Description: A prototype weapon being shipped from NESTS to 'R' getting intercepted by the Illuminati and Shadaloo? What can go wrong!
There would not be many opportunities to intersect this package - a black, steel case of fifty inches by fifteen inches by six inches. The process of delivering it was being conducted with the utmost secrecy... or as much secrecy as could exist in this world of interconnected data pipelines, infinitely vast networks of information sharing, and subterfuge layered on top of subterfuge between those who operate behind shadows.
It is chained to the arm of the black suit clad operative entrusted with its delivery. His dark hair is cropped short and as immaculate as his dark clothing. At precisely fifteen seconds before the doors would close departure from the station, he stepped aboard the express to Yokohama, accompanied by a larger, more muscular, balding man in an identical suit.
Within seconds of leaving the station, the high speed bullet train had already rocketed to its incredible speed of two hundred miles per hour. The journey to the ports of Yokohama would not be a long one. From there, the case would be transfered aboard a small, private water craft which would head out to sea... At that point, there would be no hope of securing it.
The two men ride alone, their car bought and paid for in its entirety by the organization behind the trade. Even to the layman, these two appear to be part of something official. But only those in the know would understand that they are both soldiers of 'R' and that the case chained to the leading operative contains a prototype weapon engineered by the brilliant minds of the NESTS Cartel...
The idea that the two dark factions might be getting cozy over some kind of arms deal is enough to garner attention from other interested parties. At least one of them would like to get a peek at the technology being peddled by the braintrust that is the NESTS Cartel... afterall, even if they may not need the technology the rifle promises, there would still need to be the routine tests against various degrees of engineered combat armor to evaluate the threat it represents.
Infiltration is not new to the kunoichi dispatched to lift the case though the setting is a challenge. Used to operating in the shadows, the woods, and in the remote places of the country, conducting an operation like this in broad daylight on a crowded bullet train is a new challenge all together.
She had trailed the two men in civilian clothes; a student uniform that would blend in easily just about anywhere in Southtown. But this Express to Yokohama will be transporting at minimum +1 over its official registry. The duffle bag she had been shouldering when stowing aboard contained the change of clothing needed. The corner of an unoccupied cargo car serves to suit up.
Employed, at last, she finally had the means to commission proper equipment - a black bodysuit of supple but protective leather covers her from head to toe, including her arms. Weapons and accoutrements of the trade hang from the belt around her waist. A black mask is pulled over the lower half of her face, her long hair tied off into a pony tail worn high.
Neither of the men guarding the case should be a problem for one as trained as she is. Disabling the sensors on an emergency hatch, the girl climbs up onto the roof of the train. At these speeds, it will be a precarious trek to the targeted car, but beyond that, the plan recited in her mind is straight forward enough. Break in, incapaciate the men, unlock the chain if possible, break it if necessary, and escape with the case. If things go especially smooth, she should even be able to slip back into the cargo car, change back into her civilian clothes, and vanish into the crowd at the station at the other end!
But... one thing at a time, she reminds herself as she closes in on the car occupied by only two. As far as she knows, at least.
With something as... sensitive as this might be, the normal uniform that the Dolls generally wore was replaced for Cammy. A simple jumpsuit of black that covered her from neck to toe. Blonde hair was still done up in those tight pigtails that hung against her back, the pigtails looped together to make a single solid braid.
But Cammy couldn't do away with her light blue cap. Not one bit.
Even if she had to tuck it in her pocket.
Leaving her face more or less visible, however, Cammy had a set of goggles over her forehead - if she needed to spy lasers or get past security systems, that would be desirable. Normally, this wasn't Doll work. Ideally, there would be extremely little death happening here - the Dolls were intensely loyal and vicious instruments of Shadaloo, after all. Even if the conditioning hurt their ability to be creative and reason past problems that required complex solutions.
Cammy had a looser control on her reasoning than most Dolls, however. So of her "sisters", she was the ideal choice.
