HoH Hall of Fame

HEAVEN OR HELL HALL OF FAME

A museum like pillared room marks tribute to the greatest fighters of past tournaments. Portraits of second and third place teams line the wall, but the eye is drawn towards a glass display case containing judge armour. Said display sits at the centre of a large ornate red carpet, and each corner of the square is marked by a bust of a Team Glacier member.

Terrain

General - A large room with a second floor balcony. Statues fill the spaces of the building and portraits line the walls.

Weapons - Paintings, Shouyin’s face (which is ******** awesome), Sunstrike’s Face, Silver Alexander’s Face (booo), Vahn Fah’s Face

Bonus Effects - None.

I swear the day that we're paired up in a interesting place and that I get to fight is the day that this place is shut down..

A soft disgruntled mumbling would be heard from a man as he entered the hall of fame. Granted, the place was interesting in that it had some decent art works to smash and that there were a good deal of artsy stair cases to have epic duels on but...

There were no bust statues of hall of famers, no dangerous moving parts of the arena, no real other thing to really to add things up. He kept feeling he was just being placed in empty rooms with his opponents.

Walking around, he'd reach the portraits of team Lu Bu. More so the recent one as opposed to his paradoxical vampire self. He didn't look that great being so amazingly pale.

Nano, Sieg, Kichiro, Peppa.

Damn Josie...

• I do not walk with God +

Body:

Soul:

"Hehehe...Last year peppa took out a whole team alone.."

Sieg said as he came walking behind Ryu, entering the building. He referred back to last year when Peppa was hurt pretty badly by Team a** Tear. Sieg had a smirk on his face as he entered. His muscular body glimmered yellow beneath the tight Game Of Death Jumpsuit.

"Though I still hope that me and peppa will see those guys this year.

Get some payback."

• For God Carries Me +

Leaning up against the wall, admiring some of the photos then returning his attention towards Peppa, he pulled his shades down to listen to the man as he spoke.

Things will be different now.

Even though he wasn't a captain, he did feel more of a major part of this team than he has in the previous years of being in the tournament. Maybe change is good...

"Don't worry about the offense, Peppa. I still wonder about Kichiro's progress of abilities."

Shouyin? Why did that name ring a bell? Ryu couldn't place a finger upon it though.

"Hey, wasn't Shouyin the guy that was a part of some Wu Tang Clan or something?" Perhaps, Ryu hasn't even met the guy in quite some time. He looked to Sieg and Peppa while waiting for an answer.

"Some times, Sieg, you do know how to use your authority."

Ryu gave a chuckle. His eyes go toward Peppa.

"You need to quit looking down upon yourself and make yourself realize that the only person holding you back in battle is yourself, nothing else."

"I don't know what they're all about, and I really don't care... all I care about is that this time around, I'll get an actual fight instead of a lazy opponent."

Ryu began cracking his knuckles.

"I'm to the point that I'll take on their entire team in one round."

Museums were a nice little place to settle down... enjoy some exhibits... and today... a good place to watch some serious a** kicking. The wanderer would drift carelessly into the area, not having to worry too much about where to go since only one of the two teams seemed to be around at the time, and would take to examining the portraits and busts propped about.

Now the wanderer wasn't much to look at and sure as hell didn't look like he had an eye for the arts, but he enjoyed his time all the same, flipping back and forth through the lightly populated room while catching a line or two from Lu Bu every now and again. He seemed to talk to himself every now and again and even gave his freshly shaven face a stroke or two as to ponder a thought for a time, but he'd soon go back to wandering about and simply waiting for something more than a few paintings to catch his attention.

Who said anything about me looking down? I was just in memory lane.

Peppa would give a wide smile, he had zero doubt. With doubt came fear and those were dark waters for a force user. For Peppa to be the best he can be he must be focused, calm, precise, and confident in each move. His emotions are to never affect his battles.

In theory anyways.

I thought it was something more along the lines of the awkwardness between us considering Josie and I.....than Josie and him. Now he's not even with her so I don't even know what the hell to say or think.

Peppa would rattle off to Sieg before giving a soft sigh. With the way things were sounding, he'd be the third competitor this round considering Sieg was offering Ryu to fight and Sieg wouldn't wait more than a round for his fight.

Just don't trail your dicks, I'm tired of pulling the weight around here.

Pep' would shoot out before giving a smug look.

It's not the semi-finals yet, no need to worry.

[ Approach ]

Down the stairs hurried Faux Chance. On his way out the door, a low five was offered to Sieg with passing words. "Good luck."

With the passing of Sieg, Faux Chance offered a left high five to Peppa. "Kill 'em."

Out the door he went.

The wanderer would give a slight chuckle at the slight scene going on, it was a nice change of pace from the strands of talk that were drifting about. After all, HoH was about fighting, not about getting together and kicking back in front of a live audience. Still, it was just the anticipation talking and nothing more. After all, Heavy Metal Kings did pretty well for themselves in the first round from what he had heard and flags were one of the things that really took them in the second, so depending on how they played it, they might stand a pretty good chance against Lu Bu.

And after that little rouse with Kenji there was no doubt that Iblis and Sieg would likely be the match up to go toe to toe. After all... Sieg almost killed Kenji and Iblis almost killed Matthew, so it made a little sense to pair the two teams together.

Resting his hand lightly across the hilt of his sword, he'd lean back against the nearby wall and keep an eye out for more of the other team to show up. The wanderer was ready to watch this match take off. Especially since he heard that Ryu was getting into the fight. Since he was the only fighter the wanderer has yet to see mix it up, it would be interesting to see how he throws down here in the ring.

"Sieg! Peppa!"

A voice called out to the two men among the spectators, a small woman waving like mad to catch their attention swirled eyes beaming with color. It was Ray and she had hopped out of be-couch, to cheer on those she knew. But she wasn't staying, she had to go see Lazenca fight and she had to go fast. If, and once they did catch her, she'd wave again, smiling wide. "Good luck!"

And then she'd be off, for the place Lazenca was.

