Scene #6517: MECC: Wandering Dog vs Yang Xiao Long

Owner	Pose
Muramasa	The scorching hot sun glares down at the sprawling stone below, and the audience surrounding it. The stands are all colored a deep oaken color, boxing in the arena. A good six or seven yards of space is between each stand and where the two opponents would be facing off, with that ground covered in lush green grass. The overwhelming heat is mitigated by a constant breeze, just hard enough to be felt, but soft enough to be a non-factor in combat. Beyond the bleachers that a cheering crowd sat themselves at, the surroundings are mostly non-descript. Maybe it was a plain in the middle of nowhere, or perhaps it was just a central park in a rural city. A red haired Japanese stands in the grass outside the arena, a microphone in hand. His lower body is decorated in samurai armor, while his torso is bear save for a shroud wrapping his left arm. A white haori is slung over his shoulder. "Welcome, everyone, to today's MECC .... sponsored by Gilgamusk and HETAP." he says in a pleasant tone. Most announcer riled the crowd up with their own energy, but this one remained as cool as a cucumber as he addressed the audience. "We're in for a riveting match today, or so this old man thinks. Two martial artists will square off before you with outstanding prowess, and yet, only one shall walk away." Of course, that's not necessarily true due to the round-robin nature of the tournament, but announcers were supposed to make these things seem more dramatic than they really were. Or, at least, that's the impression Muramasa had of such a thing. "The so-called strongest under heaven, the proclaimed number one hand-to-hand fighter; Wandering Dog. What a mysterious fellow, despite his candid attitude." Muramasa sweeps his shrouded arm across the arena, the exuberant people who'd come out to the Shrine to see the battle cheering on their preferred fighter even during their introduction. "And his opponent is a fiery woman named Yang Xiao Long, with a knack of giving out something of a shotgun punch," Muramasa spoke, his expression even as some of the cheering began to turn into wolf whistling and cat calls. "While this is Wandering Dog's first bout, Yang Xiao Long has a record of zero-to-two. Despite how each of her fights had come down to the wire, 'close' only counts in horsehoes and handgrenades, as the westerners say. Will the Dog have his day, or will that gung-ho huntress reap the rewards of all her hard work? This is what we're here to determine today. And now, our fighters, the match will begin at the gong!" Stepping back, he gives them several moments to pass words to eachother if they wish, or otherwise prepare themselves. Five seconds pass, and then he delivers a kick to a large brass gong, the resounding noise declaring the beginning of the match. "Begin!"
Yang Xiao Long	After Sengo's introduction, music strikes up, a heavy metal track pounding as the blonde huntress runs out from the sidelines and into the arena. She lifts her arms and bellows along with the words of the song, then gives a 360 points into the bleachers. She's not had a good run, but she certainly hasn't lost her drive. The losses have only stoked her fires even hotter than before. She waits for her opponent to enter, gives a bow at the waist with a fist pressing into the opposite palm, then settling into a boxers stance. "Well, lets see what you've got." she says to Wandering Dog, suddenly surging forward when the gong sounds, and with a quick sidestep, boosted by a blast from one of her gauntlets, comes in to bring a series of jabs from the side.
Wandering Dog	As they step out into the audience, Wandering Dog raises both hands to the air, waving to the crowd, before moving into position. As Yang bows, Wandering Dog cracks his knuckles. "Good luck!" The 'you'll need it' is left to be inferred. Yang suddenly sidesteps, boosts in, and comes for a series of jabs. Wandering Dog closes his eyes, listenings to her footwork, and then his own footwork has him moving, angling out of the way of the jabs and dodging swiftly, arm moving to deflect one of them cold. "Good technique. How long you've been training?" Wandering Dog asks her, before suddenly opening up into a kick, moving to hit her square in the torso, and then pull back, land, and kick her with the other foot just as hard, trying to knock her off balance and stagger her in a rapid sequence of blows. Every motion is that of a highly trained martial artist, someone who's been doing this all his life.
Muramasa	The crowd roils with the explosive start, Sengo standing calmly by the sidelines. The two had moved so quickly that to the ordinary folk watching, they'd been like blurs. "That missy opens up with a series of powerful jabs, but she can't quite seem to pluck a hit on her opponent. Even so, she has a very solid form. I can say with certainty that this is not a foregone conclusion. But with Wandering Dog's experienced footwork, can she find the opening she needs? She must. Brawn is only one part of battle, at least, that's what this old man thinks."
