[Round 2] Hoshiko vs. Joel

Round 2.

She'd honestly made it. When Hoshiko first entered this tournament, she did it for a multitude of reasons. And no matter what motives she had, or how well she thought she could fight, this was a surprise. The woman was a fresh fighter. New blood that had barely been tested before. Her next match was surely just going to be tougher.

The thought of it got her blood pumping.

Flashing herself an award winning smile in the locker room mirror, the one armed kunoichi would judge herself over. While she'd been taken to the med station after her fight, her ribs were still tender. Thankfully, her leg was as good as new, because she wasn't exactly looking forward to being down to only two good limbs.

With a sigh, the ninja would run her hand through her short cut hair and push away from the sink, heading now for the door. She'd chosen the exact same get up as for her last match, seeing as no one felt on informing the fighter that each fight was going to be at a new locale. Sucks to be her, right?

Hoshiko would yank open the door to the locker room, and power through on her way down the hall. Had to start getting pumped up!

"Er...huh?"

Hoshiko would stutter in surprise, as she walked out of the locker room to a most peculiar scene.

Fanboy Wrote:

> "Hothico!"

Oh no.

Fanboy Wrote:

> "Hothico! I prepared a speshal weapon for your fight today! Please accept my gift!"

Oh god no.

"A...a present?" She'd stammer out, using her one arm to scratch at the back of her head rather sheepishly. The woman didn't have a clue who this creeper was, or where the hell he came from, but he was most definitely messing with her mindset. And, you know, creeping the poor girl out.

Wait, are those tears?

"You really, uhm, shouldn't have? But I gotta get going. I have someone I need to beat up." She'd reply, peaking around the man like she was in a hurry. Damn, he was sure good at blocking up exits.

My fanths?

Holding back the urge to facepalm, hard, Hoshiko would regard the man with a straight face. Ninja training came in handy here, where she wasn't to show any sort of emotion. With a begrudging grunt, the ninja girl would delicately pluck out this secret weapon from it's container.

"You're....you're serious, aren't you?" She'd ask him, a slender brown eyebrow arched high. It took her a long couple seconds to ponder over his offer, but eventually the girl caved. It wasn't necessarily that he was suggesting it was extra points....no. that was it.

Grabbing firmly to what little material there was, Hoshiko would push away her #1 fan before heading back to the locker room to change. Somewhere, in the back recesses of her head, she was laughing at her own foolishness. "Go get a spot to watch the fight, creeper." She shout over her shoulder before dipping out of sight.

A few minutes later, the kunoichi was strolling across the beach in what was turning out to be a rather uncomfortable getup. Sourly, the woman would cast her green gaze behind her, contemplating turning back and changing again. That wouldn't be an option though. She'd gone too far.

Without having to say a word, the crowd lingering on the beach would part for the bodacious fighter, allowing her a clear path straight to the shoreline. Ever so gingerly, the fighter would wade through the water until it was well up to her waist before setting out to actually start swimming towards the arena.

Now, if you've never seen a one armed woman swim....it's awkward. But it works.

Grunting, Hoshiko would pull her torso up onto the wooden platform. Then, swinging a leg up onto it, the woman would roll the rest of her mass on. Not exactly graceful, but she made do with what she had. Finally, the woman would stand up and glance around her, her only arm covering up what it could.

Did there really have to be so many people?

Somewhere in the crowd of people watching, there was someone who had the vantage point to see and hear all of what just went on.

That person was pissing himself/herself laughing.

"Huh?"

Blinking and peering behind her, Hoshiko would note her superfan running down the beach, every bit the awkward nerd he was. Oh god, he's back. But wait! He had her sword! Grinning now, the fighter would wave her encouragement for his efforts.

All up until he chucked the wakizashi into the water.

-_-

So much for that.

Opponent Wrote:

> "Glad you could make it. Don't get too relaxed, though."

Spinning around to face the man, the one armed warrior would judge her obvious opponent. Judge him, and wonder how the hell she'd missed spotting him in her swim over. Certainly looking the role of tough guy, Joel looked like a much more dangerous opponent than her first round match up. That battle axe of his was especially menacing...

"So....it seems my sword is floating off into the ocean. Mind if we settle this with our fists?" She'd offer with a small smile, hoping to win the man over with her kindness...and the stupid swimwear she was conned into wearing.