Calm, cool, collecting thoughts from this point on. Ryu's temperament has transformed from being the cocky fighter to a more serious tone. His eyes flexed a bit in a sense that the pupils dilated into cat-like shape then back to normal. His ears twitched as he smirked towards the opposing team... er... fighter on the other time.

"Well, there's one..." He suddenly heard a thought that bypassed his mind.

"I am cheering for you, Ryu..."

Ryu gave a nod and a response, "I'll never forget..." his fists went together tugging upon the loose ends of the finger-less gloves he wore and the gauntlets as well.

Eyes darted to Peppa, "Must be someone looking to find out who to fight." He gave a grin. The ferocity of him seemed almost to be like 2 tigers growling at this point.

"Heavy Metal Kings." Save said to Peppa, smiling. He then walked up to Ryu, who seemed to be the man he was going to fight. He walked with a semblance of confidence which, though fairly unimpressive, at least showed him to be strong enough to maintain his composure alone and surrounded by enemies.

"Hey there, looks like it'll be just the two of us for now. I felt like I'd be stealing the fun from you guys if I didn't show up to fight, so here I am. Lets not waste any time, eh?" He said to Ryu, nodding in greeting.

"Don't underestimate them." a voice spoke out, and a man stepped into the doorway of the Hall of Fame. It was Rain Yupa, captain of the eliminated team, Rising Storm. He grinned, pausing for dramatic effect, before walking in completely.

Up to and beside Save, clapping a hand on the man's shoulder.

"You'll have your hands full with this one, Lu-Bu, I assure you that much." he boasted, grinning broader, before turning the grin to his once-former opponent to his team.

Ryu has heard a man give him advice, and only a smirk comes to his face while he listened. "Just listen to me... Underestimation is what I never do. I just hope that this man can reach my expectation, or I shall become bored..." Ryu stood up to his feet, then extends his right hand toward the man still talking.

"If you really want to start, instead of fighting, you should give your opponent your name so they know who defeated them. It's a matter of respect." He walked to the man then kept his hand in place to offer a handshake. His eyes blazed in a glory of the ocean that would only surface if he found any form of intensity within himself growing.

"I am known as Ryu Versher, and I'll be your opponent for this match... pummeling you wouldn't be fun, least we should have a good match, don't you think?" Even with a serious tone, Ryu showed respect to the man for he wasn't leeching off of the reputation of Lu Bu, but he was leeching off of his attitude to have a battle, last match his opponent didn't fight him and expected him to act first. Sadly, Ryu did act first, but who would want to fight a guy who was building a colossal structure like a cage?

-I do not walk with god-

Body :

Soul :

Sieg stood up and stood to watch at the edge of the sidelines. Sieg needed to be ready to striker at a moments notice. Or at least, he wanted the opponent to think that. Not that Ryu would need it. Sieg had a bored look on his usually happy face, he didn't expect this to last long...Sieg didn't even realize the confidence he had in his team mates.

-but god carries me-

Save looked down slightly, as though ashamed.

"I'm the only member of my team that has decided to fight in this round. I felt it would be an insult to your team if you were forced to win a round without fighting. I'm easily the weakest member of the Heavy Metal Kings, and for that I apologise, but I'll at least test you enough so that you might feel a sense of accomplishment when you move on to the next round." He said, stepping back as well, and grabbing once more at his second Jitte.

Save turned around to Rain as the man walked away and smiled at the team captain's flowing cape. It was nice to know that even if he had to fight Lu-Bu by himself, he wasn't alone.

Save gave Ryu a sympathetic grin.

"Well, I'll do my best to challenge you as much as possible. But no, lets not put this off any further. Now's as good a time as any to fight, so lets do this." He said, and sunk into a ready stance, his right foot leading, with his right arm held out in front of him for a preliminary defense, and his left tucked in towards the lower part of his torso.

"Sieg!" He yelled to Ryu's captain, "Care to give us a countdown?" He said, smiling fiercely at Ryu, waiting to be ushered into action.

"Alright then. May the best man... or monster... win..."

His hands rest upon the hilts of his swords that rest differently upon his body. Jagged Edge in nature, the blades were placed in strategic places on him. And so... he waited.

(First post is all yours, Ryu.)

"So Ryu!" Save said, his voice rising as he began to charge as well, initially running to his right until he was sure he was cleared of the picture, then honed in towards his opponent, his small weapons glinting under the lights above them.

Heaven or Hell. The chance to soar with the angels or burn with the devils. This man knew his fate was in the depths of the abyss, yet his movements, his sheer ferocity and battle lust revealed a embittered resilience in him that was strong enough to even hold back the inevitable pain in the impossibility of his victory.

"Tell me, what can a man do against a foe with nothing to lose?!" He asked, as he and Ryu broke into striking range. Quickly slowing himself to a halt, Save lifted his left hand up, and then twisted his wrist, stabbing down towards Ryu's neck on the man's right side, where his defense was weakest.[edit for clarity] The tip of the weapon, of course, was tapered to a fine point, which made it ideal for such a stabbing motion[/edit]. As he struck, he made sure to, like Ryu, have his right arm over his abdomen for protection.

[1]

"Is that so!?" Save asked, his face lined with concentration, as Ryu blocked his attack and grabbed at Save's defending arm. Had Save been anyone else in the world, he might have tried to avoid that grab, and the oncoming knee, but instead he allowed Ryu to bring him into the attack, his right hand immediately dropping its Jitte, and producing a small, baseball sized, sphere of pure blue energy- A mizu bomb.

Save's Mizu-bombs were concentrated kinetic energy, and exploded in an expanding sphere that reached nearly ten feet at maximum. This energy expansion was very powerful, each point of contact with the energy feeling like a solid, strong punch, which made getting hit by a unhindered Mizu-bomb like encountering a wall of flying fists. That said, as the energy dispersed, the pain was marginally lessened, and at eight or nine feet away, most tough fighters could shrug off most of damage from the blast. However, at close range, Save was extremely potent if he could touch his opponent with his palm.

