Description: A brazen assault with zero fear of retribution is launched into the supposedly protected heart of Justice. Targeted is the Justice High sweetheart, Athena Asamiya as the NESTS Cartel identifies her as a person of interest with the upcoming tournament...
Recently returned from her trip to China to participate in the intense Gods of the Arena fighting competition, Athena Asamiya was back to being the ideal Justice High student. Pursing academic excellence as best she could still only put her in a solid A- grade average. But given the school's severe expectations of its students, there was no shame in that, right?
Day by day, it seemed her star continued to rise. First her incredible surge up the fighting echelons - a new rookie to being pitted against the likes of Rose or Lee Chaolan within six months of starting her fighting career. Though she had finally tasted defeat at the hands of the veteran fighter, Rose, that is hardly a mark of shame for so young a fighter.
Then came the time she was invited to sing the Japan National Anthem before one of the exhibition events she appeared in. Reviews of her singing quality and stage presence were overwhelmingly glowing, with the audience having been moved to tears by the sincerity and quality of the young student's voice. The video posted to fighttube.com has garnered millions of views and there is still a buzz going around wondering when Asamiya would finally take up a contract to become Japan's next idol singer and give up on that rough and tough fighting stuff.
Finally, she had recently gained popularity amid the populace of Justice High once word got around that she had taken a stand against a roving gang of Gorin thugs who were vandalizing the prestigious Athletics Field. Thus did the smart, pretty, friendly, and energetic teen become something of a mascot of the student body. Many were already pushing for her to run for student president in the upcoming year!
At the recent Prom related exhibition fight, she had encouraged her fellow students to put aside the tensions between the schools and attempt to unify the teenagers of Southtown. And when word echoed out from Taiyo High about a unified district tournament, she was eager to sign up if only to show support for the cause. For reasons unknown to her, Justice High students were not required to submit for an exam before joining and, confident there was no doubt that she was fight worthy, Athena opted to pass on it. She was already so busy as it was!
Catching up on homework missed during her trip to China, the dedicated fighter had stayed an extra two hours after classes let out to study. But she couldn't neglect her health and fitness. The expensive, well equipped school gym and indoor track were put to use for another hour and a half. Finally, well past nightfall outside, it's time to go home and get started on her makeup homework.
Alone in the girl's locker room, Athena has already showered off the workout, dried and done a first pass at brushing her hair, and has taken to sitting on the wooden bench in front of her locker as she gets dressed for the brisk walk home. A white towel is tied off atop her head. She will take another pass at her hair after she finishes dressing. In the well-lit locker room, the girl's hair looks nearly black but upon closer inspection is clearly a deep shade of mysterious violet.
The military-orange skirt of the Justice High uniform is around her petite waist but her legs are otherwise bare. Until a moment ago, her torso was bare but for a light pink bra, leaving her fit, lean body visible. Given her penchant for wearing baggier tops, she is more endowed than most who had not shared the locker room with her before would guess, but her chest is by no means large. At this moment, the black, long sleeved, button up shirt that goes with the uniform has been draped over her shoulders, her hands popping out of the ends as she shifts the garment into place and glances down, violet eyes focused on aligning the top button and button hole, humming a quiet tune to herself.
It is easy to feel safe here. Justice High does not skimp on security. The doors to the locker rooms are locked unless a student ID is used through the card reader outside. The halls have cameras and, this time of night, most of the doors in the building are locked to the outside.
A woman like Athena has countless fans; although many of them might be of the wholesome variety, interested in her both as a star and then into her transition as a fighting fury, there are those in the dark she might be gleefully ignorant of. Some are worse than others. Amongst the quiet, covetous stalkers is one who has every means, and potential, to do something about those particular desires. When the notice went through NESTS, listing off students who needed to be 'harvested', a certain individual revelled to find Athena Asamiya on the list. The electronic pad housing the name was squeezed with such figure it shattered, flames gouting out to blacken the remnants as teeth spread into a rictus grin that sent those nearby skittering off in obvious discomfort. "Good... one of the few celebrities I don't yet have on file...!"
Slithering through the impressive defenses of Justice High unseen is not a meagre feat, but with the technological prowess of his suit's near omnipotent tracking abilities and sensory devices, he manages such almost effortlessly. Leaping atop a building in a crouch, he had managed to track her down almost an hour ago; but simply watched her exercise, having slipped within from a second story window to settle on the roof. There's no reason to believe that a vulture is settled above, even if they were easily viewed...
Unsusprisingly for Krizalid, it's not until Athena returns to the locker room that he makes his move. Sensors flash to life, and a quick scan shows only a single heat source within, shifting to whisk out a good fifty yards. Nothing. The pair are all alone, at least long enough for him. Silently the door is pressed open, swishing inside in a brush of dark fabrics. Each footstep measured and careful, fingers slowly curling up with an obscured expression more wanton than anything else.
It is likely her psychic powers that alerts Athena to what's going on; a sudden rush of a malignant energy behind, strong and approaching. Indeed, the white-haired man with dark skin is certainly no student, artificially aged to nearly thirty. A deep blue trenchcoat with raised collars obscures the lower half of his face, strange metallic boots and forearm gloves blending with it.
Close... so close to his prize...!!
Sneaking up on one with her gifts - especially if not trained in the difficult mental discipline of suppressing one's presence from those dangerous few in the world who can sense emotion like the girl he has come to pay a visit. Slipping the first button through the hole, her soft, feminine humming comes to an abrupt stop, the girl freezing with her fingers on the second button of the dark silk dress shirt.
Just feeling the presence of another in the area would not have been cause alone to change focus. If anything, young Asamiya has gone to great lengths to not make her psychic gifts obvious among the student body. Just beginning to gain rising acceptance among the elitist of the elite, she can only imagine how she might be ostracized if they thought the gifted girl was reading their thoughts or even worse, if one believes all the rumors out there about psychics - controlling their minds. No... even when she could pick up on feelings or emotions that someone was clearly trying to keep hidden, she would pretend not to notice. The alternatives were too awful to consider for the teen girl who just wanted to make friends.
But this was no mere student wandering in by happenchance nor faculty checking in on her before heading home. In fact, the emotional wavelength she was picking up was unlike anything she had felt before. It wasn't the seething fury of Sagat, nor the deceptive, almost unreadable calm of the Silver-haired Demon. No, this raw sensation hinted at something she had felt from time to time when in the public eye... but never to this magnitude.
Desire.
The bench row she had been seated at is empty now, the girl having ducked around the end of the length of lockers, peeking around it toward the direction she feels the presence approaching. Her left hand rests against the locker side, her right hand clutches at the front of her unbuttoned short, holding it closed. Left behind on the bench is the orange military-style jacket that goes with the uinform, her black socks, and black shoes. Her abandoned locker door itself swings slowly closed on squeaky hinges.
The girl's heart races, her breath held, senses alerted as she focuses on extending her concentration further and more accurately in the direction she felt the threat approaching.
Athena might believe she's hidden. And perhaps from the eyes of the mundane, that's the case. But a soft hum continues beneath the coat, systems continuing to scan the interior. He knows precisely where she is, readings even indicating her body temperature and heartrate. Anxious...? How cute. Someone of her power can still do something as feminine as fear for her life from a stranger.
Suddenly the lights cut out, a crack and hiss of sparks heard from outside as his prepared saboutage takes place. After a few moments, a dull whistle runs through the locker's room. A loud screeching noise of curled fingers on metal bends and warbles as Krizalid's shadowy form strides into Athena's peeking view, extended arm rattling along the adjacent lockers. Through the windows, there's very little ambient light, casting everything into a surreal minimalist silhouette.