Like it'd actually work.

Something in the man's response hardened Hoshiko. Dissolved whatever sort of self concious thoughts she had, right along with the silliness of the minutes previous to now. She was here to fight, and this man reminded her of that. Turning to face him completely now, Hoshiko would forgo her weapon. No chance to go and try and obtain it, she'd have to make do.

Just like the last fight.

Gritting her teeth, the one armed warrior would spread her feet out as her opponent approached. She wanted a stable posture so as to adapt to however he was going to strike. The woman knew that she'd have to get past his blade as soon as possible, or else she'd be little more than a blood stain on the wooden platform. It was all a matter of the proper reaction.

After a few paces of his charge, Joel was about to be in range to strike. Hoshiko was as prepared for it as she could be, her only arm raised up to protect her body. More than likely, he was going to go for her weak side. Everyone did. So when he made a swing for her left side rib cage, she was one step ahead of him.

She would hop back, narrowly letting the blade swing in front of her belly. Then, hoping that he wouldn't be able to bring the moderately heavy blade back in time, Hoshiko would pushed back forward, towards the man. Trying desperately to close the gap between them so that he wouldn't be able to properly use his weapon before he could bring it back around.

And as for a strike? Her own left knee would be brought up sharply, aimed to swing at the side of the man's hip in something of an arc, from the outside. While similar to her initial strike in the first round, she sure hoped it would have more of an effect than it did for that guy.

If the knee strike would indeed land, Joel would be in for a bit of pain. Hoshiko, as he had rightly guessed, had some sort of supernatural abilities. There was no other way a woman missing a limb would be able to compete in a tournament like this. The primary one, the one being flaunted now, was her supernatural strength. Having been tested when she entered, the woman managed to reach the upper limits that a contestant was allowed. This meant, possibly, bone breaking force in the case of a knee strike.

And through all that, her only arm would be kept in a defensive position, poised to be stuck between her body and that nasty blade of his.

Whoosh~

The man's battle axe swept past her belly, and Hoshiko rushed back in for a strike. Trying desperately to close the gap between them so that he wouldn't be able to properly use his weapon before he could bring it back around. She brought up her knee to strike him...

DENIED!

Upon draw close to strike him, the ninja would find out a critical point about her opponent. He could use more than just his axe. Apparently, using the momentum of his axe swing and some light footwork, he had shifted himself to a stance with his right side facing towards the woman. His right leg had then snapped out to hit her in the gut. She'd barely had time to tighten her abs, in an attempt to weaken the blow...for what good it did.

Force from his kick wasn't enough to knock her back, her charging in enough to more or less equalize his force going out. It did cause the woman to hunch forward plenty. And somewhere, in the back of her head, inner-Hoshiko was cursing the man and his stupid axe out. But her mind kept falling back to a certain memory, as if for character development purposes.

Flashback Wrote:

> "But father, what is a warrior without his weapons" > > The child looked up at her father from her position at the side of the ring. No more than 10 years old, she was everybit a tomboy. Short cut hair, pants rather than a dress. She looked fit. Her green eyes, rare around the parts, looked on as her dad continued to practice with other men. > > Mind you, they all had swords. > > Pausing in his fight, the child's parent would smile at her from over his shoulder, confidence in his face. > > "A warrior still."

There was something to get the blood pumping. There was something to put a smile on her face, to grin through the pain. Her stomach felt like it'd been hit with a bat, as it rightfully should. A blow like that could have very well had her breakfast spraying out all over him. But she was tough. She was a warrior.

Hoshiko's left knee came up, just as she'd first intended it to, but a lot sooner than expected. Her body was still the length of his leg away, and so it did really was brace the man's outstretched limb like an anvil and raise it higher. Her trunk would twist, sliding so that he was facing one way, his leg out to the side, while she faced the other. And in the same quick...fluid.. motion, her only fist would slam down hard on the man's knee, being raised up by her own.

His leg was the anvil to her fist's Hammer.

To say that kicking Hoshiko's abdominals was like kicking a tire...well, the girl would have taken it as a compliment. More than likely a lie, but a compliment none the less. The girl was by no means impervious to damage, but rather she'd learned rather quickly in childhood to move past it. How else did she lose a limb in a fight, and still manage to win it.