Dead Doll's eyes glance up the train - she had her toes tucked under a vent thing on top of the train, her blonde braid whipping with the wind, as she leans backwards over the edge, and nearly twisted all the way around so that she could open a window. Open a window and start to slink down into it. To silently slip into the car proper - landing in a crouch, her form obscured from the two men (it would only be those two men, right?!) by a row of seats.
The thing that might alert them to Cammy's entry, though?
The now-open window and the air rushing by.
The rush of air provokes immediate response. Both of these men are trained, trusted employees of one of the world's most dangerous syndicates. Failure was not tolerated so those who continued to climb the ladder of prestige were those who possessed a flawless track record for success. The unburdened, balding agent turns faster, sidearm produced from a shoulder holster in an instant and already aimed. The one with the weapon is a bit slower to turn, the heavy, ultra-secured carrying case weighing him down slightly. They were both authorized to shoot on sight - even the train's crew, albeit oblivious as to the true nature of the two prestigious passengers, knows that no one is to go into that car no matter what emergency could possibly come up. Venturing into that car for any reason was inviting a bullet to the head.
Setting eyes on Cammy erases any question as to whether one of the stewards got confused about what car he was wandering into. She doesn't look like she's here to take drink orders. Fingers slip over the triggers of their Colt Rail Gun 1911 tactical pistols and immediately fire!
The sound of gunfire is heard by the kunochi closing in on the car. The idea that there would be any kind of altercation within is unsettling - who ELSE knows about the prototype rifle? With time of the essence, and clinging to the roof of a bullet train no place to try radioing out for additional instructions, the ninja in black scrambles faster, fingers clinging to every crevice, corner, and edge possible to keep from being forced backward by the wind, her ponytail whipping violently out behind her head.
It is by chance that she flips down on the side with the already open window as if inviting her to join the party. Another sound of gun fire forces her to hesitate an instant before her hand slips to a small, narrow black cylinder dangling from her waist. A press of her finger and thumb detatches it before she flings the flashbang into the train car.
It would thunk down on the floor, roll listlessly to the middle, then explode with a loud pop and debilitatingly bright flash of blinding white light, shocking the photoreceptor cells of anyone who failed to protect their eyes in time.
The lithe shinobi would land in the car an instant later.
Cammy was hoping for a few moments to gather her wits, and the situation. It wasn't the sound of gunfire that triggered her to motion - but the clicking of safeties off and the sounds of the men rising up. Cammy immeadiately rolls forward - tucking into a little ball.
Rising up to a stand lightning fast, Cammy lifts her eyes to look across the train car and spy... well, a tiny black cylinder bounce onto the group. Immeadiately, Cammy was expecting an explosive, the woman hopping up as the guns track towards her still, up and backwards unto the row of seats behind her, as if to put that much more shield inbetween herself and the explosive... It detonates, and those wide-open eyes of the Doll turn into tiny little pinpricks as the flashbang takes effect, the ringing in her ears likewise a sound that keeps her senses muted.
Cammy manages to land upon the seat by memory of her brief glance alone, hunkering down to try to hide herself from whoever threw that - and if nothing else, to make it harder to shoot her until her sight and hearing cleared. Hunkered over - waiting. Listening for any sign or sound of movement.
The two gun men were less attentive than the Shadaloo master operative, not noticing the small metallic ring of the canister landing. Their focus was on eliminating the intruder without fail. The flash has them staggering backward, arms raised over their eyes, a cry of dismay escaping their lips as Kasumi lands in a low crouch on the seat adjacent to the window.
A head of strawberry blonde peeks up toward the two suit clad men before copper brown eyes scan the rest of the long car. Her initial cursory inspection doesn't catch sight of the hidden Doll, however, which sets of further warnings in the back of her quick thinking mind. Was whoever broke in before ran off by the gun fire? If so, that's fortunate for her... but she can't expect to benefit from such a window of opportunity for long!
The two men would need to be incapacitated. She couldn't have them chasing her along the train. The kunoichi in black finishes her quick scan of the compartment well before the two have recovered their vision, her expression a mien of intense focus. She bears these men no ill will, but right now they are between her and a successful mission.
