Momo vs. Amago Haruhisa

Sporting Event / Competition

The last match of the morning was set to begin as Momo and Amago Haruhisa both descended onto the field. The former was a member of the Hares of Inaba, bodyguard to Yakami-hime, and apparently quite an accomplished martial artist. By her own admission, she wasn't really certain why she was participating. Due to the fact that she'd been granted a bye in the bracket, this would be the first time the audience had seen Momo fight since her brief showing in the preliminaries.   Her opponent came with a much more storied reputation following her into the ring. Amago Haruhisa was Vassal-Daimyō of the Amago Clan and Bugyō of Bingo Province under the Mōri. The Amago family had not gone as peacefully into subjugation as many of the Mōri Clan's conquests, and it was no secret that Haruhisa chafed under the other's rule. What's more, she marked the union of Ibaraki-dōnyo and Shuten-dōji as the daughter of two Onigami. This accounted for Haruhisa's monstrous stature despite her relative youth and promised great power in her future as she developed, a prophecy certainly not lost on Mōri Motonari.

Taking advantage of her opponent's cumbersome size, Momo acted first as soon as Kikkawa no Myōkyū signaled the start of the match. She leaped up on top of the stained glass cube still hunkered just north of her starting position. The dreamstuff structure had somehow survived each round since Randi Carter had conjured it in the second match of the morning, more or less intact. From this vantage, Momo waited for her opponent to approach. Haruhisa obliged, charging forward and slamming her armored gauntlet into the cube's side. Glass strained and shattered under this monstrous blow, taking the wall and Momo's footing with it. Rabbit and rubble tumbled down into a heap on the ground, Momo left prone but somehow unharmed. Rolling to the side, she managed to avoid Haruhisa's second punch, lashing out with a kick of her own in reprisal. The Usagi girl's foot connected, but awarded her only a dull, ineffective thump against Haruhisa's stony skin.   Before the ogress could swing another deadly haymaker, Momo hopped to her feet. Then, she hopped again. Soaring up to near eye-level with her opponent, she let loose with a Snap Kick so quick and powerful that it boomed through the air and sound barrier alike. This time, Haruhisa was sent stumbling back from the impact. Nothing seemed broken, but she'd definitely felt that one.   Momo's descent left her open, and Haruhisa did not hesitate to loose another punch in return. The ogress' gauntlet caught the falling rabbit with violent impact and sent her flying through the air. The back side of the cube offered little resistance as Momo punched through it in a crash of shattering glass. Only the far wall of the arena finally stopped her flight as she slapped into the wall with excruciating force and slid to the ground. Incredibly, she kept her feet. More incredibly, a blow that would have turned any ordinary human to paste only left the Usagi girl looking a little bruised.   Any more punches like that might spell trouble, however, so Momo relied once again on her superior speed to put some distance between herself and her opponent. Haruhisa followed after, her slower gait offering her only a chance to throw her metal war fan in a spinning trajectory at the fleeing rabbit. Momo managed to dodge the weapon's spinning edge, then waited a moment more for Haruhisa to come into range. Jumping up once again, she concentrated ki into her foot and lashed out. This Snap Kick was aimed at Haruhisa's sternum, and the crack of tortured sound mingled with a snapping of bone as it connected with devastating force. The ogress reeled as Momo twisted in the air, unable to defend herself from the follow-up kick. This strike had none of the ki, speed, or force of the initial attack, but it was still enough. With a final crunch, Haruhisa fell backward into the water of the canal, throwing up a great, final splash as she landed prone on her back. Momo seemed just as surprised as the crowd to see that the ogress was not breathing.   The rabbit managed only a gasp of surprise before another presence in the stands made itself known. Ibaraki-dōnyo, with a stream of curses that scorched the air around her, gathered up all her power in reprisal and unleashed Onigami's Fury upon the hapless victor. A clawed arm of searing-red energy manifested above and swooped down, carving Momo's stomach out as it passed. The crowd gasped as the rabbit, standing stunned just a moment before, fell just as dead as Ibaraki's daughter.   Motonari quickly attempted to take control of the situation, speaking up in a hoarse voice for the first time since the morning's matches had begun. As she apologized to the crowd, the white-haired, white-skinned oni from behind her descended to Ibaraki. There was something unearthly and pale about this tall, slender girl. Indeed, she gave off the same kind of uncomfortable sense of the ancient and holy as those priestesses who carried off each who fell in the tournament. Even great Ibaraki-dōnyo seemed unnerved in the face of this girl's somber stare. With a few more expletives in her wake, she was pressured to leave the arena peacefully.   As this transpired, Fubuki had descended to the site of two unfortunate deaths and once again invoked Amaterasu's power to return each to life in turn. Only... that didn't seem to be necessary. As Fubuki hoisted them up in her* fox's tails, she* realized that both were breathing again, their wounds already healed by some unknown force. As they returned to the stands together, Amago Haruhisa began to awake. She expressed frustration, but not surprise, when Fubuki explained what had happened. Ibaraki was of the ancient type of oni, still ruled by her emotions, and had not "calmed down" as Shuten-dōji had somehow managed, she explained. Fubuki could only commisserate, stating that she* herself* sometimes acted on impulse in a similar way.   Finally, amidst a muttering crowd, Kikkawa no Myōkyū declared Momo the winner and the morning's matches to be at an end.