Hime Gozen vs. Xiang Tchang - Balance and Force

Rules: Standard rules. No restraints on techniques or method. Illegal holds and strikes are forbidden.

Fouls:

Victory Conditions: Victory is obtained by KO, Submission, or Ring Out.



Hime was quite certain that she would never get used to the mainland. Perhaps for as long as she would live.

The first ground her feet ever touched was the bare mud and dirt of island forests. Her mind traveled back to the splendorous expanse of towering trees and roaming mountains beside the coast of Okinawa. The ebb and flow of fragile life lingered and made itself known in every inch of the landscape. The relative peace was serene. The world breathed and one could breathe along with it. It was impossible for her to tell how anyone could live in this utopia of noise and constant distractions.

The Momentum arena was seconds away from its opening match. The General Manager had ordered all hands on deck and not a moment wasted. The rush and panic was nearly palpable, even for the packed audience quickly filling the stadium as the clock ran down rapidly toward the opening curtain.

The master karateka stood solemnly detached from the endless buzz of nameless ants and worker bees rushing all around her. Her arms were folded and her eyes calmly shut. Where her mind lay or what thoughts occupied her were a mystery. Lone as a statue she stood amidst the chaos, the tattered ends of her midnight dougi fluttering gently against the draft calling her towards the long walk before her; the entrance tunnel that led to the arena. The center of her ambitions. All of it was merely a step away.

"You there! Weakling!" One of the staff stumbled over his own shoe laces, nearly face planting on the cement before he caught himself and looked at the woman calling to him. How was she talking with her eyes closed? "I tire of waiting! When do we begin?"

“Five more minutes, Ms. Gozen. We’re having some trouble rigging up the-”

“I’m going now. Send the enemy out promptly, before I get restless…”

“Wha-? W-wait, I just said-” Hime strode off down the tunnel with her eyes focused on the light. The corner of her lips began to curl, feeling the embers flicker in her blood.

Theme:

Hime Gozen:

A haunting traditional chorus roused the patrons Her ambivalent smile was first to be seen from the darkness before the rapid beat of the drums pulsed a reverberating light all around the arena. Hime walked straight forward out of the fighter's tunnel and into the deafening sounds of an electrified stadium. She ran a hand through her golden locks that caught the light and played to the natural sway of her hips. Chants and shouts greeted the karateka earnestly from both sides of the aisle. But she paid them no mind. Their passion was faux and fleeting, nothing like her own.

Before long Hime was finally ascending the stage. When she reached the top, she only took a moment to place a hand at her hip and finally take in the sight all around her. A devilish smirk wrinkled her gorgeous features as she proceeded to the other end of the ring. Slowly she turned when her feet met the boundary, her hungry eyes lingering on the entrance for her opponent’s arrival.

It had been a few months, perhaps even a year since Xiang re-arrived in Japan from China, being one of her favorite places she visited while abroad studying other arts, however that wasn’t her only reason as the multiple competitions held there also gave her a chance to better herself.

The chinese woman despite being used to more calm environments, the dojo her family runs being a bit more hidden away from cities. Yet she found that organized confusion, the neon-decorated buildings, the beautiful parks to be a rather elegant view. Of course due to her small stature, Xiang can’t help but feel at times a bit claustrophobic, as if she was being crushed by the overflow of people but still managing to get around fine despite that.

However her passion and attraction to the place was the sport, the fighting, the art. The way one moves their body, punching, kicking, simply moving around their arms or taking a step forwards was like a dance, delicate and slow yet sometimes fast and rough and that was something that she really enjoyed. And with the new update to the Momentum this allowed her to finally be part of a big competition against some other great fighters from across the globe.

Upon arriving at the arena the small martial artist was quickly meet with chaos and confusion as the workers quickly prepared for the match that was about to happen, giving the impression this was the first or one of the first matches they had of this type or almost any type, which didn’t exactly help but be worried about it all. The worst part however was due to the confusion and her small size, she was almost invisible, or looking just a child, to the seemingly stressed workers, causing Xiang to skillfully dodge them as she walked around the hallways and rooms to understand the layout of the building and where to go.

Finally ready, the small woman walked through the tunnel carefully as always to avoid bumping into anyone else, working already as a warm-up, with the music on the background getting progressively louder and she got closer making it only feel like she was dancing than simply dodging the incoming workers.