The two are no rookies, however, and they have also ducked behind their seats, crouching down, weapons still drawn. The left hand of the larger, balding man is resting atop the shoulder of his partner so that the two of them know where each other is at all times until their eyesight is restored. This leaves them safe to fire toward any other sign of movement or attack without risk of harming each other.
Unfortunately for them, Kasumi's step is silent, the girl slipping off her perch to stride on soft steps. She's upon them in an instant, delicate looking fingers disarming the pistol of the first before he even realizes anyone is adjacent to him. A chop to the arm of the second keeps him from pulling his gun up to shoot before her hand slides along his limb and, with a twist of his wrist, pries his firearm free as well, leaving it to clatter to the floor and slide away beneath the seats.
A yank and chop to the base of the neck drops the larger man against the seat with a pained groan. His partner comes up swinging, only for his arm to be caught, twisted, and his entire body flipped over to land hard against the train floor with a heavy thud. Groaning, he is defenseless against the backhanded chop to his temple that knocks him out.
"I'm sorry," Kasumi murmurs only after the two are still. Without hesitation, she begins rifling pockets for a key to that chain. In spite the indications of earlier trouble, it seems this job will be going perfectly smoothly!
It would take a few moments for Cammy to regain her wits. For the ringing in her ears to stop hiding her senses away. For the edges of her eyes to regain clarity, for her vision to refocus again. Cammy could fight before that, and indeed, she was listening and watching all that she could to avoid being surprised, but...
If she had the time, she would breathe, and consider the situation until her senses returned fully.
Cammy breathes out, letting her shoulders relax atop the seats.
Who had attacked her? She did not know - or was that simply some kinda security system meant to ambush anyone trying to ambush them? Then Cammy hears that distinctly feminine 'sorry'. One way to find out.
Steeling herself, Cammy launches herself up again, tucking her knees in close to her chest, and using her hands like a pivot point atop the seats behind herself. A tight little ball, her blue eyes attempting to discern the identity of the other woman as best they can throughout the spin.
But if she is allowed to get close...
She would explode outwards from the ball and hope to actually grasp the ninja by the shoulders or neck. Continuing to flip forward then, she would use the momentum to yank her from her feet, flip her over her head, and then drive the top of Kasumi's head into the train floor.
With luck, before the nin could do anything about it.
COMBATSYS: Cammy has started a fight here.
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Cammy 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kasumi has joined the fight here.
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Cammy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kasumi
COMBATSYS: Kasumi dodges Cammy's Hooligan Suplex.
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Cammy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kasumi
Fishing through pockets as quickly as she is proves to be distracting work. Crouched in the aisle, Kasumi makes the assumption that the key is on the black haired man. After all, he had the case chained to his arm... After his jacket pockets and one of his pants pockets are checked, however, she begins to consider that the needed object is on the second man - a possible secondary layer of security in case they ever got separated for any length of time. Or to discourage one of the two going rogue... The young ninja has enough experience with clandestine operations to reason her way through some of the thought processes behind different practices, even if she doesn't agree with them herself.
It is only by happenchance that she is already starting to rise from her crouched position, intending to switch her search after patting the outside if the fallen man's last remaining pocket and not detecting signs of anything within. The sound of the train rolling along the track, coupled with the rush of air from the window leaves her deafened to the skilled Shadaloo operative's launch.
But the corner of her eye catches a flicker of movement and the girl's body acts on pure instinct in how she reacts. A twist of her body to the right has her roll into the space between adjacent seats before she comes up standing, having narrowly avoided the grip that might have ended with her seeing stars right about now.
The conclusion comes immediately - this is whoever the gunfire must have chased off, albeit for only a short moment. She's already moving as Cammy lands. That her opponent is fast is already known without a doubt. The same goes for her agility. She'd close behind in the tight confines of the aisle, attempting to hook her right arm around the neck of the Doll, foot sliding against the back of Cammy's heel, in a bid to drive her down against the floor of the train.
