keep himself from getting frustrated as he thought, "Okay... there's no way she's dodging this. Akai Rai Kaeru!" He projected his ki into the ground, and blasts began to erupt out of the empty lot all over the place. In fact, a few of them came out of the ground underneath the spectators, causing general chaos.
Reiko, currently in her puddle form, thought to herself, "This is bad... If one of those things comes up under me, it's going to hurt. He'll see it, and I'll lose my advantage, but I've got to make a move now. There's only one safe place to be right now." One of the puddles in the lot started to rise, before taking a roughly humanoid shape. It then congealed into Reiko, who jumped into the air.
Sirach saw all of this, and stopped his ki blasting. He thought, "So, that's it... Well, it's not going to work again, and now that her trick is exposed, she's going down." He started to power up another of his stronger ki blasts, preparing to shoot Reiko out of the sky, but she acted first.
She yelled, "Yugi Kiri!" and sprayed out a blast of steaming hot water toward her foe. He was changed back to his human form by the blast, and more than that, he was hurt by the hot temperature of the water. Reiko then fell down upon him, stopping her blast and kicking Sirach strongly under the chin.
Inconveniently, it stopped raining as quickly as it had started. Sirach took the full brunt of Reiko's attack, and no longer had his increased endurance due to his cursed form. He managed to keep from falling down into one of the shallow puddles scattered about the battlefield, and thus, was able to remain in his human form. He looked at his adversary, and growled, now very angry that things were taking a turn against him.
Reiko smiled a bit. She didn't know the gorrila had turned back into her opponent, but she guessed that in some strange way they were the same person... He didn't seem to have control over his change, however.. something Reiko would have to investigate later... Perhaps he was some sort of demon? That wasn't too important at the moment, however. She was feeling a little drained from all her water attacks and transformations, and needed a moment to rest before renewing her attack.
Sirach yelled, "Now it's time I got serious! You're going to feel the full force of my real attacks, and there's not a thing you can do about it you freak!" He closed his eyes and thought of the person who he hated most on Earth... Ranma Saotome. Several images of Ranma flashed through his mind, and he started to gather ki from the ground beneath him. Reiko didn't know what to make of his actions, but decided that it was going to be something bad. Suddenly, he yelled, "Blaster Wave!" and his ki errupted from the ground. Reiko saw this, and ran and jumped up into the air to avoid getting hit by the large wave that came out of the ground. She avoided it, but Sirach didn't seem annoyed in the slightest. In fact, he smiled.
"I've got you now, you cat-looking, inhuman FREAK!" He jumped into the air, and brought his feet up, preparing for his kick flurry attack. As he came in close, and was about to begin his attack, the Airborne Reiko reacted.
She shouted, "Kori Kiri!" and shot out another burst of water. Sirach hmphed... More hot water wouldn't stop him at all... unfortunately, the water was not hot, but very cold. It coated him and quickly encased him in a block of ice. Being unable to fight back, he simply started to fall back toward the ground. Reiko growled, "Who are you calling inhuman, you gorrila boy!"
Sirach knew his situation was bad. He was trapped in ice and couldn't fight back. Gathering his ki, he prepared to send out a blast that would shatter the ice and free him. In a bright flash, he released his energy and freed himself from his prison. Unfortunately for him, at this time he was scant inches off the ground. He didn't have time to readjust himself, and hit the ground head first. All the blows he had taken in the head so far added up, and it was too much for him to handle. With a groan, his body went limp.
The referees prodded him a few times, and when he didn't rise, the announcer said, "And our winner is Reiko Satomi! Congratulations to her on moving to the next round of the tournament!"
Reiko smiled, and bowed to the crowds. This was just what she wanted... The higher she got in the rankings, the more publicity she'd get, and the better chance she'd have of attracting the attention of her partner. She walked off, accepting the cheers of the crowd.
The Results:
Reiko Satomi: 10
Sirach Shinra: 6
I got more votes this time, but that's probably because I left the darned match running for so long =( None of them seemed to be multi-votes, which either means that it was never a problem to begin with, or you guys have just gotten better at cheating ^_^ Seriously though, thanks to everyone who votes honestly. Oh... one other thing. A somewhat repetative patten in the comments was that Sirach was completely overconfident. I apologize if this strongly influenced anyone's opinions... I saw that this was one of the most lop sided of the matches (seed wise, and in my own opinion) so I added a few elements to the setting to try and give people a reason to think about it a bit. Again, I apologize if the way I wrote the setting strongly altered the results.