In this case, he wouldn't even have to.

Twisting his right palm away from Ryu's forearm, Save would use his power to split the single Mizu-bomb into two separate, tiny orbs. These orbs held each half of the original Mizu-bomb's strength, and became linked with his will, moving through the air by his mental command. As Ryu's knee came flying at Save's abdomen, the small orbs flew around behind him and lodged themselves up into his separate armpits, pushing themselves into the crease to minimize the damage that escaped the desired target.

Save, aside from that, only had to hold his arms up as the bombs flew, to guarantee that Ryu would have to keep his own arms up to pull him in, then slam Ryu's arms down on the orbs as they settled into the area, using the force of his body recoiling from the knee to do so. It was all he could do, as the pain of Ryu's knee striking his tensed muscles spread through his lower front and back. Point blank, Ryu's knee was painful, extremely so, but Save had a high endurance, and could handle it. He just hoped Ryu couldn't counterattack in the time it took the young teacher to catch his breath.

Could Ryu handle a blast with the strength of five solid punches to the vulnerable underside of his shoulder joints? Would his arms dislocate? While that was Save's intention, he couldn't be sure, and had to leave the result to fate. As these thoughts crossed through his mind Save's mini-Mizu-bombs, whatever had become of them, exploded.

[2]

Save's mind reeled as the two men rocketed back and away from each other. He couldn't understand how, in the middle of his attack on Save, Ryu had even seen the Mini mizu bombs to hit them. Cursing his poor luck, the teacher slammed into the ground, and regained his balance almost instantly, flipping, with the momentum, to his feet.

"That's some grip you've got there. You're right, this will be fun." He agreed, "I hope you plan to step up your game, though. I won't be merciful from here on out." With that said, the young Mizu-Bomber snapped his remaining Jitte back into its sheath, and took in a deep breath.

And he waited.

In truth, the small offensive had been done to test out Ryu's capabilities, as Save was a heavily defensive creature by nature, and only fought offensively when amazingly enraged, or when there was a significant strategic advantage to it.

[3]

"Pure technique, definitely." He said, nodding. Granted, he wasn't particularly strong in either area, but his techniques certainly did more damage.

In his right hand a baseball sized blue orb manifested itself. Still, he did nothing. If Ryu wanted to let him charge up more power, Save was not going to stop him.

[4]

Ryu's body still charging then Ryu's eyes avert back to their golden brown hue but glazed over in the oceanic aura. He gave a grin while stepping forward towards Save then he gave a nod, his body toning slightly and elevating a tad to create a more slim body, and with this, he had added strength as his Rage reached level 2. His increased situation happens to appear more ferocious like 2 tigers on the prowl.

Suddenly, Ryu crouched down into a 3 point stance then dashes forward his speed increased than before as he continues forward.

"Denji..." More electricity pulsates upon his body as he was within a 5 foot range of Save. Then an eruption of a mysterious chi/chakra-esque energy down directly at Save's legs.

<< 5 >>

As Ryu began to finalize his charge, another small blue orb appeared in Save's free hand, making a total of, of course, two.

As far as Save could gather, a shot at his legs meant one of two things: A) Ryu was actually trying to hit his legs, and immobilize him, or B) His technique would gather under his feet and explode upwards, as it was common knowledge that lightning could strike up from the ground.

Quickly, Save concocted a plan.

As Ryu charged at Save, Save charged at Ryu, and as Ryu let his lightning element attack shoot for his feet, Save jumped. The orb in his right hand immediately split into two Mini-Mizu-Bombs, and flew to the ground direction beneath each of his feet, exploding on contact and propelling him with the force (Giving that he was about four feet away from the explosion) two or three solid punches worth of push upwards which, while very painful, sent him soaring about four feet over Ryu's head. This upward and forward propulsion would be quick, possibly too quick for Ryu to react to, and would lead to an equally quick counterattack with Save's other bomb.

This bomb was another variant of the standard "It just blows up" Mizu Bomb. This Time-Mizu-Bomb was input with a time limit before it exploded which was determined at the shot, and it would stick permanently to anything it touched. At the close proximity of four feet, launching this mizu bomb to latch itself onto Ryu's lower back wouldn't be hard at all.

As Save threw the Bomb at Ryu's back, he set the timer for a single, second. It would stick to Ryu's back, then explode almost instantly after, Doing two things: Blasting Ryu's spine with the force of a wall of fists, and propelling Save further away from the slightly weakened force of the blast. To shield himself from the brunt force, Save immediately curled up into a small ball, his arms crossed over his head, after he let the bomb fly.

[5]

Ryu Versher 777 Wrote:

Why jump in the air, should have went for a head on attack, Save.

Because that would have meant charging headfirst into an obvious electrical attack, which would have been the single dumbest thing Save could have done. And of course, the young teacher knew that.

Ryu Versher 777 Wrote:

"HADOUKEN!" Suddenly, the charged hands, which didn't discharge with the first eruption, sent out a fiery ball of energy collectively having electrical pulses directly toward Save...The instant the hadouken was shot, the Mizu Orb coming towards his back would be heading towards the hadouken instead.

Save's body was Five feet, and Ten inches high. A Mizu-bomb was the size of a baseball. A Hadouken was approximately the size of a basketball.

In the end, the action would look something like this:

The swing of Save's arm would easily clear the threat of the Hadouken, assuring the Mizu bomber that if he was about to take a Hadouken to the chest, his opponent would at least not be able to stand up straight for the next month. And of course, this...

Ryu Versher 777 Wrote:

Ryu maneuvered backward away from the explosion since it did give a push to him helping his momentum to almost falling back to occur.

...Movement also would assure Save's strike struck home.

But of course, there was the impact of the Hadouken to deal with. Burns blasted into the skin of his chest, immolating the white dress shirt in a giant circle over his pectoral muscles, and leaving a sickening bluish tint to the skin of the area hit. Electricity burn was painful, and he didn't have the time to guard against it, subsequently forcing his body into a fit of convulsions as he launched over Ryu and landed against the corner where the wall and the floor met, a agonized moan escaping his lips as smoke trailed off of his chest.