Kasumi would waste no time - only registering the gender of her opposition upon noticing the braid and possible getting a hold of the other girl's lithe frame. If she does succeed, however, she would be dropping down to try and press her left forearm against Cammy's throat in an attempted follow up to keep the unknown third party from slipping away.
Things have definitely stopped proceeding smoothly!
COMBATSYS: Cammy blocks Kasumi's Medium Throw.
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Cammy 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kasumi
The braid was a handicap of sorts for Cammy.
But she loved them so.
Regardless, it was easy to grasp Cammy's braid, and easy to kinda yank her around with the same. The arm strikes the throat, even, eliciting a gasp from the Zero Doll - but to try to hold her in that way? It did not quite work like that. A hand comes up, slapping her braid free of Kasumi's hand, and Cammy steps /sideways/ before the press against her throat could really start cutting off her air.
With a shortened breath once released - a few quick gasps to bring everything back to homeostasis, Cammy lunges to one side, grasping the chair...
And swinging one of her powerful legs up to try to bring her boot against Kasumi's face in a sharp, quick kick.
COMBATSYS: Kasumi counters Light Kick from Cammy with Momiji Otoshi.
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Cammy 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kasumi
That the other girl was able to give her the slip as quickly as she did is all the proof Kasumi needs to know that she is up against someone dangerous. Given her own years of arduous training among the elite of the shadow clans, it was not often she encountered someone of comperable skill. And it had been a long time since she had found her own goal contested by one such.
The swift motion in the tight confines leaves the shinobi no room to negotiate the incoming kick from the blonde, forcing her to step into the attack herself, hands coming up to catch the kick while lowering her own center of mass to avoid being forced off balance by the exchange of raw, kinetic force at play here.
"Who are you?" she asks, her voice barely muffled by the mask over her face, even as she pulls hard on the caught leg and makes one more step forward to bring her past Cammy, her right hand chopping out for the back of the other girl's neck with what is intended to be an incapacitating blow. It certainly was on the large man in the suit afterall.
Even as she releases the leg and whirls around, brown eyes flick to the chained weapon's case. With it still secured to the fallen man's arm it won't be able to just grab it and run as she would much prefer. Realizing her attack would not be strong enough to take out the other infiltrator in a single blow, her eyes are already back on other girl.
"If you run, I will not stop you," she offers, making a desperate stab for a quicker, less violent resolution to the potential stand off.
It was becoming surprisingly common these days. For every operation that went smoothly and cleanly, there was another where... interesting things occured. And more often and not, the Zero Doll had trouble with successfully completing her mission. Not that... doubt was allowed to fester in her heart. Only the faintest glimmers of emotion teased at the edges of her conciousness - to a normal person, they would hardly be the start of a feeling. But against the white landscape that was Cammy's soul - they were flares of color.
And right now, they glimmered with anxiety.
The chop against her neck did not incapacitate her - but it would be terrible to say it did nothing to her. She crumples on the train floor, legs scrabbling and finding no purchase after the counterattack.
In their scrabbling, her boot finds the structure of one of the seats, and she pushes off of it, sliding away from Kasumi. In that sliding, she tucks into a roll to end up in a crouch that faces the nin, her blank eyes fixated on Kasumi's own face, and hands lifting up into a fist. Cammy slowly rises to a stand.
"Negative. I will not withdraw. You have a 70 percent chance of termination by my hand," she says, her voice a monotone. "If you leave now, that chance of termination lowers to 23 percent," says Cammy, her eyes tracking across the other woman's movements, her mind rolling with prediction and calculation.
COMBATSYS: Cammy calculates her next move.
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Cammy 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kasumi
The nature of Cammy's response causes Kasumi to hesitate. Normally in a situation like this, instincts and reflexes honed by years of training can carry her through from start to finish, able to respond to and adapt with surprises and unexpected developments with the ease that only a professional could manage.
But the other girl's stilted, emotionless voice was not what she expected to hear in answer and the way she freezes for a split second betrays that moment of surprise. Calculated odds? So precise. What are they based on? Did she gather that from just the brief exchanges they just had?