His hand flicks out at the last moment, just barely intercepting Athena's locker from closing. He begins to rifle through it with raw abandon, curious what else might be left within. Turning away, almost gingerly her jacket is plucked up, held at arm's length. Before he presses it to his face, inhaling deeply. A sharp spike of emotion almost burns through Athena's mind at that, allowing it to slide slowly from his fingers to fall upon the ground.
"Delicious..."
And then his eyes shift, meeting Athena's own.
A soft intake of breath is triggered by the lights going out, Athena glancing over her shoulder toward the closed windows, barely hearing the sound of something electrical shorting out outside. There is no doubt in her mind that this is not coincidence. Someone is here looking for her and has gone to some lengths to prepare in advance.
She hasn't any time to wonder about the lights before a whistle is heard and her attention whips back to peeking down the row of lockers. The illumination from outside provides just enough to make out a figure moving in the darkness. First only his feet are visible, the metallic warping of the surfaces making her cringe. But little by little more of him steps into the shaft of dim light angled in from the window and she begins holding her breath.
The locker itself contains an assortment of binders, textbooks, papers, and from the hooks within, her gym clothes, still slightly damp from her vigorous workout. Stickers of various colors and designs line the interior and tucked into the frame of the door mirror is a stillframe captured from a fightvid of the fight she had back on Halloween. It shows only one individual - the young man is hooded, but the flames captured mid-attack, coursing along his arm, those sun glasses glasses, that rugged jawline and general expression of blended contempt and apathy... he might be familiar to the one who does not belong here if he can make it out in the darkness.
The emotions she feels are a blend of something she has never experienced before as the young psychic watches the intruder lift her uniform jacket to his face. She had never felt fear like this. There was no time to think about her training, her dedication to fight against the dark forces of the world, to use her sacred gift for good... ever since she had found tutelage under Master Gentsai, she had strongly felt she had found her purpose in life. And before that...? Well, such years are unimportant. But until now she had never been face to face with one of those dark ones she thought to take a stand against. Caught off guard, unprepared, half-dressed, all of the confidence she had ever felt at such an undertaking has melted away in an instant.
It is the moment his eyes come to rest on hers that the decision is made.
She is fast. Anyone who had seen her fight would know that. Sometimes she just seemed to push the bounds of human speed. Other times... she appeared to blow right past them. It is the later feat that she exercises now after locking eyes for him for one and a half seconds.
He would see her dart to the right in an instant. She intends to circle around him, to cut across another aisle of lockers to sprint to the door he entered only moments ago.
There is no doubt the popular young fighter intends to run and it is to that singular purpose Athena Asamiya applies her superhuman speed!
Once Athena bolts away from the thoroughly imposing presence of Krizalid, a dark and twisted amalgamation of shamelessly bared emotional cues that she likely has literally no training in either understanding or blocking, the man began what was to be a leisurely chase. He cannot allow her to get too far, but he activates his suit's tracking features. It is then that there's a beeping noise, before the retinal implants notify him of a facial match. Glancing down, he can see the picture of another silver-haired boy within Athena's locker. A gloved hand takes it, before his eyes slowly widen. Heated energy ripples off, the scent of burning fur and fabric wafting out. Did it just raise a number of degrees suddenly?
The door in front of Athena is almost reached, when there's an explosive crash. A huge chunk of twisted metal that was once a number of lockers hurtles and bounces, impacting the threshold and lodging in heavily, blocking the way. It seems whoever might be chasing her is strong enough to tear through such things, a large waft of heated chi swirling out. Leaping, Krizalid perches in a crouch atop, looking towards Athena with something clenched in his right hand.
"Where are you going...?! I'm your biggest fan. Is this how you treat your admirers?" The way his eyes rove upon her in close proximity might just elicit her to turn and flee in the other direction, or to attack him head on... until the partially burnt picture of K' is held up by a corner between two fingers. "This man... how do you know him? He's not your BOYFRIEND, is he?! I'd have to burn him to cinders...!!" He's always looked down on his 'clone' to such an extent that he cared not to pursue him, but that would certainly change his priorities significantly!!
If there is one thing Athena can be confident about, it is her speed. The powerful, nearly overwhelming emotions emanating from the intruder are nearly dizzying in their impact on her panicked mind, but she bolts onward. Two rows over, she makes the turn without losing a step, left hand reaching out to hook the side of the lockers, bare feet smacking against the tiled floor. Stepping up onto the long bench in her path, she sprints without concern of losing her gymnast-like balance.
The door is just up ahead. She will be delayed by the fact that it opens inward instead of outward, but she has to be so far ahead of the creep that found her that it shouldn't matter, right?
The hulk of twisted metal explodes against the wall, the noise thundering throughout the room as the pursued student slides to a stop, feet finding plenty of traction against the floor.
A soft exhale escapes her lips as she looks up at the man now perched there, barely able to make out his hunhched over form in the darkness yet seeing him vividly with her second sight. Her backsteps lack the grace of her earlier sprint, the Justice student's focus fractured even further by the brute demonstration of the sheer power this man has. The air around her is swealtering hot but she doesn't even notice, her left hand coming up to clutch her shirt closed, her right hand extended, palm forward, as if warding off the stalker.
"W-who are you?" she stammers out, near breathless from fright rather than exertion.
She is answered by the picture thrust into view, violet eyes tracing the scorched corner of it though unable to fully make out the image on it. Did he... did he take that from her locker? Why is this fiend asking her about that fight?
"You mean Dash?"
It was the only name he had provided.
"I- I haven't seen him since- I mean- no, we just-" Athena shakes her head suddenly, taking another step back. The doors into the gymnasium are on the far side of the lockeroom. The only other exit. "Why? What do you have to do with him? I don't even know where he is!"
There's something between amusement and fury within Krizalid at the moment; the swirls of heat emanating from him cause his coat to flutter, the high collar still obscuring everything but his eyes and those silver bangs. Although streams of smoke make it apparent that the temperature he is capable of must be well above normal. Whether a platinum-haired man with affinity to fire makes any impression on Athena beforehand is beyond the point.
"So you fought him once and kept his picture... that's so cute and innocent... I love it!!" Suddenly, Krizalid's hand ignites into flame, and in a burst of ash turns it into only cinders. "Although his name isn't Dash... it's K-Dash. Do you know what the 'K' stands for? Krizalid!!" A deep, hearty laugh runs through the twisted NESTS lieutenant, before a heavy exhale ignites the collar of his shirt. In a matter of seconds the caught fabric descends down to his neck, continuing to brightly glow and smolder, casting light upon a face that is the spitting image of K'... only a good decade and change older.
"You could call him my little brother. Did he not mention me? Or the large family he abandoned?! How cruel. But I believe you when you say you don't know where he is... a skittering rat trying desperately to stay alive can trust nobody, not even a delicious peach such as yourself..." His tongue lolls out to draw across his lips, before in a short but aggressive hop he lands back upon the tiled ground, raising up.
"But what about me...? If you found him attractive, I must be even better. Older... more mature... if you want me, you can have me...!" Without warning, Krizalid snaps forward. A whirl of wind boosts his speed beyond what Athena might have expected. Sensors in his suit trace her every action, anticipating it to be simplistic while still caught within her fight or flight mode. A strong feint leads instead into one hand striking out, attempting to grasp Athena by the front of her partially closed shirt and twist, to slam her against the adjacent lockers and lean close. It might be jarring, but it wouldn't actually be painful. The motion was a hundred percent intimidating speed and zero actual force.
"If you play nice with me... this can be the heights of pleasure rather than pain..."
Mind racing, preoccupied with the prospects of escape from not just this person, but the storm of emotions radiating out from within him like a toxin. The closer he gets, the more dizzying it becomes, as young violet eyes gaze at him, wide from fight and the inability to see except for the dim glow of an emergency exit light nearby and what little comes in from the windows across the way.