Without warning Joel would manage to snake his leg from her impromptu grasp, seemingly unphased that she'd been trying to lift it to an awkward enough angle to prevent this. The man's timing was spot on as well, for by the time he'd yanked his unprotected limb out of the way of her hurting bomb, Hoshiko was already flinging it downwards. Thrusting her fist only to get nothing but air.

She wasn't disappointed. Quite the contrary, for the ninja was finally getting rid of the last visages of self doubt and worry that had lingered since the locker room fiasco. All that was left was a burning desire to fight. To knock the snot outta some poor fool, and hopefully have it be some sort of challenge. This Joel Havik was proving to be just that challenge.

As said earlier, Hoshiko's right fist would come down on nothing, her left leg lowering down as well. Not fast enough, apparently, because her foe had already recovered and was poised to try and cleave the poor girl in two. Blunted or not, a two handed swing on an axe was going to hurt. The kunoichi's emerald gaze had made well enough note of this, a hint of paniced excitment racing through her grinning expression.

The man's weapon was aimed to strike the girl below her ribcage, in the meaty section just above the hips on her right side. Having a torso made out of tire wasn't going to do much good against that. Still wearing that awful smirk, Hoshiko would do the only thing she could do in a situation like this. She blocked it with her fucking arm.

The clan Ishimaru kekkai genkai. Wrote:

> By channeling one's chakra into their skin, they are capable of triggering a unique cell reformation. While maintaining the same texture and appearance as regular skin, the cell walls harden an incredible amount, while at the same time increasing the strength of their bonds with nearby cells. Basically, creating skin that is like metal.

So while the crowd watched on in horror, sure that the one armed woman was about to become the no armed woman, Hoshiko would avoid most, if not all, of the damage of the man's swing. That isn't to say that she was able to simply absorb the force of the strike, or to magically just regain her footing. No, the swing that had Joel's back in it was enough to send her off of her footing.

The ninja woman could only do her best to turn what was already a sour situation into something a positive. She'd throw herself with the force of the man's swing, using it to vault herself into a shoulder roll to the side and out of immediate harm's way. And by doing so, she also cleared herself of the ring's edge, which had been more than likely not more than a few paces behind her.

She had no doubt that Joel was willing and able to follow her, and so the woman quickly rose back to her feet. Her arm was still stiff, locked in the same position it had been when she blocked the man's strike. And in same mint condition, much to the relief of the spectators. Ready once more, Hoshiko would spend whatever little time she had until his next action slowly circling, trying to place her back to the center of the ring.

And his to the ocean.

[Hi. I don't mean to interfere, and I'm not making any judgement calls in this post. I just wanted to let both participants know that I am reading and keeping up with this entire fight, so if you have any questions or concerns about a ruling, know that you can come to me and I'll have read each of your posts up to/almost up to date.

Enjoy!]

At GPD Wrote:

> [Lounge] > > A few police officers were sitting in the lounge with club sandwiches, subway, drinks, and other food in their laps as they stared at the large high definition screen currently on their wall, watching the fights currently going on at the second round of the GTB. > > "Haha, did you see that," said one of the men, laughing his ass off. "That guy got his ass tackled into the water." > > Another officer replied: "Man, this is like a boxing match, water sports edition." > > "I'm just waiting for that match with that woman to be put back up." > > "What, that succubus throwing her whip at that Kenji guy?" Let it be known that at the current moment, although Kenji was in the GTB database, he wasn't that high of a profile to be instantly recognized. > > "She's hot, but I'm talking about that other woman." > > "The fight between Jurie and Viviana?" > > "No, no no...the woman wearing that fine bathing suit." > > The officer sat there, paused for a second trying to remember who she was talking about. Until... "You mean the one-armed woman?" > > "That's the one," the officer responded, shaking his head. "It kinda sucks that she's going against someone with an axe...but if he swings it the wrong way against that skimpy outfit she's wearing..." > > All the men suddenly started cackling like the horny dogs they were.

The roar of the crowd was all but drowned out in the intensity of the moment. Hoshiko could hear little more than a dull hum over the rapid beating of her own heart. Her heavy, exuberant breathing worsening the problem. No matter how clever of strategies those surrounding the ring offered, the poor woman just wasn't going to be able to pick up on them.