Her hands are at the ready, palms open, one foot forward in a perfect stance that allows her to advance or retreat with near equal speed. Given what the girl said, she can already tell that every move she makes is only feeding more information into whatever thought process yielded those calculations.
This is not a mission worth dying for, but honor dictates that she can't just retreat at the first unexpected difficulty either. She'd also like to keep her job... and her current employer doesn't seem the sort to give second chances to. She can't begin to guess what organiation the young woman hails from. Nor is there any way to link her to the group currently paying her. That doesn't keep her from wondering though, the woman's lack of cadence to her voice particularly unsettling. Is she truly human?
Of course, she has no intent of using lethal techniques either... but she's also not so naive as to admit that outloud. Anything she betrays could be used against her. "If your goal is to leave with this project," her left hand risks a quick gesture toward the black case, "Then we remain at odds." Her left leg braces, ready to push off.
"And for that, I apologize, but I cannot stop now!"
Her movements are swift, the girl closing distance to throw out a swift, snap kick with her right leg before kicking off with her left into a follow up spin kick likely to pack more punch than the first, slipping just over the level of the seats so that her foot is on path for the side of Cammy's head!
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Kasumi's Medium Kick.
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Cammy 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kasumi
In a world of vampires and other monsters, perhaps Cammy not being entirely human wasn't something too far off the mark. As it was, a drug-addled clone was probably closer to the world of monsters than that of humans. But to Kasumi's words, Cammy's fists clench tighter, the leather of her gloves creaking with the motion. Cammy liked to... avoid using lethal techniques when she had the choice in the matter.
But her programming often caused her to take no prisoners.
Kasumi lunges forward like that, and while the ninja was /fast/... this time, if only this time...
Cammy was faster. The snap kick to her head was ducked under, the followup spinning kick avoided entirely. Cammy didn't pop back up, you see. She used the open spot in Kasumi's guard to not only duck the kick, but duck under her leg and her entire body in this train corridor, ending up on the other side of the other woman.
Only to leap backwards, her legs going out to again use the seats as a sort of jumping board, Cammy keeping her feet pointed earthwards after kicking off of them, her braid whipping around her body like a rotor as her spinning jump takes her to land nearish the ninja.
If Cammy timed things right, Kasumi would only just now be turning around. Which would leave her a prime target for Cammy to whip her gauntleted hand out in a /hard/ strike intended to clobber Kasumi across the face.
COMBATSYS: Kasumi blocks Cammy's Axle Spin Knuckle.
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Cammy 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Kasumi
The tactic would have landed a clean blow without any doubt, had Kasumi not lead her turn with her right arm raised, bent up at the elbow, expecting to need to guard herself from an attack from behind. It was still a coin flip of a guess - to guard high or low - for there would be no time to correct if she was incorrect in her prediction. Perhaps it was instinct that told her the braided girl would go for her face instead of abdomen. Either way, the creak of her own metal arm guards and soft gasp of breath makes it clear that the last second defense was not a pain free experience.
The moment also gave her the first clear look at just how formidable the speed and quick thinking of her opponent was. Keeping her breathing regular without having to consciously think about it is a simple extentiono of her years of intense training. But figuring out how fight the dispassionate girl... for she was fairly certain she wasn't fighting something man made. No, she was certain she was a being of flesh and blood, yet...
No time to think about it. Her right arm bending back against the force of the strike, the girl deftly attempts to twist it back on Cammy, twisting her arm, fingers trying to slip around the other girl's extended limb. This time, it would be a bid to use Cammy's momentum against her, if her fingers find a firm enough grip, pulling the equally light fighter forward along the aisle while also stepping in and around her thin opponent in the process, aiming to drive a knee into her lower back and knock her to the floor.
As before, she would lunge after Cammy if she was successful, attempting to tackle her from behind and finish dragging her down by force of weight if possible! Could she question her if she were able to subdue her? Thoughts of the disfigured, tormented girl discovered at Seijyun come to mind - Elsa, if any name at all belonged to her... monsters had made that girl and the idealistic shinobi hoped to discover their identity someday so that she could better act against them. Was this girl also a creation of theirs...?