The keepsake photo is burned away as he opens her understanding to layers of conspiracy beyond anything she could have imagined from her one chance encounter with the roguish young man. "K-Krizalid?" she stammers, the air around her becoming sweltering hot, as if she was engaged in conversation with a furnace, before it finally exceeds the burn rating of his thick coat and burns away before his face, both exposing and illuminating his face from below by the lingering embers.
She can't help but recoil as the face looking back at her, right hand lifting to cover her mouth as she gasps in surprise. The image was already well-ingrained in her mind from oft times thinking back on the curious if unapproachable young man who had kept his distance even during their match together. This is Dash's older brother? But he didn't come here expecting to find she knew of him-
Caught mid-thought, his hand finds on her shirt by which the powerful operative has no trouble forcing young Asamiya's back against the locker, sending a loud metallic sound echoing throughout the changing room. Leaning in close, the heat of his presence becomes even more intense. There is no doubt in her mind what the tortured patchwork of emotions she felt implied, or his words, or actions - a confusing blur of anger, amusement, fancy, and desire; every drop of it spelling danger for the Justice High student.
He might sense it over his surge of competing emotions - that moment she decides, cornered, that she has to use her gift and talents for a purpose she had never had to before. Sparring and sporting events had been the extent of the girl's combat experience before now. But that was ignoring what such skills were originally meant for - fighting for something more important than accolaids - to exhert will, or to defend oneself.
Jaw set, young eyes glare back into the face of the man leaning in on her, his hand clenched in the silky fabric of her black shirt. He would easily feel the short heaves of her chest from the quick breaths of the young prodigy still so naive to the darkness of the world.
"I do not understand what I did ot make you come here," she replies. There is a pulse, not visible, or even felt in the traditional sense, but definitely known on a mental level, as the girl taps into the reservoir of psychic potential that started out phenomenal and has grown only stronger over the years under Gentsai's tutelage.
"But this goes no further!!"
Both hands would reach for his wrist just past his clutching hand, wrapping around the arm tightly - but it isn't muscular force he would possible concern himself with. There is no doubt that in terms of physical strength, she was helpless to so much as budge his arm let alone free herself.
But the blast of psycokinetic energy smashing against him, the girl's arms serving as necessary conduits, might be plenty forceful to knock the fiery blooded man backward into the stone wall with crushing force!
COMBATSYS: Athena has started a fight here.
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Athena 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Krizalid has joined the fight here.
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Athena 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Krizalid
COMBATSYS: Krizalid blocks Athena's Super Psychic Throw.
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Athena 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Krizalid
"Heh... yes. He's my dear, wayward younger brother... but I'm not here for him. Oh no. I'm only here for *you*, my peach..." Krizalid murmurs out, flicking away the flames as he grins beneath the cindered collar that once partially obfuscated his attractive features. If it wasn't warped by that wild look and those crazed eyes, at the very least.
Redoubling the grip of his hand upon the bound shirt, eyes dropping down, he makes a rather pleased noise. "Now. Just hold still, and--" What comes next surprises him. Gripped heavily, he is nearly thrown completely off-guard, spreading his stance and managing to wrestle his own significant power back, growling as he yanks back with his other hand, sending a spray of buttons clattering to the floor. "You b--"
And then the explosion of psychic energy impacts him dead on. He lets go of her then, staggering backwards and crashing into the opposite locker while holding his head. Ah... psychic power. That ripped into him in a manner he doesn't care for. The wrestling did almost nothing, but... her power is real.
That makes this even more *thrilling!*
"Hahahah... excellent. EXCELLENT. A girl I favor has to be at least capable of this much!" Spreading his arms, Krizalid is suddenly ignited, coat beginning to glow bright orange. Suddenly there's a great burst of flame, revealing what seems to be a sleeveless vest with strange integrated circuits running up it. Black straps bind his chest and bare biceps, as his forearms and shins begin to hum heavily as the powerful computers turn on. The full analyzing powers of his suit are now active, and countless pieces of information run through the corona of his eyes.
The first thing he rattles off are her precise measurements, of course, the last bits of ashen coat falling away. "Mmm.. you really are just my type...!"
COMBATSYS: Krizalid erupts into flame, fully activating his suit and unleashing his true power!
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Athena 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Krizalid
Once free, Athena staggers back from the locker she was pinned against, hands raised to combat ready positions, leaving her blouse to hang open, split down the middle. There is a different presence around her now - one invisible to all but the most specialized of sensors yet no less real. Still nervous but also fiercely intent on defending herself, using the powers she has trained and the skills she has honed to do just that. The sense of purpose that fills one when it is a fight to protect oneself rather than anything else is a new experience, she realizes, amid the countless other conflicting thoughts and concerns rushing through her mind.
"I'm not your peach!" she exclaims back in defiance, his use of the succulent fruit to reference her finally having risen to the top of everything else she doesn't like about this monster. She managed to force him off of her, albeit not as fiercly as she would have wanted. But she already knew that compared to the Gedo High thoughs she had blasted away from around her weeks prior, this man was powerful. The concerning question was - just how powerful?
In a display that sets the whole room aglow, his thick, concealing coat burns to ashes around him just like the photograph he had found moments before. As if things were not already strange before, the display of science far beyond her understanding makes it even moreso. "Krizalid..." she murmurs. It's a name that means nothing. More importantly- "Who ARE you?" she asks, her voice a blend of awe and fright.
His analytical report of the girl's measurements cause her to balk further - 34, 22, 33, putting her at above average figure for the region for certain. Well, that's a bit invasive!
One thing she knows without a doubt is that what space she has already bought with her power she intends to keep, if not extend. She shows no inclination to close distance with the man standing amid the burning ash of his discarded coat, the girl drawing her hands back behind her as another step away is taken.
"You can't get away with this," she retorts. Unlike the invisible manifestation that forced him away moments prior, this time the Psycho Power that courses down her arms is a visible rose hued spectrum of vibrant energy. "Do you not know who runs this school!?" Whoever he is, wherever he comes from, is he willing to assault one of Raizo Imawano's students on the old bear's own campus?!
Leaning forward to swing her arms from behind and then past each other, the girl combines the pooled energy between them into a single sphere of crackling psychic energy that darts across the narrow distance between the two of them!
COMBATSYS: Krizalid dodges Athena's Psycho Ball.
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Athena 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Krizalid
Oh, Krizalid's information network knows all about psionic energy. Although the ability to detect the soul is above anything but Shadaloo technology at the moment, the suit is able to analyze such and deduce it through simple elimination. When it leaves her, the potency is apparent... although there's no capability to actually probe Athena and figure out her true strength that way -- not without bringing her to the delicious tubes, an act he's considering -- every ounce of it she puts on display is permanently recorded and displayed. Right now, she's still well beneath him. But not as much as he expected...!
"Does it matter?" Krizalid states as he stands there, humming lightly. Now and then a burst of light runs along the leylines, as new information is catalogued and uploaded to the NESTS satellites high overhead. "Whether you like being called a peach? Whether you know what's going on?" He covers his face with his hand, only his scarred left eye visible. "Unless you are able to defeat me..."
The sudden spike of energy runs through his suit, and indicates both the trajectory and output. In a heartbeat he shoots down, kicking forward in a strange, flowing manner. The ball of energy flies out where he had been a split second afterwards. To Athena, it might genuinely feel like he knew what she was about to do ahead of time.
"Then all your struggles mean nothing...!!"