One of the workers clumsy walked around worried as if he had just seen a beast out to get him. “Where is miss Tchang…? Oh god, where is she??” Looking down and seeing Xiang right in front he panicked, before looking around and leaning closer, sweating. “Uh… are you lost-.”

“Don’t you even dare end that sentence! I’m Xiang Tchang! Didn’t you check the profile or something!?” Just the very fact she was possibly being confused with a youngster made her blood boil as she didn’t hold anything back and shouted directly at his face.

“Oh my! I’m so, SO sorry for the mistake! I’m still new at this. Miss Gozen had already gone ahead of schedule and entered, you need to come quickly.”

Xiang calmed down, almost as if he was scared for his life for the mistake, being quite sorry for his mistake as she followed him, which made it quite easier to travel the remaining portion of the tunnel as the man made it visible that someone was there.

Reaching the entrance to the stage, she was ready to enter but was being held back by the worker to give her the proper time to enter, going as soon as he gave the signal.

Xiang Tchang:

Theme:

The martial artist walked forward, the theme song blasting in the background, an 8-bit track of what seemed to be akin to a video-game yet it gave a feeling of a fight was coming due to the beating of the music. Xiang gave full view to her blue kimono + bandana combination as she walked to the ring.

Her eyes never left her opponent, both while walking and walking the steps up to the arena where the fight would take place, analyzing the woman in front of her, seemingly like a giant compared to herself and much stronger. And then she finally realized the audience around her, seeing the house full all to see them. She might not be as gorgeous as her opponent and so pulling her type of pose wouldn’t go as well, to which she simply decided to wave at them, before finally turning their attention to the opponent and giving a slight bow.

“Nice to meet you.”

What was this noise?

Hime failed to understand the appeal in any sound that didn't come from a stringed instrument or the tanned hide of a weathered drum. The harmony of nature kept her in tune with the greater world. The natural sounds resonated with the human spirit better than anything else and brought clarity to the mind, body, and soul. It was no wonder why many of her young disciples were so weak when they first came to her. The plague of technology has dulled the senses of an entire generation.

Even so, her hungry gaze kept to the entrance as her adversary finally made her appearance. The infectious energy brought a rush of warm blood through her veins. Regardless of her misgivings, fighting on the open stage was a feeling that Hime had gone without for far too long. Momentum certainly provided the necessary venue, the crowd, and now for the opponent…

The karateka regarded her petite figure as she appeared before the top of the stage. Hime felt her smile start to fade from her lips.

She was shorter in person. Xiang’s martial repertoire looked promising on paper, but Hime was having trouble matching the prowess to the pink-haired girl before her now. What little of Tchang there was, at least. She was terribly slight and unassuming. Without the assistance of several industrial stage lights high shining down on her from above, Xiang’s presence would have gone entirely unnoticed.

“Fighters!” The official called out to them. “To the center!”

Hime strode forward and met Xiang in the center of the ring, standing solemnly on the Momentum logo as her eyes remained downcast on the Chinese fighter. She did not respond to her opponent's greeting. She did nothing at all for a long, silent moment as the two stared at one another in the center of the stage. Suddenly, the karateka leaned forward and let her nostrils take a deep whiff of Tchang’s hair. Shampoo, soap, and a pleasant flowery aroma that matched the Chinese girl’s petite loveliness perfectly.

No blood, no sweat, not so much as a mark of true battle left behind. Hime leaned back and glowered down at her.

"You smell awful." She said simply, folding her arms with an embitered huff. She refused to hide even the slightest hint of contempt behind her aggravated expression.

"How disappointing! I came to this arena because I was promised worthy opponents! But all they have to offer me are children. Simply repugnant! Not an ounce of shame remains upon the mainland." The karateka couldn’t help shaking her head at the diminutive adversary standing before her. Hime simply waved the little girl away. "Out of my sight, insect, and tell them to send someone stronger. My fists yearn to be tested!"

The moment she had finally been awaited for it was starting. It had been some time since her last real match, the one she had with her brother, one that not only fatigued her but also wounded her in an emotional level. But now she was back in the ring and with a quite strong-looking opponent, always a good sign.

The techno bits alongside the energetic tone of her theme quickly filled the petite fighter with positive vibes, while also pumping her blood, hyped up, feeling of being able to do what before could’ve been hard. While her opponent’s theme seemed nice, it also felt too natural and old fashioned.