COMBATSYS: Cammy blocks Kasumi's Kasumi Kyoka.
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Cammy 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kasumi
It was quite painful, overall. Momentum was something that was difficult to be rid of in a heartbeat like this, and while Cammy had her ways - they would not be enough to avoid being grasped entirely. Having her arm grabbed like that was difficult to avoid, and as her arm was twisted and wrenched, Cammy feels a little 'pop' in her shoulder, along with a spark of pain.
But Kasumi would not quite be able to get it down to the point of tackling her to the ground. Before the arm twist could really take root, Cammy leaps up off of the ground - a pinwheeling jump to the side that untwists her arm and leaves her arm, perhaps, in Kasumi's hand.
And idly, Cammy was reminded of Ibuki. Ninjas seemed to be entering her life more often than not. It would... probably due to suggest to Juli to entact training sequences designed to counteract them. But right now, Cammy's mind was whirling on the battle proper. "If you surrender now, your chances of escape with your life are now 43 percent," says Cammy in her monotone.
It would probably be pretty simple, Cammy's response to perhaps being held further.
Balling up her fist and hoping to deliver a straight punch right to Kasumi's nose.
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Kasumi with Quick Punch.
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Cammy 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Kasumi
The girl does indeed try to keep her grip on Cammy's gauntleted forearm as the agile girl spins around and escapes the full extent of her intended combination takedown. Given her displays of acrobatics, she's hard enough to get a hold of as-is. If she can keep her slowed for even an instant, perhaps it will yield an opportunity to land a more decisive strike. Her mind whirling, considering the implications of this unknown counter operative, it is easy to get side tracked from her primary objective here - the prototype weapon!
The monotone offer to surrender is extended again. It sounds like whatever combat algorithms have been ingrained in the mind of this mysterious girl are fast to calculate, updating constantly as the situation changes. Speaking of change, her own nose goes from not hurting to hurting quite a bit as the balled fist collides dead on, causing Kasumi's hands to release their grip, the girl staggering back a step, worrying for a moment about potentially blurred vision because that smarts!
Left hand lifting to rub her nose beneath her mask and assuage briefly the pain, the girl tries another approach. "What did they do to you? Is it mind control? Brain washing? Hypnotism?" She slides into her stance again, as such the aisle permits, "Raised this way...?"
No stranger to the rumors of clans that go far beyond just intense, rigorous training of the Mugen Tenshin to make sure the rising generation consists of the perfect warriors to further the clan's cause, she'd still never met anyone that seemed as if perhaps they had come from such.
She lost some of her momentum from the sock to the face, but she isn't disuaded. Her lunge forward has her pulling her arm up behind her even as she starts to lean low. A knife-handed strike stabs out, targeting Cammy's nearest knee. Her left hand would stab upward next, as the girl transitioned from crouching back to standing in an instant, attempting to keep her opponent's defenses constantly pressured from multiple angles!
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Kasumi's Medium Punch.
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Cammy 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Kasumi
"My childhood and training is irrelevant data," informs Cammy. "They will have nul or minor effect on my combat ability presently." There was a part of Cammy that found that little exchange - robotic as her part may be - as something akin to social interaction with a non-Doll. And that small part of her smiled.
But it was those dead eyes that watch Kasumi advance, and when the two women strike each other, it was perhaps like watching two bolts of lightning dance.
Cammy leaps back as Kasumi darts forward with that knife-hand to the knee, the followup lifting blow bringing Kasumi's arm before her. But like Kasumi wished to grab ahold of Cammy, now it was Cammy that grabs ahold of her arm.
Giving it a small tug towards herself to encourage Kasumi to fall forward and lose a bit of balance, Kasumi might be expecting an arm bar like the sort that she had been using on Cammy. Cammy uses that arm instead as a pivot point, however, creating momentum as she swings up that arm to try to snap her legs around Kasumi's neck again. Snap her legs there and twist, hoping to kinda batter Kasumi's head against a nearby piece of the structure of the train, before flipping her forward, to drive her head against one of the seats.