A rather intimate grapple follows, aiming to flow past Athena and shift behind. Were such to succeed, he'd swap positions with the scarcely clothed schoolgirl, before his suit hums. Kinetic boosters flare to life in the gauntlets and chest, as he aims to brutally palm-strike Athena in the midsection, and aim to send her flying into the opposite lockers hard enough to knock them clean over!!
"Do you mean Raizo? That useless oaf... Even if he came... I highly doubt he's stronger than me!! Nobody's going to save you, my peach. Like I said... why don't you just submit?!" But from his tone, laden with desire, it's clear that's the exact opposite of what this monstrous figure desires.
COMBATSYS: Athena blocks Krizalid's Moment's Penetration.
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Athena 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Krizalid
Quickly, she uncrosses her arms from hurling the pink energy that casts the dim room in a bright light for its brief life before splashing harmlessly against the gray brick wall. She saw the way he moved - it was too fast. Were it not her own years of training, her own talents, she would not have even been able to see him. His questions echo in her mind - questions without answers unless she can earn them by defeating him.
As tantalizing as such prospects are, the menaced girl's overriding concern remains one of escape from this fiend. With the entrance into the hall barricated by a wall of metal that even her psychokinetic gifts would struggle to dislodge, the only other way out is the door into the gym itself in the opposite direction - a direction she had been edging toward with every step she took away.
He saw the attack coming, she thinks to herself. She knows the signs. It is how she has often found the smallest edges in her closest fights, surmounting great challenges only by extending her empathy, her senses to carefully entwine and synchronize with the feelings emanating from her opponents. It was an extention of her gift - that attunement from which she could draw enough power to respond to desperate situations in combat with a burst of potential. But here and now, she refuses to do anything of the sort. Too scared of what she would feel, too terrified of what she would risk trying to acclimate to the swath of emotion bursting forth from Krizalid.
She had barely started to pull her hands back when he invades her personal space once again, slipping around, touching her briefly to force her off balance, her unbuttoned shirt flaring out behind her from the shockwave of wind caused by his impossible speeds. If she would just chance it - extend her sense to better read his - would she be overwhelmed or would she be able to better predict his every move and finally escape?
Her arms barely lower in time, forearms raised, hands, crossed at the point of impact of that suit-enhanced palm strike. The kinetic force sends her sliding back even through her simple guard, bare feet skipping to avoid scraping along the floor of the room, arms knocked out at her sides, the girl in danger of toppling over backward if she didn't end up stopped by the upright lockers.
Violet eyes glare back at the powerful if unpredictable officer. Where did he get the science for that suit? A question she might not like finding the answer to for certain. More unpleasant, however, is with that exchange, he has instantly placed himself between her and the only unblocked door out. He must have known what she was hoping to do, Athena realizes.
And now, more than ever, she has to get through him. The man who has just declared himself stronger than the intimidating Principal of Justice High - an alarming bar to surpass for any student in Southtown to even consider, given Imawano's legends! The impact his claim has is easily read in the flicker of increased uncertainy in her eyes.
Blinking, Athena shakes her head, arms returning to guard, the ache throbbing in them a hint at the strength the battle-suit clad man possesses. Fighting someone like this is hard enough that she can't allow a lack of confidence to cripple her ability. Right now, she has to get past him.
"Why me?!" she finally asks for the reason for his fixation. What did she do to get the attention of Dash's apparent older brother? Pushing off from the locker, she makes the best bid she can think of to try and escape around him. This would be the first time she approached him rather than tried to run, circumstances leaving Athena no choice.
She takes to the air like a natural, leaping from about half a meter beyond what she has perceived to be the reach of his powerful arms. Given the lower clearance of the room, her timing is tight, the girl tucking forward into a ball almost instantly after leaving the ground, diving right back down toward Krizalid, her entire body encased in a shell of that same radiant energy she had hurled his way moments prior as she attempts to barrel through his guard, her impact force augmented entirely by the Psycho Power she commands.
If she found success in breaking through the man's defenses, the psychic would chance a follow up attack, sliding along the tile, planning her left hand against the floor and kicking her feet out, right leg leading, into a powerful strike for the obsessed operative's stomach in hopes of knocking him down long enough for her to pursue her main objective. The lunging kick does cause her orange Justice High skirt to rid up the girl's legs, revealing a dangerous amount of thigh in the process - a possible distraction to secure a clean hit?
COMBATSYS: Krizalid endures Athena's Phoenix Arrow.
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Athena 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Krizalid
There's little conscious sense at all to Krizalid when he moves. There's no impulses or hints of what he;'s going to do before he's already in the process of doing this. He has no proper style himself... he follows the cues of the suit as they pop up, a flood of data that guides the raw battle instinct of a man who is far from bottom tier. Aged beyond K' and with a mind no less ruthlessly focused, the addition of the suit amplifies all of his abilities far beyond what is normal, although the data he's been getting is rather menacing. Just how much power does this young girl have...?!
Looming opposite, he lets out a small laugh, simply standing upright with his arms slightly raised. It's not a proper stance, but a centering of balance. One that allows him to move in any direction as needed, optimal for fighting as his analysis systems indicate. "You were targeted no matter what... because you go to this school." Krizalid coos out. "But the reason /I/ am here... is because I loved your little performance on television. Seeing a flowering seed such as yourself set me afire...!!" He ignites in a ripple of heat that blows out, eyes narrowing as if already in the throes of pleasure. "Why haven't you been on television since?! Huh?! Are you going to be an idol fighter instead? I think I *prefer* that...!"
Krizalid can sense the incoming energies, and suddenly lunges forward at the same moment. His shoulder is presented and impacted dead on, before he twists down and clenches his fist. Deep purple energy, something malignant, flashes into being. Enduring the blow, he suddenly repels her backwards, eyes indeed falling when the sensors indicate potentially lascivious views...
And then explodes upwards, spiralling madly as a vorpal slash of energy attempts to take Athena airborne. At the apex of it he explodes into a second, more violent spin, another arcing blow aimed at her midsection to blow her back down the tiled locker room, and the ruint debris blocking her egress from the main doors. Someone can be heard knocking now and calling in a feminine voice what's causing all the noise...
But even if she has them go for help, will anyone arrive in time?
COMBATSYS: Athena dodges Krizalid's Rising Darkmoon.
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Athena 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Krizalid
Her attack connects though not as decisively as she had hoped when she went airborn. The choice is made in an instant to go for the more risky follow up kick all the same - perhaps he will not be ready to guard from that angle! But he's moving into her attack, and his press back against her kicking foot is enough to send the girl sliding again. Still, it was her first clean hit against the man - a more direct scenario for the suit to analyze young Asamiya's potential. Her incredible rise through the fighting ranks is clearly no gimmick.
Hand pressing against the floor, feet slipping back beneath her, the girl pushes up and backward, eyes catching notice of the swing of that violent fist and its chi emanating such dark intent that it nearly rivals that deeply emotional thrum psychic attacks can elicit. Should chi even have that kind of sensation to it?
But that one clean hit, flawed as the contact might have ultimately proven to be, did one thing for the girl - it proved she could hurt him. It also helped her lock onto that subtle rhythm inherent to all high level combat, the ebb and flow, the give and take between fighters locked in battle. It is that same sense that has her lunging backward out of the path of his devastating punch, leaning so far back in the process that it might look like she simply intends to just fall to the floor if it means she doesn't get struck by that. His hand grazes right past the petite girl's nose. A lock of hair is severed by the razor edged dark chi, black-violet strands scattered into the air.
That she catches herself a meter away without falling, sliding to a stop once again, is just further proof that her sensei's training regimens have not gone to waste on the talented girl. Hands are already raised to a defensive posture, a gasp of breath escaping her lips. Now she's no closer to getting past him than she was a moment before, and tapping so heavily into her fount of power is starting to take its toll. Already perspiration rolls down her cheeks, matting her hair that frames her face, breaths coming in pants as she stands once again facing the man. "No, just a fighter!" she insists. Chin demanded no showing off, no playing to the crowds as she loved doing so much. The strict sensei insisted on nothing less than complete devotion to the fight.