Slowly, he lifted himself to his feet, and looked over to Ryu. Luckily for him ribs protected his vital organs from the majority of the blast that could harm them, and the wound was only skin deep. However, if Ryu had fallen victim to his Bomb to the spine, he could find himself physically disabled via spinal fractures, or nerve damage. The spine was a very unprotected area.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The blast occurred at Ryu's back, sending him flying forward instead of backward, but due to his backward motion, the ball maneuvered under him, since he's leaning back to aim towards a moving object.

But there's no need for quarrels as Ryu takes the damage going flying forward. His body was hit really hard by the latest explosion, but due to his intense training, and his sword's hilt, True Blaze, directly upon his back, it took the damage and heated suddenly, Ryu started yelling.

"HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!" He reached to the hilt and sheath then drops it off to the ground then he looked back to Save with a smirk on his face.

Since his Denji Hadouken hit directly upon Save's chest, he'd feel his entire body going through a form of paralysis for a couple of seconds.

"Oow, that burns..." Ryu said as the smoke clears as Ryu shakes his head, his body growing bigger from the rage building to level 2. Ryu's lower back had a huge burnt mark on it, but Ryu's body kept pulsating against the back. Ryu knelt down to the ground capturing his breath, "Maybe I should let it all out..." Sweat beading from his face while he grins fiercely to Save.

"Would you want to give me time to do this... or shall we just continue from here?" Ryu's legs buckle a bit as he stood up then they began to pulsate with energy as he dashed forward toward Save.

<< 7 >>

Ryu unsheathed his other blade, True Flare, then holds it in front of him stabbing the blade directly going towards Save's gut at the liver to impale him up against the wall.

Ryu suddenly has a merciless grin appearing upon his face as his eyes showed a complete coloration of that of a crimson shade. "Get up..."

He pulled the blade back as he stood back from the man, the blade resting within his left hand as he slides it on the ground.

<< 8 >>

Athena was here. But at the same time, she was not here. This was mainly because she was staring at all the exhibits this museum had to offer, walking through as she looked from one picture to the other, the history of HoH scanning across her eyes. She looked fascinated, loving the joy of seeing someone's face being punched in the clear shot of a camera. If only she could get action like that, she wouldn't have to worry about becoming bored like she did last round.

She does finally arrive at the fighting place, watching as Ryu and one of the members of the other team were fighting. She looks around, walking over to Sieg, confused a little.

"Where's the other fighters of his team? Please do not tell me we have no-shows again."

Stop? Was he forfeiting? Did he want a break or something? Save didn't have time to ask why. He was a sucker for a fair fight, and with a quick thought, the pair of Mizu Bombs in front of the man's eyes shot towards the ceiling and exploded, harming nothing at all.

"Fist to fist?" Save said, casually pushing Ryu away from him and walking to the left, away from the man.

He knew basic martial theory- Never let the opponent dictate the rules of engagement. Of course, that rule was primarily for war, and this was, painful as it might be, not even close to war. Save had been in war.

"Fine, but you've got to power down to your regular level. If I'm not allowed to use my powers, you don't get to use any of yours, even the ones that beef you up. Do that, and you've got yourself a fistfight." He spoke more confident then he felt. A raw fistfight had one advantage, and one disadvantage. If both of the fighters didn't use their special abilities, then Save would gain more, as Ryu's gamut of techniques were obviously superior to his own. To his disadvantage, however, was the matter of physical stamina. Save was a man who could endure gratuitous amounts of pain. Just factoring in how many times he had accidentally blown himself up with his own bombs, and one could realize that making this man give up to physical punishment would be tough. But he had been stabbed, Hadoukened, and hit by a total of two full Mizu bombs. He was not doing so well at the moment, and he would be physically less capable then Ryu, who had been hit in the back by a single mizu bomb.

But if he fought conservatively, he could pull out a win, or at worst- a draw.

"Ball's in your court, Ryu."

[9]

Save looked up at the ceiling and smirked, bits of debris crumbling down and dirtying the audience's hair.

"I think this time I'll be the one to initiate." He said, and walked forward towards Ryu as the man was finishing his stance. When he was about four feet away, he sunk into his own stance, his left hand forward, palm exposed and pointing at Ryu, with his right hand balled into a fist as his waist. He faced Ryu with the front of his body, and his legs positioned themselves as though he were sitting atop a bicycle, leading with his left, which was has barely any weight put into it, and was mostly raised off of the floor, with the exception of the ball of his foot. It was bent a little bit wider then a ninety degree angle, while his right foor was bent to place the foot directly beneath his shoulder, it carried almost all of his weight.

Very Tai chi chuan.

"Tso!" He cried out, as he lunged forward, his body propelled by his back leg towards Ryu, his initial strike with his open palm to slam it into Ryu's upper left chest area.

[10]

Ryu Versher 777 Wrote:

Ryu's left to go directly towards Save's open palm that's going to his chest but pushes to the wrist to deflect the blow, but also grab upon the wrist

This was to be expected, of course, and indeed Save had hoped Ryu would try something like this. Despite his initial stance, Save was trained under a multitude of martial arts styles, Judo being one of them. What Ryu was attempting to do now was a "Seoi Otoshi" or "Shoulder Drop", as they called it in Judo. It was one of the more basic throws, and relied on the grip strength of a single hand to initiate it. This was its weakness.

Save's left hand immediately whipped to the face his palm towards his face and down, the left side (Left when ithe palm is facing away from him, otherwise right) of his left hand connecting with with upwards facing right side of Ryu's forearm, and pushing down hard enough to break his grip.

From here his hand would snake around Ryu's forearm and try to reverse the hold, catching his left hand around the forearm and pushing it upwards, to open up Ryu's relatively unprotected right side. This opening gave him the chance to step in with his right leg, throwing a solid punch in accordance with the step into Ryu's lower right kidney area. Due to his step, they would be less then a foot away from each other.

