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[img]https://i.imgur.com/kNmO8zV.png[/img]
[b][color=DarkOrange]wordcount: [/color][/b] 1,278 (+3)(+3)
[b][color=DarkOrange]Location:[/color][/b] Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
[b][color=DarkOrange]Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DarkOrange]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]///////// (75/90)
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In the moments before the starting bell, the fighters had a few moments to exchange words, though naturally, in Amaterasu and Jun Kazama’s case, this dialog was fairly onesided. Just not as quite so as the reserved woman might have expected.

“I am glad to see you made it into a tournament, Amaterasu, and can only hope that my letter was of some help with that” she said, before offering a short bow as she said “I wish you luck in your run” before straightening and dropping into a fighting pose as she “but know that I will hold nothing back despite our acquaintance, and that I expect nothing but the same from you”

The women had expected any reply to come in body language, and so almost missed the appearance of the words “IT WAS” and “TRUE FIGHT” being drawn in the air before her using gravity defying streams of water that materialised from the pool surrounding them. She did see them, however, and when she did her eyes went just a little wider. They went wider still when the bell rang and the heavenly principles took hold of them, revealing to her eyes the truth of Amaterasu that was normally hidden from mortal eyes.

“Divine indeed” she said to herself after a breath (all it took to steady her surprise) before more loudly saying “come then, let us put the truth of you to the test” with a beckoning flick of her hand.

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBhVZbAWpUA[/youtube][/center]

Amaterasu let out her own breath, still not quite used to the touch of the heavenly principles, before digging her claws into the stone of the stage’s floor and rushing forwards, an aura of blossom streaking behind her as her divine weaponry hovered above her back.  

From what she’d observed, she suspected the sheer speed involved might take her opponent by surprise, and though to Jun’s credit she was by no means panicked by the impending rushdown, this didn’t stop the divine wolf from delivering a solid headbutt to her gut, knocking her back. 

Unlike with her prior opponent however, Amaterasu did not intend to stick simply to these blunter, mundane blows, and instead whipped out her divine beads, grasping one in her maw before lashing the whip like weapon forwards to strike across the gap she herself had put in place.

The beads battered Jun once, twice, thrice, but on the fourth of the rapid fire strikes the woman caught onto her rhythm, bringing up her arms to block the blow. Then she took a step forwards as the lash was drawn back, and blocked the second blow. Then another step and another block.

By this point the divine wolf was considering switching tactics, only to be taken aback when Jun sidestepped the next blow instead, and lunged inside of the divine wolf’s guard to deliver an elbow jab, then spun round to deliver a second jab with the other elbow, before slamming a backhand down into the wolf, knocking her back in turn. Each blow was accompanied by a burst of red energy particles that fluttered like a scattering of flower petals, adding to the force of the blows.

It was clear that the woman was no mere brawler, but that didn’t really change Amaterasu’s assessment of the woman. She was always going to be more experienced at this kind of fighting, how much harm she could inflict with her blows just cut down the divine wolf’s timeline when it came to overcoming that knowledge gap.

Case and point, Jun slipping a low kick under Amaterau’s guarding sun disk, before delivering a pair of punches over the top of it and then finally spinning a mid level kick into her, sending the wolf flying away to land on her back.

Variance. That was key.

The wolf rolled to her feet to avoid a follow up stomp, then leap over the subsequent leg sweep and slamming her sundisk down onto Jun, before finally using her double jump to leap away from an attempted anti-air uppercut. 

The wolf whipped out a lash with her divine beads again before lunging towards and sweeping her sun disk low, slipping under the guard that had blocked the bead stroke. The hit knocked Jun to her knees, bringing her low enough that Amatarasu could grab her arm and then hurl her up and over her back, launching Jun skywards. Up there, the divine wolf hit her with a burst of beads fired machinegun style, before the woman crashed down to the ground, landing on her back.

Despite being knocked down, Jun did not let the divine wolf close the gap herself, nor did she move to retreat. Instead she pushed herself into a curled tumble towards Amaterasu, before lunging out of the roll in forward lunge, slamming both forearms into the wolf, who was knocked back as the woman landed in second roll and then bounced back to her feet.

The wolf pulled herself up in turn, and the two closed, trading blows and blocks, chipping at each other with neither one landing a decisive hit. At least until Jun dodged to the side and delivered an overhead kick that burst not just with energy but with a blast of wind as well, that pushed Amaterasu dangerously close to the edge of the arena.

Jun then rushed forwards at unprecedented speed, the wind rushing at her back, her arms and legs now burning with a misty blue flame.

Amaterasu wasn't exactly aware of what the heat system Jun had just activated was, but it did remind her of the rules of the heavenly principles, namely that resources had to be built up by landing hits. Without even looking to see if she’d charged enough, the wolf focused and spent the moment she might have been able to avoid the first strike of incoming empower attacks to focus, and make the world her canvas.

Time, for her, paused, and she took a moment to calm herself. 

Reflect. 

Then panic, as the heavenly principles casually broke into her reprieve and added a timer to it that hissed like the fuse of a bomb, threatening doom should she abuse this state for too long. 

She floundered around for a resource to use, before going for something simple. Her brush dabbed the ground between herself and Jun, and then drew upwards, then let time resume. When it did, a tree was suddenly in Jun’s way, one which her heat dash crashed into, briefly disorientating her. 

It gave the divine wolf time to get to her feet and go on the offensive, lunging round the flash grown obstacle and attacking her from the side. Here, again, they traded blows, but now on the edge of the disk, where little ground behind them, and even less to one side. However, in this heat mode, Jun’s blows explosively pierced Amaterasu's blocks, chipping away at her, and thanks to the heavenly principle’s equalising rules, she charged her heat back up as she did damage.

However, Amaterasu also charged as they traded blows, and this time, when she paused time, she didn’t need to be chased by the timer.

Instead, she drew a circle with a line extending from it, creating a massive cherry bomb to their side. Then, she paused again as the woman started to react to the surprise explosive, and stole fire from one of Captain Falcon’s punches, drawing from it to the fuse, instantly detonating the explosive.

The resulting festive blast hit both of the fighters clear off of the side of the stage, but only one of them could double jump.

As Amaterasu sprung back towards the ledge and scrabbled back onto it, Jun splashed down behind her, winning the divine wolf her first match via ring out.