Then the voice is heard from the other side of the obstruction. The flicker of hope lights a fire in the girl's eyes though she doesn't risk looking away for even an instant to answer.
"Call for help, I'm trapped in here with a madman!!" Athena screams out. Hopefully they don't try to play hero themselves, the thought crosses her mind. This man is beyond the average faculty or student, that much is utterly clear.
But she can't wait to find out, nor spare more time to explain. Her own energy does have limits, and right now she's starting to run into them. It was for this that her sifu had been helping her blend Kung Fu with her use of Psycho Power. After all she's tried to do to Krizalid, striking him physically doesn't register as the most successful plan, unless-
Bare feet pad across the floor again. Simply studying her art would not prepare one for the attack to come - it goes agaisnst every example of honor in fighting the young fighter had ever exhibited as she closes in on Krizalid. It is her left leg that snaps up into his wide, powerful stance, her knee rising as the girl targets Krizalid right in the groin. "KYA!" Rising with the force of the lunging knee, her right leg would follow up, a frontal snap kick aiming for his chin after what she hopes to be a crumpling blow. Such a high angled kick can do nothing but force the psychic fighter's military orange skirt up, verifying that her underwear possesses the same pink hue as the bra over her chest.
COMBATSYS: Krizalid interrupts Fierce Kick from Athena with Typhon's Rage "R" EX.
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Athena 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Krizalid
That's surprising. Athena managing to strike him and then retreat was not within his data. The chances of that were minimal; he had left a single door to it open, confident she did not possess the flexibility and insight. She must have felt it. When her blow impacted Krizalid, he had already planned out what he was going to do. An upwards assault, rip into her, shred her clothing, destroy her, crush her, make her his...! An onslaught of feelings she might not care to brush against a second time, although it certainly saved her in this incident.
"Not bad. Not bad!! Oh, I'm falling in love all over again... you're WINNING, do you know that?" he states, with a deep and wistful sigh. Blood is coming from his nose, slowly slurped up from his lips as he watches with lidded eyes. There's a freaked-sounding assent coming from the other side before the patter of retreating feet. Something in Athena's voice put the spook in the girl, and hopefully they can make it to one of the teachers who can help. Another student might only make this situation worse...!
Although the response to the blow is surprisingly simple. As her knee rushes forward, Krizalid kicks straight upwards, his heel extending almost vertically. That completely exposes him... but just before Athena makes contact with his leather cup, a great burst of wind impacts. She still hits, enough that there's an oddly pleased 'ahn~' of HOPEFULLY pain, and then...
A torrentous roar of chi erupts upon her. The wind swirls visibly, vorpal energy that rips into the floor, catching it within a horrendous tornado that catches Athena and shreds into her before casting the girl backwards, with her already minimal attire likely the worse for wear. That might have been most of the point to the assault!
"More... more... hurt me MORE!" he demands, slightly hunched forward and beginning to tentatively advance, breath coming faster as another pulse of bright leylines sends another burst of data flying into the satellites overhead. Within his hand, he has already gotten his prize; the hair severed from Athena's head, possessing the DNA required. Now... everything else is purely for his own twisted pleasure!
The exchange happens in an instant. At first she thinks he slipped up, not expecting the desperate low blow from the normally completely on the level fighter. But she only gets halfway into the intended two-hit strike before the windshear vortex explodes around the slightly airborn girl. Without feet on the ground, already mid-attack, she's helpless to defend herself. The violent cyclone sends the diminutive fighter flying back, crashing against the wall amid scraps of black and orange cloth scattered and shreaded into confetti.
A pained gasp escapes her lips as the girl slides down the wall a little, looking like she might collapse into a seated position on the floor. She catches herself before completely crumpling, however, bare feet bracing against the floor as the resolute girl pushes herself back to standing with help from the wall.
The right sleeve of her black shirt is gone, with only tatters left near her shoulder. It also has rips and tears in the back, the fragile silk frabric definitely not designed to pull double duty as combat attire. Small, shallow cuts and scrapes are visible on her arms and legs, one slightly bleeding across her bared stomach. The skirt at her waist took a slash from the typhoon of wind chi, the tear splitting over Athena's thigh, a thin red line visible on her leg beneath the cut.
His call for her to do more to him echoes throughout the confines of the locker room, the girl still panting for breath. Well, he's going to get his wish, if she has any choice in the matter. Teeth gritting, Athena Asamiya focuses back on the man. She risked reaching out a moment ago and it saved her from being destroyed by his chi infused fist. But the feelings, the emotions, the chain of scattered, unreadable but strongly felt thoughts had been nearly overwhelming... she can't possibly hope to sustain a connection with that. Shaking her head, she decides she must eschew such a link again... only if she has absolutely no other choice will she even chance it. Some tools can do more harm than good and this man's mind is not for the touching.
Of course, she fully believes his prize to be something else entirely, and the threatened psychic will stop at nothing to save herself. Sucking in her breat, the Psycho Soldier bolts forward, taking to the air as she had earlier, tucking forward into a tight ball almost instantly leaving the ground... It looks, for all intents and purposes, like she is performing the same attack again.
"AaaaaAAAH!" But what falls toward Krizalid from the airborn girl is not herself at first, but a crushingly strong blast of Psycho Power that is roughly the same dimensions as the balled up teen. A second would smash down toward him at a painfully hard angle to avoid in these tight quarters, another violent assault of concentrated psychic assault.
It would be the third such projection that was the real deal, Athena descending like a psycho-infused rocket aiming to smash against Krizalid in order to deliver a third, final dose of that energy she possesses. If permitted, she'd slide out to a stop behind him, her tattered shirt resting against her back more like a cape than a blouse - the timing would be difficult, but if she succeeded, she would now be closer to the remaining exit than he is - the possibility of escape would never seem closer!
COMBATSYS: Krizalid auto-guards Athena's Phoenix Fang Arrow.
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Athena 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Krizalid
The combat data within Krizalid's battle computer is now ramped up to full power. The voracious energy requirements thrum within, as the clone begins to literally burn; flames wisping up his hands and arms, the white leylines glowing bright and pulsing heavily beneath the black straps.
<< Connecting to NESTS Mainframe #1, #3, #7: Success. >>
<< Uploading: All video footage of Fighter - Asamiya, Athena >>
<< Calculating... Calculating... >>
Slowly Krizalid continues to approach, breath coming in slow, measured amounts. Every twist, shift, and potential show of cleavage or panties is immediately funneled to his retinal implants, brain cybernetically enhanced to operate multiple times faster than normal. The world seems to be going in slow motion at the moment for him.
Athena's scream is coming out warbled, and the initial impulse is to simply endure it once more. But immediately, warning signs begin thrumming within the computer.
<< Power spike detected... >>
Instead he steps back conservatively, likely to Athena's chagrin. Since when has he been careful? The moment that her energy begins to build up, the computer analyzes thirty data-points in tandem, and returns them.
<< Confirmed: Assault used on Fighter -- Baiken in Exhibition -- School Prom. >
And then, Krizalid is given a shadow showing Athena's exact path of motion. Ah~ How he loves this. For the perfect form of Athena rushes onwards in her assault. Three blasts, is it?
The first is met by Krizalid kicking straight upwards. A great billow of wind impacts the center of it, sending the psycho power dissipating in all directions. The second is met with another, a twisting kick downwards launching a veritable tornado of whirling energy. The locker doors are ripped off nearby, a cyclone of power and crackling energy sending them whirling around with various items, as Krizalid laughs uproariously.