The house was full, the sight of so many people was almost intimidating, but also meant that many were interested in the concept and specially in the match, the roaring crowd sure gave the right energy for this sort of thing.

However, the face of her opponent seemed rather… Unsatisfied. Any form delight or even any neutral expression, replace with one of unpleasant or disgusted upon the sight of Xiang, something that the reason could be obvious, but it would be better to simply stay silent, as the pink haired girl, smacking her left fist into her open palm right hand, before doing a slight bow of respect.

It only got weirder from there as the sound of sniffing could be heard, and more weirdly, directly above. This was enough to freak her out, quickly coming off her bowing stance to look at her opponent, only for her to direct an unpleasant and awkward remark to the petite figure. She did train quite a bit, so she always made sure to thoroughly be clean so that the stank of sweat couldn’t be spotted, so the fact alone that her wonderful aroma was being awful was puzzling and concerning.

And the dreadful words were used. The most typical combination of words used in a sentence towards Xiang was said, sending her into rage.

But this wouldn’t be exactly a normal tantrum, this was by her opponent in the ring, in the hypothetical battlefield, this was serious to Xiang. Being looked down upon by bystanders was annoying, but being looked down by the opponent was outright disrespectful and insulting.

Xiang took a deep breath before looking Hime right in her eyes.

“I can’t stand such injustice. Ranking an opponent’s skill due to their stature is quite disrespectful!”

Xiang was quite serious about this, not letting that comment pass, wanting to make sure Hime Gozen would not underestimate her. She was ready to attack her and would’ve done so if it wasn't for the match not having started yet and her honor towards the sport and the battle. Leaving her only the option, to retreat to her position, and save her anger to the point the match officially starts.

“I shall show you my worth.”

Fury. Hime could recognize the flicker in the center of Xiang’s pupils before it had taken shape upon her petite countenance. It was a quality she’d instilled many a time within her underlings. The basest form of inner strength when it was properly channeled for the right reasons, at the right time, through a suitable vessel. And the vessel before Hime was sorely…lacking.

The black-armored warrior remained unimpressed. Momentum was presented to her as a second golden opportunity. A Shangri-La for champions. Typical mainland deceit. Her brows furrowed, returning Xiang’s frustration with equal contempt. “Hmph. Pathetic child. Unable to comprehend the sheer size of the mountain before them.”

Hime stepped back moments after her pint-sized adversary, evening the distance between them. Then, her left foot slid forward along the mat and bent her knees as she lowered into her stance. Her fist was clenched by her side while the other fist was raised upright in front of her. She stared Xiang down past her the width of her knuckles like a target beyond the sights of a gun. "Very well. If you insist, I shall reward your foolhardy courage…with the pain of a thousand deaths!"

Before either of the opponents made a move, the referee stepped forward and raised a hand into the air, clutching it tight into a fist before throwing it down. "Shobu Hajime!"

The karateka flashed past the referee in an instant, closing the distance with a single majestic stride. Her chambered fist shot forward in the blink of an eye, aiming for the pinkette’s fragile little sternum dead center.

Xiang was certainly mad at her opponent. Always judged by her overall height instead of her skills, treated like a child rather than a martial artist like her rivals, either by the audience, or worse, by the other martial artists. The pink-haired fighter should’ve already been used to these, however as weird it was the rage continued on with any insult regarding to her stature.

At this point, the warrior in front of her, Hime, wasn’t a rival to test out her skills against, to learn from, but rather just an obstacle to surpass, an enemy to silence. To show the greater black-armored blonde martial artists that she was wrong and it was a mistake to underestimate her.

Her pink eyes focused on her target’s face, squinting them at her as she talked, her echoing on her head and how she was impulsing her status already over Xiang’s without even throwing a punch. Such haste and pride, could be very well her downfall. “A Mountain is big, large and heavy. Usually symbolized as a peak obstacle, but an obstacle nonetheless. One that I will climb over and attain Victory!”

Watching her opponent prepare, assuming her stance, was the same as watching a tank slowly load in the bullet before slowly taking aim in her direction. The sheer pressure emitted by her in an attack position, was enervating, scary even to the point of practically not feeling the strength to move and that she could indeed back up her claims and leaving the destructive capability that Hime could do to the imagination, which didn’t really help.