Besides, she'd come up with one of her own.

Step 1: Kick Joel.

Step 2: Kick Joel harder.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 as necessary.

She'd already tried to initiate the first part of the strategy through her front kick. Unfortunately, the man was able to simply side step it, using the hilt of his weapon to parry her knee away and to the side slightly. The only problem with this, was that he was moving to her right side. The one two combo that the girl had set up in her mind was expecting him to move to her left, but she was quick on her feet. She could improvise.

Joel swept past her kick, circling around rather closely to her right. With his weapon busy holding her leg at bay, there was nothing really stopping him from running smack dab into her now balled up and metal shifted fist. Rather than flanking her by swinging around on her missing limb side, the axe murder had decided to slip right into striking range of her punches. And with his forward burst momentum, she doubted there would be much chance of the man avoiding the haymaker she tossed for his face.

Even swinging the arm cause the woman's once smiling face to slip into a grimace, the impact more than likely enough to cause her to forfeit using the limb for some time, perhaps the whole match. But this was a price that the fighter was willing to pay, if it meant that she'd finally land a blow on the man. Her desire for victory, her proverbial 'warrior spirit', pushed her on.

Quote: Wrote:

> "The Ishimaru, I think, knew they were doomed. But where another clan would surrender to despair, the Ishimaru fought back with even greater strength. They made Konoha fight for every inch of land. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. > > They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones, then throw themselves without fear or hesitation at the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage. Their stubborn nobility. > > When they ran out of chakra, they used seals. When they ran out of seals, they used knives and sticks and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. > > They did this for two years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time." > > > -Anonymous ninja

Hoshiko's forward kick, not a knee strike, might not have been thought out, but she'd thought her punch had been. Her arm had already been in the right position to lash out, the woman having held it in a way that a boxer might have. She had momentum from her forward kick, coupled with still pushing off with her other leg. Not to mention actually swinging the arm into a man that was charging past her.

But that's not really important anymore.

The girl's fist connected with his cheek for minimal damage....to him. To Hoshiko, the blow felt like someone had nearly ripped the limb from it's socket. Scorching pain shot from her shoulder in every conceivable direction. What was once a grimace on the poor woman's face turn into something of a snarl, her muscles clenching in agony. And yet, Joel slide past her still. Unphased.

While the kunoichi didn't really know what the man was going to do behind her, it didn't matter. There was only a few options of what she could do in this sort of situation. She continued with her forward momentum, kicking right leg planting down where the man used to be, her back left leg coming up beside it in rapid succession.

Here's where things get tricky.

When her left leg came up, it was on the other side of the right one, meaning that Hoshiko was pivoting. Turning to her left as she moved forward. This is further helped by the wide and hard swing of her now disabled right arm. So when the grizzled tough guy swung his axe, it would swoosh through the mass of air where the ninja's left arm used to be. Funny how that worked out for her.

And while she'd just gotten her footing, Hoshi knew she had to keep the pace up. Had to keep swinging at the guy, or kicking as the case may be, until he started showing signs of weakness. Of fatigue. Whenever the pace got too much for him to keep his perfect focus with. Despite the ragged pain still all too real in her shoulder, the woman would lash out once more.

Surely, he had to still be somewhat unprepared for a sudden counter. Her right foot wasn't really planted anymore, having turned to face the man, and so it was the one she would use to strike, throwing another forward kick at Joel. This time, with a lot less momentum behind it, and aimed towards his right knee

War Frenzy Wrote:

> Joel had to wonder just how experienced his opponent was, given all the mistakes in her planning and execution of attacks. It was like she would flail at the least little thing in an attempt to strike him, either coming up short or falling back onto her powers to make up for her mistakes.

She was inexperienced. She was lashing out seemingly at every chance she could. The woman was raised to never back down. When the going got tough, she was supposed to just try harder. With each disadvantage, her will got stronger. The Ishimaru way.

If he really wanted his previous swing to land, it would. Disregard that she'd stepped forward in addition to turning around just so that she'd avoid any sort of sneaky attack her opponent would have tossed at her. So Hoshiko now had a thin streak of blood on her left hip from where the blade passed through nothing more than her skin. It would appear that the metal ability was both not passive, and not usable on her torso.