Yang Xiao Long	Yang grunts as she's deflected and dodged. She knows how this goes, and as that kick comes in, she brings arms up to tank the strike, letting the impact send her skidding backwards to open up some distance. "Since I could throw a punch." she replies to the other martial artist, shifting her stance and bouncing on the balls of her feet to loosen up the muscles that just got smashed by that strike. "Still got a lot to learn though, s'why I'm here." she admits, then clanks her gauntlets together, pulsing with force before she rushes in again bringing a right hook this time, and firing her gauntlet's built in weapon just before impact, sending a wave of kinetic force out as well as the regular impact of her fist.
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog straightens up his stance as well, especially as Yang comes in with that right hook. "Good. Never stop learning, not even when you're three hundred years old like me!" The kinetic force and fist comes straight for Wandering Dog, who sidesteps, but not fast enough. The blow impacts with his side, staggering him backwards and doing a small number on him, but he refuses to let it lie. As soon as Yang has impacted, Wandering Dog speaks up close to her head. "Let's get supernatural." Wandering Dog reinforces his body, speeding up past what's humanly possible. With this sudden blur, his right elbow moves to strike Yang twice, once in the face and once in the chest, striking power also past what's humanly possible. It seems he's decided she's good enough to go superhuman against.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang finds purchase, she could feel the impact, even though it was mitigated with the motion to dodge. She can hit him, she can beat him. But that thought is suddenly overwritten by those three words spoken into her ear from close range. She reacts instantly, but the sheer speed means she can only just graze the strike aimed at her head, a golden 'shield' shimmering and blunting the force, while the second strike to her chest finds purches again, though on palms that grab that elbow, skidding back from the force. "'bout time you stopped holding back." she says, grinning as her eyes begin to shift red, flicking from lilac to full red between blinks. "Warmup's over." she agrees, shifting in closer and trying to grab her opponent, setting up to just straight up suplex him!
Muramasa	The crowd makes various sounds of confusion and excitement as the tempo of the battle just continues to ramp up. "With a boost from her gauntlets to reinforce her blows, Wandering Dog seems to be doing the same. He's suddenly accelerated his body and struck her with his elbow! But with wit and guts, she's minimized the damage and kept herself in the fight." The audience was on the edge of their seat as he explained what was happening, quite a few seemed to be using recording devices and slowing the footage down to try and see for themselves. "And, while the wanderer has managed to outmaneuver her at almost every turn, it seems she's managed to get one up on him. What an exciting turn of events, this old man's heart just might stop."
Wandering Dog	Yang closes in, and suplexes Wandering Dog. He slams into the ground hard, but quickly breaks out of it, rolling back to his feet. Taking a moment to inhale and exhale, tiger stripes line against his body, assisting his endurance. "You're strong. Let's see how you can handle this!" With another speedy blur forward, Wandering Dog's nails are hardened with essence, and he swipes at Yang with claws, before, after trying to scratch her, trying to knee up into her face hard enough to break a normal person's nose, if Yang wasn't durable and they weren't protected by the Shrine. This energy-laden blow is followed up by a thumbs-up at the crowd. Wandering Dog knows they love this.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang's strong and durable, yes. But she's got limits to how fast she can react. As Dog comes rushing in, those claws slash across her body, raking straight through her Aura and leaving slashes across her torso, blood trickling from the cuts before they close up again, patched by her Aura. The knee to the face sends her flipping backwards, landing hard on her back a few feet away. She doesn't stay down too long, hauling herself up onto her feet in a half-flip, barely landing long enough before she roars in rage and charges the Exalted, bringing a flurry of hard sweeping punches, augmented with her Semblance and the discharges from her gauntlets, aiming to overwhelm his defenses
Muramasa	Wandering Dog was right, the crowd /loved/ it. They go absolutely wild with a deafening roar that even has the Servant acting as the commentator wincing. Bringing the mic back up to his mouth, he raises his voice to speak over the noise. "Despite her comeback, it seems she's been put back into a tough spot! But for the missy's fans, don't lose hope, because she looks like she isn't done yet. And ... while she lacks grace, she certainly has talent!" The crowd had exploded for Wandering Dog, but everyone had to cheer for the underdog. It was an unspoken rule, someone who could come back from terrible odds resonated with everyone present. They had been loud for the wanderer, but they were positively supersonic for Yang's fierce rush as she beat her opponent down for a brief few moments. "Hm hm ... my experience tells me that this is the end. Our fighters' next moves will decide the outcome! It's come down to the wire. Right now, it's anyone's win." The noise abruptly dies down as the audience is left on the edge of their seats.