[11]

Feeling his opponent block his strike and back away, Save stepped back and re-assumed his original ready position.

"I hope you didn't underestimate me, Ryu. I'm not just good for blowing people up." He said, smirking. He used the few moments apart from his opponent to analyze the situation. Ryu was likely trained under some sort of judo, or jujitsu. In earnest, Save was fairly useless when brought to the ground, and though Ryu's action had seemed to be aimed more to show him up then to bring him to the ground to grapple, the thought worried the young teacher nonetheless. He would have to be careful in the future to not allow for Ryu to take him down, or even try.

"We carry on!" He then shouted, and once more pressed forward. This time, his attack came from his legs, a snapping (A kick that quickly strikes an area, then immediately returns to its original position) kick with his forward left leg at Ryu's crotch would be good enough to start off. The strike from his weightless foot would be painfully quick, and because of its target area's low pain tolerance, it didn't need a momentous amount of force behind it to hurt. For the most part, the kick was aimed to take Ryu's attention away from his head, so that when Save pulled this light kick back, he could use the inwards momentum to throw a slower, more powerful kick at Ryu's face with his right leg.

[12]

Glorious Athena Wrote:

Athena was here. But at the same time, she was not here. This was mainly because she was staring at all the exhibits this museum had to offer, walking through as she looked from one picture to the other, the history of HoH scanning across her eyes. She looked fascinated, loving the joy of seeing someone's face being punched in the clear shot of a camera. If only she could get action like that, she wouldn't have to worry about becoming bored like she did last round.

She does finally arrive at the fighting place, watching as Ryu and one of the members of the other team were fighting. She looks around, walking over to Sieg, confused a little.

"Where's the other fighters of his team? Please do not tell me we have no-shows again."

• I do not walk with God +

Body:

Soul:

"Yeah. They contacted me. Ryu is the only one who will get a fight. Save was the only one to show up."

Sieg said looking as bored as he was confused. Sieg was still standing at the edge of the sidelines, watching the fight. Sieg believed ryu had this under his complete control. Sieg then saw Save go for a kick to the crotch. He wondered if that should have been flagged, but it didn't connect. Sieg would then see ryu attempt to take the fight to the ground. This brought a smile to his face.

"Good."

[/color]

• For God Carries Me +

A suplex would be great for Ryu at the moment, but it was a pity that curling one's arm under and around an opponent's leg as it came flying with power and speed at your face didn't actually stop the force from colliding with the side of your head. And for Ryu, the only way of avoiding legging slammed in the side of the face by Save's kick was to duck his head, which would allow Save to complete the circuit of his kick, but would rob Ryu of his chance to catch the leg in midair.

Save almost hoped he did that, just to save them both the trouble of moving this fight to the ground. Grappling was such a crude, barbaric practice. Save despised it.

[13]

(I shouldn't have wasted so much damn time. Sorry, but I've got a mad early class tommorow, and I've got to go for the night.)

BAM BAM BAM BAM

"OW...ow...ow...ow...uwah?"

Save was indeed about to succumb to the ferocious beating Ryu had been giving him for the past few seconds, but then it suddenly stopped. Ryu seemed to take a small, delayed moment to feel the effects of Save's kick to his head...or something.

Either way, Save took immediate advantage of the situation. His left arm immediately sprang into action, taking his pointer and middle finger and curling them at the first joint up from the knuckles, forcably jamming them un into Ryu's exposed underarm. There his knucles would find the Axillary Nerve cluster, which, when struck with force, could momentarily shut down the victim's nervous system.

Rain Yupa Wrote:

Rain looked over at the familiar voice that approached him from behind, blinking several times towards Joseph's position.

"One of these days, you're going to have to tell me how you do that. And I'm not buying the 'years training as a ninja in the mountains' shtick; I saw Batman Begins." Rain said calmly and lowly towards his employer, and turned to observe the dual Hadoken-Mizubomben attacks.

"Its just the first match of this battle, its just heating up. Though I didn't actually know Save could do... that. Ryu seems rather determined to win as well, at any cost. It should prove to be an interesting matchup." Rain nodded sagely at this description of the battle before them, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And yes. Save is the one who blew off Kichiro Oda's leg." Smirking, he would actually turn his attention towards Peppa, the closest noncombatant in Lu-Bu, immediately after saying that. After a moment or two of that smile, he would turn his attention back to the fight. He wouldn't want to miss it.

"Christ," Joseph swore not even thinking about the people in this room that could clearly kick his a**, "I'm just eating this delicious popcorn. If you couldn't at least smell this buttery goodness coming it's your own fault. Sill, Batman Begins ruined everything for us wealthy assholes with too much time."

He stuffed a few more handfuls into his mouth as Rain explained the situation. It may have not looked like it, with him stuffing his face and watching the fight, but Joseph was paying close attention to Rain's report. This Save guy was something else. Blowing off Oda's leg, then helping save a life from the same team, THEN coming here to face Lu Bu on his own. Mental note made, Joseph turned back to Rain.

"Hopefully this guy won't be eating out of a straw if he does all three fights." Joseph offered the popcorn bag out to Rain, "So how did your meeting go this morning?"

[-]

The Heavy Metal Kings were leaving the tournament.

… Or were supposed to.

During the break from the last round, he made this decision with both his teammates. He wasn’t going to fight in a tournament that was hosted by people he didn’t respect. He was disgusted by the comments left in his FIGHTER by the Judges, especially when he could find reasonable fault with many of the statements made.

But it wouldn’t change their decision. And he wasn’t going to b***h about it. Therefore, he believed it was right decision to leave the tournament.

Iblis seemed to agree. But Save seemed to have genuine guilt in leaving the tournament. Victor could understand it, considering that they wanted to give this tournament their best, win or lose. However, Victor was still suspicious of how Save would handle the situation.

Earlier on, few hours before the match started…

Victor kicked in the door to his hotel room, marching out of his room, running down the stairs and into the lobby. Victor was carrying all his stuff, including the free tuxedo that the HoH staff had left him.