And here is where things got a little crazy. Still recovering from a two handed swing of what she considered a large axe, the man not only lifts up his left(right) leg higher than the knee, he manages to bring the weapon back around and thrust it towards her. Kind of funny how he manages to repeat what was apparently a mistake that she'd just made.

Hoshiko was too close. He was on one foot. It wasn't like like the thrust of the weapon's top would do any serious damage to her now tightened, tire like, abominable muscles. The worst case scenario was that her gut was sore once again, having recovered from the man's sudden snap kick while swinging his axe earlier.

The man's leg came back down finally, so that Hoshiko's right leg was nestled between his two. And while she hated to do it, the man left her no real option. The same strike that'd caused Micheal Noire to back off in the first round was being put back into use.

Falcon kick!

The ninja would simply slam her whole leg upwards as hard as she could possibly manage. Surely this man had balls. Well...maybe not anymore.

The Vansin Wrote:

> > > > "Hothico! I prepared a speshal weapon for your fight today! Please accept my gift!" He cried. And I mean that literally. He was crying.

God said "let there be skin", and there was. And it was good.

A little backtracking would be necessary. Hoshiko's abs would remain unharmed, the man's axe thrust having never happened. Instead, he simply let go of the heavy weapon, letting it either drop to the floor at their feet, or go flying off to the side. It all depends on at point he let go of the weapon. Just as quickly as he let go, however, Joel would have another weapon in his hands.

A eight five ten and a half inch long knife being drawn seemingly instantly. This is the same weapon that he'd make an attempt at her left side with. She couldn't really see what portion of her torso he was aiming for, but Hoshiko didn't need to to be able to tell that it would be bad if it could connect. Now, she was indeed in close quarters. With a fast weapon, at least compared to his last one, that might make things challenging.

So she would back up.

But rather than simply backpedalling, Hoshiko made sure retreated fast, and while inflicting pain. Her right foot that was somewhere between the man's legs would indeed start to come up, just as rapidly as the man tossed away his weapon and went for the other one. But rather than an attempted kick to the groin, she would real it upwards, taking her knee up towards her chest. Even as she did this, Hoshiko would start to lean backwards. THUMP!

This was the sound of the supercharged ninja pushing off of the man's gut with her foot. Pushing off and knocking herself out of range of his thrust/swing. No doubt it'd be enough to knock him back some as well, among whatever damage a super strong kick might do to a man's gut. It was just a damned shame she couldn't move her arm. Even the movements of the rest of her body was enough to cause the searing pain in her shoulder to continue.

Schlick!

The sickening sound of a knife gliding along a person shin, peeling off a strip of skin as it went. Certainly a disgusting one at that, for those that were privileged enough to hear it. Unfortunately enough, Hoshiko wasn't able to react fast enough to completely save herself the pain and damage, having shifted her shin to metal by the time the blade had nearly run it's course.

While Joel went flying into the distance from her kick, damn I'm stronger than I thought, Hoshiko was left standing in a very awkward position, with a strip of skin dangling from her extended leg. Barely attached near the foot, the girl had managed to at least save her ability to stand. Righting herself and taking note that Joel'd managed to crash into the water, Hoshiko would take a moment to look herself over. Blood was pouring out stedily from the long gash on her right leg, accompanied by the light bleeding from her left hip.

Well fuck, she looked like shit.

Grimacing, Hoshiko would lift the strip up off the ground with her left foot, making it so that it was sticking straight out. Then, with a sigh, she shifted the whole shin. Strip and all turned to metal. Effectively, she now had a spike attached to her leg that was a little over a foot long. How about that for turning lemons into lemonade. Looking towards the edge once more, Hoshiko would note the water stilling. No signs of the man immediately resurfacing. Odd...

Fuck if she was going to let him back onto the platform! Clearing her mind of her painful predicament and whatever confusion might still linger in there, the woman would rush towards the edge that Joel had gone over. She had taken her sweet time getting there, though, because even as she ran, the man finally surfaced. Hands gripping the edge firmly before hefting his torso up into sight.

Bingo.

Reaching him, Hoshiko lashed out with her newly equipped leg, aiming to thrust the spike through the man's left arm at the bicep with a kick. She'd finally had an opportunity, and she was going to capitalize on it.