Wandering Dog	The punches impact hard, and the discharges overwhelm Wandering Dog, but the tiger stripes over his body keep him from getting straight knocked out of the fight. He staggers, a tiny bit of blood dripping from his mouth that he wipes off, grinning. Dog takes a step back, and then just cracks his knuckles again, looking up to the ceiling. "Let's show you a taste of true power. Sidereal Martial Arts power. Path Four." Suddenly, Wandering Dog's arms turn metal. Hard, solid steel, as they encase themselves, and become incredibly more durable. Wandering Dog surges forward again, moving to jab into Yang with a flurry of blows. Each impact /hurts/, like being struck by a car, enough to send someone flying backwards and break their bones. It's a finishing technique, one of Wandering Dog's strongest techniques, and something he's using to try and end this fight right here, right now.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang is either too angry, or just straight up too stubborn to back down. As Dog comes in with a flurry of punches with those steel arms, she returns them in kind, intercepting each strike with one of her own, firing her gauntlets. She lets out a bellow that grows in volume, each punch striking her fist making her arms vibrate and her Aura flare brilliantly... right up until it fizzles out and she misses a punch. It slams into her chest, and sends her flying backward into one of the safety barriers, cratering the protective construct. She stays there for a few moments, then pulls herself out of the Yang-shaped dent, debris raining down around her. Yang's eyes are shrouded by her hair as she stands half-hunched over, a cough spraying speckles of blood onto the ground. She wipes her mouth, then lifts her chin, giving a feral grin as her eyes seem to glow red. "My dad says... If you're going to do something. See it through all the way... the easiest thing I could do right now, is quit." she straightens, cracking her neck and knuckles. "But I ain't goin' anywhere." She lifts her right hand, clenching a fist. "I don't have much left in me, but out of respect... I'm giving you every last drop I have." she announces, then half-crouches, throwing her arms behind her and in a single motion, leaps forward, cratering the ground beneath her feet, and firing her gauntlets to launch herself into a single, final headlong strike. Nothing fancy, just aiming to tackle Dog with all of her strength pushing her momentum behind it.
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog has this. He can feel it. As he impacts, Yang is sent flying, and she seems to be down, but... She's not. That surprises him, but he can respect it. A fighter who can keep going, well...Wandering Dog's energy is already drained, and he's not sure how much more he can take. If Yang gets a good hit on him, he's down. So he tries to use his footwork again, to dodge the blow. Yang launches with everything she has. Right before she impacts, Wandering Dog shouts. "Good! This is what I fight for!" And then, he goes flying backwards, tackled into the stage wall. The wall shakes, strong enough to give some of the audience a scare. Wandering Dog's still conscious when the smoke clears. But he's down, as he taps out with a hand gesture. Yang is the winner.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang pushes away from her opponent, offering her hand to help him back up, before she turns to the crowd, and with Dog's hand still in her grasp, lifts both into the air. "Even though I won the bout, I think the real winner here, is all of you!" she shouts to the spectators. "Thank you all for coming." She then looks back at the Exalted. "I'm starving after that, y'wanna go grab somethin' to eat?"
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog rises with Yang's help, and considers for a moment, before nodding. "Sure, I know a good noodle place. Good fight." He seems happy with his results, despite losing. Seeing something get that close...it's always great.
Muramasa	As Wandering Dog finally goes down, and after such a riveting dialogue from Yang herself, Muramasa turns and kicks at the gong again. "Finish! The winner has been decided..." "Yang Xiao Long! Congratulations, missy!" Loud, loud, and louder. A cacaphony of ecstatic cheers, confetti being tossed from the stands, and the flashing of camera-phones and other similar devices to commemorate another bout of the MECC. Sengo approaches the two as the Shrine begins to do its due dilligence in restoring them, and the arena. "That was a pretty stellar performance for you two. I don't mind fixing you a meal, if you'll have me cook."