And then he strikes out, and Athena would shoot past him as there's a great roar of fire. She'd sense that she only deflected off his arm, not managing to actually connect... and is her back colder than she remembers?
Krizalid holds the last bit of her blouse in his hand now, lifting it up in the air to flutter. Black ash smolders along the edges, but he once more inhales deeply before dropping it, allowing it to flutter to the ground.
"Good... but not good enough. I've seen that attack before...!!"
COMBATSYS: Krizalid focuses on his next action.
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Athena 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Krizalid
Lost in the magnitude of her own airborn technique, the girl cannot really register the perfection with which it is being defeated. All of her focus, every ounce of effort, is poured into manifesting the incredible bursts of descending Psycho Power, far beyond anything she had attempted to strike Krizalid with thus far. The first is scattered with his kick, the second by the following cyclone of potent wind chi every bit the equal to the energy she can manifest. Finally she drops, only risking physical contact with the man after believing him already throughly dazed by her first two assaults and thus safe to finish off with her own bodily collision!
Only when sliding to a stop along the tiled floor on the other side of Krizalid does she discover just how wrong that assumption was. She only figures out what happened as she passed him by in a blur when she turns back around while pushing to her feet, hands lifting back to a guarding posture and realizing that there was no weight of her shirt whatsoever.
Violet eyes widen in surprise, the girl glancing down and then back up, before her arms cross in front of her, blushing on girlish reflex. Not that her now ruined blouse was offering much cover before but that doesn't change the fact that she's feeling markedly more exposed /now/.
But distracted as she might be for a moment, glaring back at Krizalid with cheeks dusted with pink, she wasn't deaf to his words either. He had guarded himself flawlessly because he had seen it before? He would see the look in her eyes, the pause. What do you do against a monster who has studied your every move as he seems to have, Athena having no idea that he just now acquired the knowledge on demand. Her only choice... would be to attack him in a way that she had never shown the public audience. But what? Even her legendary psycho powered cruise missile, the Shining Crystal Bit, had been required and replayed around the world. Would he dismantal it with equal ease? Isn't that her most powerful technique? Panic begins to fill her heart once more. How can she possibly fight that?
No. No, there has to be something else. She has to be able to do even more than that. Everything depends on it. Purple eyes narrow slightly, the girl's mouth a faint frown. A sensation washes over her as. A fleeting though. An idea, unspoken yet heard at once. She is capable... of so much more than what she had demonstrated. Biosensors would detect the shift in her heartrate, the constriction of her pupils as the adrenaline fueled panic is wrestled under control. Slowly the girl unfolds her arms, standing up straight rather than cowering.
A calming thought pervades her mind. Defeating men like him is why she was even in this world in the first place. Would she run and hide now? Is that how she would fullfill her destiny? A thrum similiar to the one released when she first decided to attack him emanates outward. For her part, she's already on the offense again.
He has seen all of her famous energy attacks in action. Every technique, carefully practiced and refined, has been aired on the fightvids already. Another direction must be taken... she must make a window of opportunity. But first, to keep him on the defensive. Sprinting foward, his enhanced vision would easily record the bounce of her chest beneath the girl's bra as she jumped into a spinning kick toward the battle suit-clad man. Definitely not the kind of attack that will end tyrants, but maybe she's building up to something?
COMBATSYS: Krizalid blocks Athena's Medium Kick.
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Athena 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Krizalid
Krizalid once more assumes his loose battle stance, turning to face Athena. However, she has made a fatal mistake here. Thinking that suddenly being more unclad would be a distraction to Krizalid. No -- if anything else, it focuses his mind like a laser in ways she cannot fathom. There is the advantage that most of his processing power is going to videos and analysis of non-vital areas, which his computer warns him about.
<< Sixty-three percent drop in fight analysis for superficial activities. >>
Okay, maybe this is working. The slowdown of time has mostly gone now, and his flawless ability to read her style's signature moves is muddied. On top of such, generic assaults such as that are not forecast in as meaningful a way, although he brings up his forearm and manages to drive it aside. A slow lick of the lips follows, before Krizalid lets out a laugh. "Next... the skirt!"
Charging forward with an elbow, Krizalid attempts to strike Athena dead in the face with a driving motion, before snapping the assaulting hand down if successful, aiming to rip off a good chunk of the flayed Justice colors. Bit by bit, he'll peel her away like a fine apple... no matter how many clones he might have after this fight, nothing can compare to the real thing!!
COMBATSYS: Krizalid successfully hits Athena with Quick Punch.
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Athena 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Krizalid
She hadn't expected her kick to deliver a devastating blow by any means, so when Krizalid secures a solid defense, the young fighter is prepared, landing on her feet from the short hopping kick, already snapping her arms to defend against an anticipated counter attack. The kick was improvised, to be certain, thus not as easily predicted, but it wasn't her ultimate goal in engaging the infiltrator.
And had he said nothing, Asamiya's arms would have already been in the right position to best turtle under the pressure of his surging elbow strike. But when he calls out his next target of interest, she can't help but respond by lowering her arms, crossing them over her lap as she slips back another step, anticipating a lower strike than the one that comes crashing toward her face.
The impact is stunning enough to have the intended impact, however, his elbow crashing into the girl's mouth with enough force to send her reeling, her attempt at defense shattered as her arms flail in a desperate bid for balance. The sound of cloth ripping is enough to confirm the success of his aim though, fingers undoubtedly coming up with the scrap of military-orange stolen from the poor girl.
Staggering back another step as she finally catches herself, right hand lifting on reflex to wipe across her mouth to come away with a small streak of red from a split lip. Only when her violet eyes settle on Krizalid himself does she realize small success he had in the exchange. She doesn't even chance looking down to discover the damages, not willing to give Krizalid even an instant of time to slip in with another swift attack while her attention is elsewhere.
Of course, from her assailant's side of the equation, there is plenty of time to capture an image of the aftermath of his strike, as he's left the tormented psychic most of the right side of her skirt. Above the bared thigh, near the level of her waist, is the telltale pink of the panty worn beneath her skirt, a flap of extra lace folded over the waist band an extra flourish.
The window to record is minimal, however, as the Kung Fu artist charges him again. A second pulse, even larger than the one that emanated from her prior to her attempted kick radiates outward from the gifted fighter as bare feet smack against the floor. Her arms trail behind her as she runs, another burst of rose hued energy casting light into the dim locker room. The magnitude of the pulse is nearly as large as when she had tried to crush the man beneath her Phoenix Fang Arrow...
She'd hop from three meters out, only moving forward about a meter and a half, her arms swinging from behind to in front of her, smashing a collective swath of psychic energy into a concentrated sphere of cracking power large enough to completely block her vision of Krizalid all together if he should end up caught in it. Her will is capable of sustaining the attack for multiple seconds in hopes of blasting the man out of sight in the process, before she will finally be forced to let the energy dissipate. The only issue is that she HAS used this technique before... but will his suit's focus be too divided to provide accurate information? "AaaaaAAAAH!"
Either way, she does't seem to be running now in spite having finally made it around him. And secondly, there is something about her presence that exceeds the small statured girl Krizalid has come to collect. It's easy to feel that the girl is on the verge of a tremendous attack beyond anything he might have expected from her public fights.
COMBATSYS: Krizalid dodges Athena's Round Psycho Reflector EX.
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Athena 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Krizalid
Information continues to flow like water, although not entirely of the salacious sort that Krizalid personally desires. Every motion and movement is important... because such will be implanted in the clones he creates later, and he can't be having them feeling too inferior to the real thing. Every second recording her fight, her personality, will improve the latest addition to his personal library. There's nothing wrong with collecting, right...? Especially an early model to a girl who might become one of the most popular fight idols in the last five years, if she continues her ascension in the world.