However, that stance, the stance that the Blonde woman was doing, was one that the pint-sized woman recognized as being one from Jujustu, or at least something similar. WIth how some Martial artists mimicked and/or shared between each other, it wasn’t exactly impossible to mistake them. What was important is that Xiang did somewhat recognize it, and could, perhaps pin down the style used.

Xiang would assume one similar to in, sliding back her right foot, severely lowering her stance, as well place her closed right first besides her waist. Only difference would be her left hand which instead of being fully closed into a fist, both the middle and index fingers being somewhat open, assuming a form of a hook and the arm doing a 45º degree angle on the elbow. “Yeah, sure. That sounds stupid.”

Each contender looked at each other, patiently waiting for the voice of the referee to start the match, to which Xiang’s body immediately tensed up, all muscles bulking up. Nervous was not enough to describe her feelings over the situation.

In that same instant, the tank fired. The Karateka charged at high speed, closing the distance between them at what could be mistaken for light speed, and unleashing a vicious punch in her direction, such a strong and fast strike, an effective attack. By the posture and how well performed it looked like, at least it seemed her skills could hold up in the match.

However up close, it was even… scary. In a small panicked state and almost in a instinctively, moved, side-stepping the attack itself attempting to dodge it, while also using her hands to push it to the side, trying to dodge the attack, at least if it were to work, barely hitting her, scraping her kimono as she tried to move out of the way.

If this were to happen, while in a panicked state, she uses that opportunity to move closer seeing a spot open. Quickly getting her posture, she immediately dashed in a single step, sending an elegant and quick, but not as strong punch compared to her rival, trying to hit her exposed ribs, if possible.

Absurd.

Hime simply did not have the patience or tolerance to suffer fools for long. It only brought back horrid memories of her days in Okinawa, wandering from school to school to fight with idiots and learn from senile old men. She had no intention of allowing those days to return.

Fools existed only to be dashed beneath her fists, to pave the path of glory red between every step she took. Xiang was nothing more than an insignificant pebble in her way. The karateka would prove that in this instant as lightning echoed out from the center of the stage.

With one powerful stride, Hime shot a fist straight for her opponent’s center of mass. Only she came up short. Xiang evaded her strike. The black-clad warrior tensed on reflex and absorbed the Chinese girl’s punch as it dug into her exposed side. Hime did not so much as flinch, remaining still for only a second before she suddenly looked over her shoulder at her adversary with clear contempt.

“Hmph! Futile bravado!” The karateka twisted to the left, showing her back to Xiang as she spun around and threw her leg up with a reverse roundhouse kick towards the petite fighter's side. Whether or not Xiang was able to respond to her counterattack, Hime would plant her foot back down at the end of her swing. The Japanese woman faced her adversary face-to-face.

The sheer power and speed behind Hime’s first punch was quite fearsome, enough for Xiang to act on instincts almost dodging without thinking and even then was barely, and had trouble following it up. If she was hit, the small chinese woman was afraid to be sent flying and roll across the floor like a ragdoll. She couldn't reach near that level, only if she trained for several years and that would still be undetermined.

However there was an opening and a drastic one, completely exposing her sides, her ribs as a good hit there could be quickly devastating, and despite the attack with her loss of balance, she could only hope it was enough. Unfortunately it wasn’t, as the small girl watched her punch sink into her torso, as the stronger woman completely shrugged off the hit. Her eyes widened at the realization as she grew worried.

Xiang never expected to find someone that would just shrug her off like that. There were several other strong fighters out there which she was completely unaware of that were stronger and more experienced than and that did make her more curious about it.

However the feeling that her opponent was giving, looking down and belittling her, pissed her off, reminding her of her brother, which only fired her drive to win, as Hime was starting to only look like a target.

Distracted in her thoughts of mostly finding out about the immediate gap and how Hime just tanked her attack, she was too slow to dodge, watching the black gi martial artist masterfully spinning around before delivering the powerful kick to the side of XIang’s head, to which the pink-haired fighter could only raise her arm to protect, despite not working as much feeling  overpowered and knocked out of her feet, flying for a second, before finding herself in crashing course with the floor.