And give her arm a little twist in revenge for earlier.
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Kasumi with Cross Scissor Pressure.
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Cammy 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Kasumi
Is is when Cammy finally gets her hands and legs on her that Kasumi finally gains a full appreciation of the danger she is flirting with just being here. The petite fighter has her hand before she can snap it back - an exchange that happens in an instant, too fast for the untrained eye to even see it. The strong pull is perfect, tugging the kunoichi forward off her feet, mouth opening beneath her mask of black cloth in startled surprise.
Quickly, her right arm raises, expecting to be pulled into another punch to the face like the two previous strikes in that direction, but such a gesture is useless against the speed the blonde twirls up, securing her legs around the shinobi's neck. Her foot stamps forward then, trying to control her own momentum, but that too works against her, as Cammy twists her off to the side, driving the Mugen Tenshin exile's head against one of the metal poles used as handrails for those forced to stand, a metallic ringing echoing throughout the car. The impact is more than enough to rob her of further struggle before she finds herself being pressed down, forehead hitting the seat, elicting another muffled cry that gets knocked up a pitch when her arm is twisted further as well!
Sputtering beneath her mask as she shakes her head, she can't help but have a stronger understanding the danger of continued combat. The threats the braided blonde made are not made idly. She has no reason to doubt her words. Down with one leg bent, the other knee pressed against the floor, she realizes she can't allow herself to be held down for long and thus it is that swift retaliation comes, pressing down with her hand and up with her leg, attempting to flip up backward, and kick herself free of the close proximity of Cammy in the process into a handstand against the seat-
Only to drop right back down with a second, crushingly strong follow up kick with both legs before springing off her handstand and attempting to land in the aisle once more, hoping at last for a chance to breath!
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Kasumi's Tenshu Kaiten So.
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Cammy 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Kasumi
Cammy didn't feel any glee or excitement at her success in her battle with Kasumi. No momentary jolt of anything when her legs batter the other woman into the guardrail and then the ground proper, her mind only really settling for the success of the predictive algorithm that she was using to try to anticipate the exile's motions. Pursing her lips as she disentangles herself from Kasumi, Cammy does not even make the offer this time.
If Kasumi would not yield at 30 percent termination chances - it was doubtful that she would at 67 percent.
And then there were those kicks that Kasumi yields to her. Cammy was getting lucky - her chances of dodging, of surviving these motions was terrible, but she was quick, and that quickness bore her away from Kasumi as those feet lash out. The surprising motion directly into a handstand gives Cammy pause, but she manages to flatten herself against a pole to miss the first kick, the second kick readily caught by Cammy's hands, giving her leg a little push to pass by Cammy harmlessly.
Cammy flips over a seat, further away from Kasumi at that moment, ducking down to scoop something up off of the floor...
One of the fallen men's guns.
Instead of using it like technology intended, Cammy wings the gun in a quick toss at Kasumi's head, ducking down low as she starts to dart forward... and hopefully soon after the gun strikes, Cammy does as well, spinning around in a slow buildup to a kick that has her standing up straight and tall, booted foot planted in the ground as her other foot lifts to try to just strike Kasumi dead on in the center of the chest.
COMBATSYS: Cammy blitzes into action and acts again!
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Cammy 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Kasumi
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Kasumi with Small Thrown Object.
Grazing Hit
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Cammy 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Kasumi
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Kasumi with Roundhouse Kick.
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Cammy 0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Kasumi
Landing a touch off balance from Cammy's subtle but effective nudge, Kasumi corrects her stance but is a split second slower on turning to watch Cammy than she would have been otherwise. The gun is noticed and the girl starts to lunge for a seat for cover, no doubt expecting a shot to be taken with the dangerous weapon. But when young woman's hand switches angle to hurl it at her instead, she flinches, undoubtedly confused by the tactic just enough to not perform optimally-
The metal weapon gets a glancing hit as she finally commits to avoiding it afterall, only too late to actually be entirely effective. The wince it provokes leaves her blinded to the incredible swift charge by the other operative, copper eyes getting a lock on her when it's too late to really respond before a foot is driven directly into her chest, sending the girl flying backward, upper back slamming against the closed door leading to one of the other cars.