The skirt is looked upon before being flicked away in a wash of flame, Krizalid simply standing before Athena once more with a small laugh. "You're modest... but not so modest you'll give up. Good. You've hardly got a body you should be ashamed of!! But I'm not going to *kill* you... so there's no need to get too desperate..." From the insinuation of his voice, that seems to imply that other things which may or may not be terrible are not entirely removed from the plate.
Countless zooming views and shots pinpoint the partial bit of panties, bringing up hundreds of search queries before finding the exact brand and model that Athena is wearing.
<< Interfacing over target... >>
A 3D representation is then instilled on the retina, showing what Athena almost certainly looks like without the remaining vestiges of her modesty. "Hahah... not bad!! But why don't you wear matching UNDERWEAR?!" Of course, then the swirl of energy manifests, and the sensors go into overdrive.
<< Canceling teriary processes. >> "Noooo!" Krizalid grips his head as the phantom panties vanish. It seems to be absolutely non-sensible. But then the world slows down once more, and Krizalid lunges into the air, flying over the hurtling burst of psycho powered shield. Swishing near the ceiling, he grins upside-down from his ascended vantage point, hoping that broken skirt and the inertia from the charge will supplement his 'data'.
"Take THIS!!" Suddenly he whirls, before violently kicking the air. A whirlwind builds up, before a blast of vorpal wind strikes out towards Athena once more, aiming to impact her from behind while she's still recovering from her own assault... although it would likely slam her into the very exit door she's been trying to reach. Whoops, Krizalid wasn't paying too much attention on the surrounding geography at the moment!
COMBATSYS: Krizalid successfully hits Athena with Typhon's Rage "S".
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Athena 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Krizalid
One moment, Athena is swinging into creating the collosal, point blank crushing sphere of psycho power while getting interrogated about her preferences in lingerie, much to her endless chagrin. She hadn't felt the need for matching underwear when not expecting to be scrutizined for it via violent assault one random night, to be certain! The next moment she realizes that for all her effort, her despised target isn't even there anymore.
Leaning into the attack, arms outstretched, palms forward as she conjures the crushingly huge sphere of Psycho Power, Krizalid's evasion couldn't have been timed better. The girl is vulnerable, her back to him now. Bereft of her blouse, it is easier to see the extent of physical conditioning she undertakes. Her figure is gracefully slender, her body lean with good muscle tone. She is definitely a girl who has put her heart into her training. THe flair of her broken skirt gives the lecherous intruder all the visual confirmation he needs to verify that his systems matched up the correct brand, color, and size of the girl's panties.
For her own part, Athena was only just starting to desperately turn back toward Krizalid when his foot scythes through the air. She never has a chance. The impact of the fierce windshearing vortex blasts the girl from behind, sending her flying in an uncontrolled spin to crash hard enough against the door to put a dent into it. Sinking down against it, one arm against the door, one knee and other hand against the floor for support, it looks for a few seconds as if she isn't going to be able to move after that, her long, near-black hair draped over her otherwise bared back now laced with additional scratches and cuts.
But finally she stirs, sucking in her breath and pushing herself to standing, turning to face toward Krizalid once more. Behind her is the door to the gym. She might be able to flee, putting her own speed against his in a contest in more open ground. But the look of righteous indignation in her eyes suggests she has forgotten her earlier hopes of flight into the night to elude the battlesuit-clad monster.
The damage to what was left of her skirt appears to have been fairly comprehensive. What remains is mostly a waistband with tattered scraps hanging down, concealing little. Her underwear is pink and white plaid, the pink lacy flap around the waistband, and a small red ribbon bow below her belly button. Small holes were sliced into the back of it from the sharp cyclone blast to her back and her left pink bra strap has slumped down from off her shoulder to drape over her upper arm.
Her breathing, in spite it all, seems extremely controlled. Almost serene even, as if she had somehow forced all of the distracting taunts, embarrassing wardrobe failure, aches and pains from his strikes, and the exhertion of pushing herself to her limits. As she rises up and takes her ready stance facing Krizalid, the girl's are closed, her countenance the very image of tranquility beneath the cuts and scrapes that bar her. The divine child's hair wafts gently, occasionally floating up a little from up off her shoulders and even the tattered remnants of her skirt seem to be rustled by some unseen current of power washing over the girl.
Pushed to a situation more dire than anything she had ever been confronted with, fighting against a fiend who knew every one of her well practiced techniques so precisely that she had no hope of landing them... Somewhere, deep within the confines of her inner psyche, a barrier cracks, a limiter seal releasing. A flare of golden psycho power, a shroud of energy that billows out from around the girl surges, causing the rest of the chamber to seem wreathed in shadow by comparison to its brilliance.
Athena Asamiya's eyes open, locked on Krizalid for an instant of celestial conviction. Then she... simply disappears, blitzing not into but /through/ the man-
COMBATSYS: Athena successfully hits Krizalid with #Psychic Medley 13 EX#.
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Athena 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Krizalid
A trail of golden fire is left in her wake as she blitzes clean through Krizalid. There would be no mistake about it - his analysis would confirm that the target of his lascivious interests simply passed clean through him as if a being of energy rather than physical form.
She vanishes after passing through, only to reappear on his right, dashing right through him again, a direct, brutal assault of psionic power and the scorching fires of retribution washing over him.
A third time from another angle. The entire room aglow with the phenomenal level of power being left with each blindingly fast charge. A fourth, a fifth. Attempting to stop her by physical means would be impossible. A bid to seize her as she passed would be as successful as securing a hold on a passing lightning bolt.
A sixth dash, her entire body is glowing with that golden hue so unlike her rose colored assaults from before.
Finally she appears, hovering in the air over Krizalid, celestial wings unfurled from her back, the golden child still clothed in her damaged underclothes beneath the corona of golden sunlight radiating out from around her. At the angelic figure's sides appear 6 armored Valkyries, 3 to each side of her, each clad in a golden breasplate, skirt, and helmet. Each awaiting the ruling of their goddess.
Slowly Athena raises her right arm, finger pointed upward. And then, with a sweep of her arm, she pronounces the silent verdict. All six armored figures dive into their target at once, each transforming into a bolt of consecrating enerrgy that explodes upon hitting the ground.
Finally, Athena herself dives, one more final dash through the living engineered weapon. She would slide to a stop meters away already in a crouching position, one knee hitting the floor along with her opposite hand struggling to keep herself propped up. The white, feathery wings would fold downward as if closing, only to disintegrate into a million motes of golden energy that linger in the air, vanishing slowly in the aftermath of the catastrophically powerful assault.
Once more Krizalid begins to slowly approach Athena, spreading his arms wide when she's struck into the door. "Was I too rough...? I'm sorry. Do you want me to... kiss it and make it better?" He smooches the air loudly at that, before once more laughing. His systems trace her vitals, ensuring he hasn't injured her too badly; no, although she's scarcely able to move, there are numerous indications she has an extreme amount of power left to let loose. No matter. One more futile onslaught, and then she will be helpless. Each step takes him closer, waiting for her to move, intentfully patient as if cornering a skittish animal against the very means to their potential salvation. But hurt as she is, can she even escape? He's proven to be exceptionally fast, and his current condition is well above hers...
<< Unknown Energy Detected. Unknown Energy Detected. >>
"...?" Krizalid stops, tilting his head to the side. Suddenly, something can be sensed from her. Psycho Power shouldn't show up on his monitors... what is this? It's -- different. And then Athena bursts towards him, and he brings up his forearms too late.
<< EXTREME DANGER!! >> the suit chimes in his ear, far too late to do any good.