To avoid a major problem, using the momentum, Xiang rolled as soon as she made contact with the floor to avoid getting more hurt, as well gaining distance and able to immediately go to her feet in a crouched position. Slowly getting up and re-assuming her stance, while looking at her opponent, to see if she would have another attack set-up and then approach closer, despite being a dangerous distance, but she needs to get close in order to attack.

“I’ll show you what’s futile!” Xiang muttered under her breath, once she was close enough. Taking action, she would slam her left foot hard on the ground, and then swing her whole torso while sending a vertical punch. While her fighting style was more defensive, relying on the opponent to attack first and then counter-attack, she was determined enough to start with the attack instead, to prove herself, as she aimed her punch directly at Hime’s chest, using her whole torso’s momentum to enhance her punch.

Hime could almost pity this one. If she could comprehend the notion.

Willpower alone would not secure victory for this meager soul. The Okinawan could only raise her chin and scoff at Xiang’s deceleration. The match had scarcely begun and she could already foresee its end.

Hime would applaud a stalwart fighting spirit like the one inside of this girl. She was much the same as what seemed to her a lifetime ago. Swinging her fists incessantly and shouting into the ether in her dogged pursuit of mastery. The path to true strength was not ventured passively. It had to be attacked, and conquered. The taste of victory was not a reward, it was a necessity.

It was not that her opponent was weak. Hime was simply that much stronger.

She was an instructor first and foremost now. The first step in the Raijin School was comprehending one's utter weakness and allowing it to crush them. To be beaten beneath the harsh discipline of reality. On this matter, she was an expert.

Xiang charged forward towards the dark-clad karateka; a pink lamb hurrying towards her slaughter. Hime stomped her back foot into the floor, shaking the earth, widening her stance as she stared the charging pinkette down. As Xiang's fist shot forward towards her chest, Hime threw her left forearm up to parry the blow before she stepped forward with a mighty stride and threw a counterstrike straight into the Chinese fighter's petite chest.

It was a risky tactic, but there wasn't much she could do, or rather, what would’ve someone who has angered and not thinking clearly in the moment.

Xiang’s pride was being mocked, humiliated, belittled like her own stature. The petite fighter was aware of her small stature, weak and fragile, and that topic was quickly touched upon by her opponent, who wasn’t short of seeming like an Oni herself. A tall and strong karetake to crush the ant sized opponent.

This short temper was her undoing, rushing forward and attacking blindly. Her main rival was someone around her size and in terms of strength wasn’t massively stronger, but was much more skilled. And while learning outside her home, despite many others being far taller than her, she wasn't mentioned due to not being relevant as many great martial artists aren’t even that tall.

However facing a true opponent of enormous size comparison and who now had a huge strength advantage while also being rather skillful and fast was a much different situation.

Facing Hime with such a straightforward, simple and basic, yet fast and powerful, compared to her size and body type, punch wasn’t enough to cut it as the Black clad Karateka easily deflected it. Perhaps even if she simply tanked the hit, she’d easily absorbed it. But that wasn’t a problem now, as her Ogre-like opponent counter-attacked with a strike at her.

In the face of danger, anyone’s reaction is to cower, hide their shields, something to soften or even stop the blow from connecting the most sensitive parts. Xiang in her response, in a panic, rose her arm to block, trying to parry the strike, but she found it useless as the strike broke through her weak defense, like a wrecking ball against a paper wall, Gozen’s arm digging into Tchang’s before pushing her back like a cannon shooting a ball.

Pushed back, the pink haired woman took flight for a split second, levitating. Once her feet touched the ground, she quickly took a few steps to regain her footing, looking to regain balance.

Xiang had realized that she had screwed up. Her opponent is not one to charge and hopes for something to work out. But when spat on the face, lost her cool and tried to overpower someone x10 stronger than her. Luckily she was a quick learner, realizing her mistake, but also getting a grip on her opponent’s style. Single, fast and strong strikes seemed to be the theme at first.

To face such a strong enemy, she had to calm down and not let her opponent cloud her mind in anger. Assuming a more relaxed stance, the petite fighter quickly took a few and quick breathing exercises to try to calm down, before taking another fighting stance.

To defeat her, the Chinese fighter couldn’t rush and play offensive, but or at least not without expecting a counter-attack. Now she would try to play her to her strengths, defensive, as despite being a stance, she didn’t move, now waiting for her opponent to make a move instead of simply doing herself.