He had anticipated in leaving the tournament by now. He hadn’t checked to see where Iblis was, but he couldn’t find Save. Therefore, he would proceed to search the hotel until he found him.

An hour before the match started.

Victor finally gave up. He would mutter to himself, “********’ son of a…”

Save wasn’t in the hotel. And he didn’t seem happy with the decision that was made.

“… He left for the match.”

Victor scowled, but it was likely to be expected. Their team wasn’t exactly the most functional one in the world, but they respected each other’s talents enough to fight together in this tournament.

He left the tuxedo and the rest of his supplies with one of his families’ servants (who likely just arrived, considering the distance.) After leaving his carry-on items with the servant, he left the hotel to search for Save at the HoH Hall of Fame building.

Present time, during the battle.

Victor arrived, noticing Rain from the corner of his eye. The last time he saw him, he was furious with Iblis at Matthew’s murder. Save had explained some of the situation, so he knew that Matthew survived. But Victor could only frown, knowing that it was Iblis’s actions that were responsible for the Rising Storms not making it further into the tournament. He couldn’t stop Iblis’s actions and it was way too late to rectify that mistake.

Normally, he would’ve greeted his opponents before fighting. But he didn’t come to fight, only to pick up Save (conscious or not) and leave. Therefore, Victor wouldn’t make eye contact with the other fighters or spectators. He would keep his eyes locked on the battle between Save and his opponent, but he would stay aware of any sort of outside interference.

Currently, Victor didn’t like what he was seeing. The opponent was slamming punches into Save, who was clearly taking too much damage. Fortunately, the opponent stopped his assault and seemed to show visual signs of damage or fatigue too.

Before he could really sit back and analyze the situation, he noticed something strange occurring. A tall, black man that was built similar to Rain was jumping into the fight!

Sieg ecstuffuan Wrote:

• I do not walk with God +

Body:

Soul:

Just as Save would hit the ground and Ryu would land in the mount, a specialty of Team Lu-Bu; Sieg would burst out of the edge of the sidelines and into the brawl. Sieg was at the epitome of Human Physical Fitness and his speeds out of the sidelines were explosive. Siegs arms pumped as he dashed forward, attempting to execute this special attack as quickly as possible.

To Save's left as he hit the ground there was a statue of the legend Vahn Fah. Coming in at a slight angle past both Ryu and Save Sieg would perform a speedy wall flip. In the Wall Flip Sieg would kick up hard with his right leg to make sure that his body did not land on his head as he kicked off of the statue with his left leg. Siegs Right arm would also shoot up to add to his flipping momentum.[/ali]

Victor could only think to himself, ”Oh, hell no!”

Victor wasn’t calling out on a STRIKER to alert anyone. And he didn’t really care if he was going to get penalized for what he was about to do (which he will.) The Heavy Metal Kings were making a habit of earning penalty cards in almost every round, in every match. Save was the only one being goody-too-shoes about it.

Victor would immediately unsheathe the Kali-Yuga and twirl it to the front. The “X” shaped staff would be aimed towards Sieg’s current path. Immediately after being aimed, a lightning bolt would be launched from the closest point of the weapon, aimed just directly ahead of Sieg’s position towards Save.

It would be aimed to shoot between Sieg's and Save's position, when Sieg would be flipping off the statue.

“You’re staying out of it.”

Those would be the only words that left his mouth, whether the lightning bolt would hit or not. Considering that Sieg would be moving towards Save, it would hit Sieg if he hadn’t noticed him and continued on his current course.

Victor didn’t care much for Save, but he cared enough to keep him from getting ganged up on. Victor also made it a point to stand a few feet away from anyone standing too close to his current position. He had no intentions of electrocuting anyone else, especially the spectators, but anyone could be electrocuted if they stepped in too close to the attack.

• I do not walk with God +

Body:

Soul:

As Sieg was upside down something in the pit of his stomach called to him and would make him react defensively. Siegs fist and legs had been strengthened with tekken as he stood in the sidelines just in case he needed to defend himself against armed attacks.

Siegs left arm would twitch into place as the man would aim his weapon and As the lightning bolt shot towards him Siegs spiritual energy would fortify Siegs Iron Fist covered forearm.

The lightning bolt would strike Siegs forearm instead of his body and the electrical energy would crackle and eventually subside against Siegs spiritually fortified left forearm. Siegs arm would tingle from the impact of power.

Then a hurricane came out of no where and Sieg was thrown from the ring.

Sieg would ukemi as he hit the ground, landing safely.

In Siegs seated position he looked at the man's team mate who just came in.

Then Sieg looked at ryu.

"Oh sorry about that man. I didn't think anything of it, since the same thing would have been allowed and couldn't have been countered under the rules of the tournament.

And you.

Are you here to fight?"

Sieg said to the Save's Team mate.

• For God Carries Me +

Save looked up, having immediately recognized the sound of Victor's lightning strike. He couldn't imagine why his Captain would come to bail him out. And as he looked up at Victor, a smile found its way to his face. He didn't say anything, but Victor would know he was being thanked.

And then he looked to Ryu.

"That was noble of you." Save said, there was no sarcasm in his voice. He stood up and took in a deep breath.

"Alright. This match is almost over. Can you take me down in...another minute? Lets see." He said, and threw up his guard, in the same stance he had taken earlier, inching until his lead hand was three feet from Ryu.

[15]

Save simply used his forward left hand to smack the jab off course. Then he used the same hand he had blocked with to send a jab of his own at Ryu, his heavy back foot springing forward and alternating its weight with the front foot, which pushed him back to his original position immediately after the jab was thrown.

[16]

BAM.

A fist slammed into Save's chin, a solid, tooth shattering (Well, not really) blow that carried him into the air. But Save wasn't so smart. He thought that Ryu had given him a solid grab and was lifting him off of the ground. In a twitch of his reflexes, Ryu would find Save's left knee slamming into his face, which, though not really lessening the blow of the uppercut, would make him certainly pay for the attack.