He grasps his head, feeling a strange, overwhelming purity that seems to suffuse his twisted soul. A loud roar echoes out through the grounds, as he crashes to his knees while clutching his head. He strikes out savagely, blasts of wind impacting and denting the nearby lockers, one brutal blow knocking both doors skidding into the main gym area where a few students can be seen, having been called to aid by the woman earlier. "STOP... IT...!!" he howls out.
And then his warped mind gazes up to look upon Athena as she hovers before him. Is he hallucinating...?
<< Energy manifestations detected. DANGER!! >>
The final explosion and ruthless strike of energy hits Krizalid dead center. The bench adjacent is destroyed, and the tall lockers bowed away. Wisps of psychic power flow from the man, before he slowly collapses forward, catching himself on his forearms. "What... in the world was that...?" he demands, attempting to get up before thumping down. Bad... this is bad... with a roar he suddenly bursts into flames, great infernal wings stretching out from his back. A blast upon the door creates a great wall of napalm-like fire, causing Athena's helpers to recoil with cries of shock. The pillar whirls around him, his suit's kinetic overriders kicking in as he glows white.
<< Unknown data uploaded. >>
Twisting about, Krizalid then launches himself forward, throwing his arms together as rippling energy flows off him, laughing like a maniac. He's little more than a missile now; mere contact with him would be catastrophic, but his systems are blaring into his ears about his physical state. He won't be getting up after this... let's see if he can carry the girl all the way to the makeshift barricade at the opposite end of the room...!!
COMBATSYS: Krizalid can no longer fight.
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Athena 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Athena fails to reflect End of Eden EX from Krizalid with Shield Psycho Reflector.
- Power fail! -
COMBATSYS: Athena can no longer fight.
A gasp for breath escapes Athena's lips as she remains crumpled forward, propped up by hand and knee. Each inhale is accompanied by a new spike of pain, each exhale causing another drop of blood to splatter on the floor beneath her face. His question goes unanswered. The attack unleashed on him from the pits of near despair was not planned out, not thought through. Even as the images of what happened flash through her own mind, the young fighter can't possibly begin to grasp at their significance. Was she beaten to the point of hallucinating? Is this a symptom of panic beyond anything she had ever experienced before? No one warned her something like this might happen. Did even Master Gentsai not know?
Slowly, almost unconsciously, she stands and turns with almost a weary step and uncertain balance. Violet eyes catch the last glimmer of the vanishing golden fragments of energy and while they seem familiar to her, she does not know them. That was not /her/ energy, was t?
Her vision clears slowly to see the fallen man. A sense of vindication seeps through her. That was what he deserved for his crimes too horrible to recount. But then an unconscious recoil at the sentiment - she couldn't recall ever feeling that way about someone before... their need for retribution without mercy. Was it that she had just never encountered someone deserving of such feelings? Or had something in her changed over the course of this violent, heart pounding battle?
Nearly out of it, her attention becomes laser focused when the wings of the devil unfurl out behind him. Eyes widen, her foot slipping back a half step. A familiar thrum echoes in her mind at the powerful manifestation of flame - it is the same as Dash's... which felt familiar to Kyo Kusanagi's uniquely enhanced energy. At first she had thought Dash was some long lost black sheep brother of Kyo. But what could the Kusanagi scion possibly have to do with a monster like Krizalid? Such a simple explanation no longer seemed to hold up under consiration!! With the power detonating from within him, it is as if the divine child stands against the Devil himself, eternal rival to the gods.
The room becomes a furnace as his burning blastwave radiates outward, the crumpled lockets adjacent to him melting to useless scrap. There is no where to run, no way to even hope of withstanding the force no matter how she might bolster her guard. Only one option remains - a risky gambit she sees no choice but to attempt. She might very well die otherwise.
Stomping her right foot forward, Athena's hands reach out, palms facing each other before she begins to move them apart. A shimmering shield of that familiar rose hued energy she had exhibited earlier bursts into existence. Withstanding the powerful energy of others is a skill well practiced by the young fighter. Maybe... just maybe it will be enough to defend her from the hellfire the man has just unleashed in the super heated confines.
Around her, heat waves ripple, whipping at her hair and scalding skin, but when the collosion first happens, it seems as if her barrier would indeed protect the young psychic from the worst of the catastrophy, keeping the man at bay by will and pyschokinetic power beyond which precious few in the world could ever hope to compete.
But then the wake of the inferno comes crashing in behind him, a backdraft of blisteringly hot, searing divine flame corrupted by machinations she knows nothing of. The barrier is overwhelmed, wreathing around it to burn at her arms and scorch her cheeks. The instant pain is enough to disrupt what remains of her concentration, her abilities already frayed beyond their normal levels from what she had suffered thus far.
The barrier falls just as the final swath of fire hits and all the pent up, barely restrained kinetic force hits her like a train with bone crushing force. The featherweight goes flying back across the room, the last of her modesty's armor burned to ash from the calamitous firestorm reducing most of the contents of the locker room to molten debris.
A pained cry escapes her lips as she crashes into the crumpled lockers, arms out at her sides as her back bends over the top of one from the impact. Mouth agape, she slips to her knees, her body already limp and unable to resist gravity's call, as finally the bruised, cut, and burned Psycho Soldier falls face forward against the floor, arms out her sides, her long hair splayed over her back.
The world descends into dark nightmare.
There might be some irony, if Krizalid was almost infectious; a pure soul is one easily tainted by a single drop of ink, and she's certainly brushed closer to his mind than she likely had any right. Hopefully such things are temporary... only Chin might be familiar with the downsides to her empathetic manner of fighting.
Every ounce of horrific power channels through Krizalid as he impacts the small girl, wings hurtling him forward with bone-shattering force. His desperation to finish her has removed all restraint, the almost playful antics up until this point cast into the wayside. Such is made only worse when Athena summons up the barrier, as with a roar Krizalid taps even further into his own power, suit crackling and hissing as a number of circuits begin to fail as it struggles to contain him. Combined with the rush of power coming up behind, it's more than the neophyte prodigy can muster, and he soars through...
Only to land on his shoulder, heavily crashing head over heel before smashing into the debris of the blocked door. Krizalid is breathing heavily, sunken upon hands and knees as the last wisps of flame begin to fade away from his form. Sensors sputter back online, rebooting bit by bit before he glances over to see Athena face down. Like a slack puppet with the strings drawn taut, Krizalid maneuvers back to his feet and begins to march forward. His vision flickers with static as the retinal implants nearly fail, breath coming slow and wheezing.
"Did I... break you...?" he wonders, reaching down to grasp Athena by a slender wrist and heft her upwards. It takes more effort than he thought, mind close to collapse from the psychic onslaught. But then the whirl of flame blocking the other entry finally sputters out, and a rush of angry Justice students enters. He curses, leaping backwards. Too heavy...! Athena is released to thump face down once more, before Krizalid glowers at those present.
"Oh well... I got what I wanted..." Staggering back to the blocked door, he grasps the bent locker partition and activates the last surge of his kinetic amplifiers. With a roar he twists and hurtles it backwards, causing those about to fall upon him to skip backwards. Another throws his jacket over Athena, calling to find Kyoko. In a flash, Krizalid is out, rushing through the hall and bursting into the main estate.
A black line descends from a sleek VTOL transport, attaching it to his belted harness before it zips up, stealing Krizalid away as the entire school explodes into full alert, which would have damned him had he been forced to escape in his own power. With the last of his energy whisked into the machinery, both it and his consciousness slowly blacken, but he fades into oblivion with a grin.
"Such a... delicious peach..."
Log created on 00:34:11 12/18/2014 by Athena, and last modified on 18:32:46 12/26/2014.