Save sailed in the air, his knee to Ryu's face serving to push him away, and he landed on his back at an angle in which he actually rolled on his side and landed in a odd, crouch, one hand bracing himself on the ground, ready to start a new charge.

Beep beep beep.

The fight was over. Save smiled, despite the raging pain in his jaw.

"Oh well." He said, sighing.

Save then shrugged and walked over to Ryu, extending a closed fist towards him to pound.

"Good fight, then. You've got my respect." He said.

Nodding, Save turned around and walked off towards the crowd of spectators.

"Alright, time to call up my teammate." He said, and walked into the crowd, which had parted for him to pass, then quickly surrounded him again, as though a voracious beast eager to consume its prey.

Suddenly, team Lu-Bu, would hear a few loud giggles and a couple of scandalized gasps emanate from the crowd. When the 'teammate' came out of the crowd, it was obvious to see that it was just Save again, zipping up a fresh new pair of jeans. Indeed, his entire outfit was new.

He walked up to Team Lu-Bu, and looked at them all in turn.

"Next?"

Save watched Athena approach him, and as he looked at her, he raised his brow. He really didn't have very much information on Athena. To him, she was an alluring mystery, but one that he wasn't particularly prepared to fight. When he had served in war, his natural ability had easily determined his role- He was a trap expect.

His bombs could sit on the ground for years, and he was an expert at placing them for the purpose land mines are truly placed. Despite popular belief, land mines are not meant to destroy enemies, but to guide them to a favorable position. The threat of destruction an explosive poses, and its ability to be positioned at an area which an enemy could use to his/her advantage, is the true power of the device, and in turn, Save's technique.

Unfortunately for the teacher, his ability was significantly more useless in hand to hand combat, during which there was little chance to prepare, prematurely gauge your enemy's abilities, and craft a expert plan to counter an enemy's movement.

Nevertheless he reasoned that with a bit more of a careful approach to this next fight, and the use of the terrain and his remaining bomb abilities, Save could possibly pull out a true victory.

But that was very optimistic of him.

"I came here to represent my team in battle." He answered, then stepped closer "But that's not all. I'll let you in on a secret, Athena. I'm looking to make a name for myself. You see, my aim in this tournament was to win, and bring the prize money home to the Academy I teach at, so that we could pay off our loans and keep the school running. That plan was destroyed when my teammates decided to leave this tournament. While their reasoning was sound, it didn't coincide with my own plans, which was, and is, to do everything in my power to use this competition to gather money to myself for the beneift of my school. By challenging your entire team by myself, I've made a large statement to the media and the populace at large, and the fame I gather from this stunt will assuredly bring me the offer of freelance jobs as a mercenary, which I'll gladly take." He explained, his face mirthless and cold, as though he cared for nothing else, which was only a facade.

"Aside from that, I respect your team, Athena. I'm a man who sees things out until the end, and does everything in my power to fulfil my promises. I promised your team, when I signed up for this tournament, that I would do everything in my power to defeat you. That is a guarantee that I will give again to you now. If you stand in my way, even if the bridge behind you is broken, I will carry on towards my goal. And if you knock me off, I will swim to the other shore, no matter how powerful the rapids are that oppose me. That is my promise, on my honor." He concluded, then tilted his head to the side, as though expecting an answer to his next question.

"Does that suffice?"

With a slightly hop back, Save landed in, oddly enough, a stance that perfectly mimicked her own. The only difference was that instead of leading with his left side like she was, he lead with his right.

With a deep breath, he immediately began to allow his mind to roam free. What would he do from this stance, what options were open to him? Did her open hands make grabbing and grappling off the bat any easier? Did this seemingly conservative stance appeal to more defensive maneuvers? He assumed it did.

Still, from the little he'd gleaned about her style from secondhand accounts, and from here simple, revealing words, he wasn't really inclined to believe that she was a defensive minded fighter. Only time would tell.

Save's eyes widened in shock as Athena charged in at him, her readiness to push for the offensive was almost refreshing to him, but nonetheless a bit frightening.

As her left hook came in at his face, his leading right arm quickly ducked under her strike and popped back up with his palm on the outside of her forearm, pushing the blow slightly more to his left side and down to his mid-chest level then forward, as his head pulled back and to the right to avoid the strike. As he moved his head away from her blow, however, her other hand shot out to grab his collar, and in response he lifted his left arm up so that its elbow was touching his right arm's inner elbow (Or elbow-pit, or whatever you want to call the OTHER side of the elbow, where the arm bends inward) and his fist was pointed towards the ceiling, the whole arm completely vertical. With a quick motion, he pushed his left arm, still vertical, to the left, which would connect with Athena's right forearm and push it away, while simultaneously pulling back his right arm so that the fist was back near his ear, then subsequently fired the fist at Athena's face.

With both hands momentarily pushed to her left side, Athena's reaction time to this counter-attack would be longer, which Save hoped would buy him enough time to strike at her.

[1]

He's....

Peppa would let his jaw drop in a slight amazement before turning to Sieg. He had generally been out for most of the match, he had felt the ways of battle through his mind while he was dazed out. Pretty much just conserving energy for when he would be needed.

Which he would know when he would be, he always knew.

He's....really doing it.

Considering the blows he had taken from the previous fight which included the most recent fist sandwich, he wasn't going to be able to take a hell of a lot. Especially after expending so much spiritual energy in his battles...

This was going to get sad fast.

At least I didn't fight him first, or wont be.

He'd probably lose a limb somewhere and it'd ruin any chance for future battles.

Considering Athena had just taken the claim on the fight. He couldn't blame her, after all out of the team Lu Bu her and Peppa hadn't been in a fight since team urameshi. She had much here say as Peppa did in terms of lack of battle.

Which considering that was over two weeks ago, and it would be another two weeks before a chance at another round. Was a sad fact.

"There wasn't really a need for any striker, but doing that just ruined my plan of having another student... or who knows... maybe I'll have time to find another..." Ryu said as he made sure all of his blades were collected, least there were only two anyway. He goes to check the gauntlets making sure they were still in tact.

But the only reason why Ryu didn't completely go all out on his opponent was the respect they've shown to each other, and with that, there was the meeting of the fists which told them each other their stories without completely having to converse. Ryu knew that during the fight with Save, that Save was more of a man of his word, and Ryu didn't want to ruin a promise that was given to the beginning of the match, so, Ryu made so that the match was entertaining for the both of them and that he'd be able to complete his word.

Though, on the other hand, Athena's intention is to hurt the man to make him not get up, but Ryu knew that in doing that will only give the man more reason to compete and the only way for Athena to break the man's spirit is to kill the man himself, and Ryu hoped for it to not come to that. The intention to kill is bad enough, but to have a death by the hands of one of Lu Bu would ruin the reputation that it has created from the start.

Peppa Clause Wrote:

Undermining a man who will willingly take on a team isn't smart..

Peppa would muse as he reflected upon the situation. It was a futile determination. He'd have to have distinct wins against each member to be considered to be pushed along and considering the illegal amount of team members he was sure there wasn't going to be much to fuel his resolve in actually passing the round.

Which meant he had to be doing it for something more noble...or more stupid.

I'm craving some Chinese. Yeah, maybe I can have Clar' join us? If Ryu isn't too sore from getting his p***y kicked that is.

Mocking his team again in jest.

"Peppa, you do know, I took it easy on that guy, and still his attacks really didn't leave much of a mark except for the one to my back. So, I wouldn't be talking, besides, he still has that gash I gave him in the gut.... Hopefully, he got that wrapped up, or he'll feel a great pain from it soon."

He chuckled a bit at Peppa, knowing the man is lucky that Ryu will never take Peppa seriously.

Peppa Clause Wrote:

Ryu Versher 777 Wrote:

"Peppa, you do know, I took it easy on that guy, and still his attacks really didn't leave much of a mark except for the one to my back. So, I wouldn't be talking, besides, he still has that gash I gave him in the gut.... Hopefully, he got that wrapped up, or he'll feel a great pain from it soon."

He chuckled a bit at Peppa, knowing the man is lucky that Ryu will never take Peppa seriously.

I'm sure we'll just only need one guy to carry you there than, eh?

He joked with a snicker. He couldn't help but to find it a harsh change in tone from his restless boredom he experienced lately during rounds. Lack of things to do and being so far away from where things might be happening scared him little bits.

Yet he knew things were fine, just a old Jedi's phobias.

Surely he's not that stupid? I'm still trying to gauge this guy as a fool or noble.

"Yeah, myself."

He looked to the battle that Save was encountering now then returned his gaze to Peppa, "Hey, he seemed to be a man of his word, and I just wonder about his team-mates... will another one pop up?"

Ryu goes to re-insert True Blaze's sheath back upon his back with the blade. Luckily, the sheath and blade weren't too harmed in the battle. Ryu looked up towards Save and Athena's battle, then returned back to wrapping up his waist to cover up his back from the previous battle.

Tch, these Lu-Bu guys really have no love for exchanging blows, do they? Save thought to himself, as her arm locked around the back of his head. If he was lucky though, her big mistake would be not immediately performing the suplex.

He closed his eyes in concentration; this was going to be tricky. As he felt her adjust her footing to begin slamming her knee into his stomach, he tensed his muscles. The first blow was all it took to re-open the slightly closed stab wound Ryu had dealt earlier, and even though he had been lucky enough to avoid the stab from piercing anything other then a bit of muscle, the blood loss would eventually get to him if he continually got beat in the area. However, his lower torso was incredibly resilient, and even though her knees were powerful enough to make him ache, the adrenaline pumping through his body really took most of the edge off of her bludgeoning damage, though the stab wound re-opening did warrant a grimace of pain from the teacher.

However, as that first knee came into his prepared sternum, the teacher allowed his left arm to droop down, and a pair of mini-mizu bombs appeared on his palm, which was facing the floor so that she wouldn’t see them. The bombs hovered, one each, in the air directly in front of Athen’s shins. Then, his left hand immediately wrapped around Athena’s stomach and grabbed her right side, with his other hand grabbing her pants at the hip. He then, with a mighty heave, pulled her up, using his sheer strength to lift her lower body up to about his waist level. Unfortunately for him, that was all his body could do right now, and it certainly wasn’t enough to accomplish much other then to…well…lift her up.

But then the bomb’s exploded. Their close proximity to her shins meant that they would explode, then propel her legs up and farther away from the ground, the momentum of which Save immediately used to push his neck back, pulling Athena’s body back, to actually, unbelievably, use all of this motion to drive her head into the ground.

[2]

• I do not walk with God +

Body:

Soul:

Oh man Sieg wished he could coach right now as he stood watching the fight.

• For God Carries Me +

Rain Yupa Wrote:

Rain sighed, and placed a hand on Victor's shoulder. "Matthew is okay. Worse for wear, but okay. Save helped see that much through, so I was obliged to be here to offer him my support."

He looked over at Athena and Save beginning their fight, then back to Victor. "You know, contrary to how you feel about the matter, you are still in the tournament. Save doesn't have to fight alone. I'm just saying, is all. You could always..."

Victor listened intently to Rain, smiling for a moment. He was glad to hear that Save helped mediate the situation. Save was humble in explaining his side of the story to the team, so it was hard to tell how effective he really was.

Unfortunately, Victor didn’t share that respect for the Heaven or Hell Judges. Stubbornness may have been one of his flaws, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. He would begin to open his mouth to speak, in response to Rain's suggestion, but was interrupted when…

Ryu merely chuckled. He looked tot he match noticing what Athena's doing then shakes his head, "Heh, I know a way out of that, matter of fact, many ways... Let's see if this teacher is as knowledgeable..."

"The grenades aren't bad at all. They were amusing, kind of reminded me of a comic book character but he was able to create them in mid-air instead of touching an object."

Ryu chuckled as he tapped his fighter.