She starts to slump down, back against metal, dazed by the crushing hit, when a surge of adrenaline brought on by panic settles in. She can't fall to this woman - not here, not without having had a chance to set the things right that she had put in motion just over six months before!
Sucking in her breath, refusing to fall further, the girl braces, lifting a foot, then slamming it against the door with enough force to dent it as she rockets forward once more. With Cammy in the aisle, there would seem to be no where for Kasumi to go but straight into her - and indeed it is with an impossibly fast blur that she attempts to do just that. It would happen in an instant, that attempted reach for the other girl's arm, the twist to pull aside her guard and leave her ribs open-
And, if successful, the crushing, precision elbow strike delivered just below the other girl's fixed ribs. If successful, the desperate shinobi would slide to a stop some meters beyond, eyes flicking toward the window. It might not be too late!
COMBATSYS: Cammy blocks Kasumi's Oboro Gake EX.
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Cammy 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Kasumi
Almost, but not quite. The sheer speed of Kasumi overwhelms Cammy - relaxing down from her heavy kick, she stands up straight and tall, brow furrowed, eyes narrowed in on the ninja. Normally, Cammy would try to dodge - try to evade the upcoming manuever. But it happened /so fast/. All she could do was get her arms up in front of her, all she could do was...
Cammy was a strong, built young woman - but Kasumi was working with surprise. Kasumi manages to move Cammy's arm a bit, but with that precision hit... Cammy twists her torso just so, taking the strike on the ribs, as opposed to beneath them. That still was painful to an excessive degree.
Yanking her arm out of Kasumi's grasp then, Cammy glances towards the window as well. If Kasumi wanted to flee, device in hand... Cammy ducks low, bringing a foot behind herself as she concentrates, her mind whirling with equations, with thoughts, with calculations, and after a moment's time... "LOCK ON!"
Launching herself off of the ground, she leads with her feet first, twisting and spiraling in the air. "SPIN DRIVE...!"
If those feet find a home in Kasumi's form, Cammy would end that spiraling kick with a duck, before slapping her hands against the ground and launching herself nigh vertically towards the ceiling, hoping to knock the ninja up with her. "SMASHER!"
COMBATSYS: Kasumi blocks Cammy's Spin Drive Smasher.
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Cammy 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Kasumi
Perhaps she had to be driven to this point - the threat Cammy's intentions represents - to hit the speeds she does now. Sliding out of her blitz against the other girl, Kasumi comes to a stop in a low crouch, arms out behind her, one knee just over the floor of the train, a soft exhale escaping her lips. She delivered what felt like, from her blurringly fast perspective, a clean hit. But she can't risk that it wasn't, already pushing up to whirl around, guard raised, eyes locking onto the girl chasing after her quickly.
An instant later, her defenses are put to the test as Cammy drives into her feet first, the momentum she hits with delivering enough crushing force that even with her legs braced, dropping down into a lower block wasn't enough to keep Kasumi's back from smacking against a metal aisle next to one of the exits of the car. But the divider provides support as well, leverage to put to use in order to counter attack.
The expert Shadaloo operative will have a fleeting moment to reconsider that launch as Kasumi winds up, body twisting to the right, left shoulder forward, left foot braced against the floor adjacent to the divider. She would be experienced enough to sense that surge of potential, a burst of chi devoted entirely to speed, as Kasumi rockets off into Cammy with a leading elbow strike aimed at her stomach to stun without remorse.
If she gets past the other girl, Kasumi would kick off from the floor, vanishing into a small whirl of sakura petals that are left in her wake. A second small vortext of the pink blossoms would appear just above before Kasumi would dive kick into the Killer Bee, sliding past further down the aisle...
The third hit would be, by necessity, a larger wind up, meaning she'd hope she would have staggered Cammy by now or all is lost, because seconds later, the girl rockets back with one final elbow strike to Cammy's chest - every muscle in the shinobi's body would be coordinated to deliver the single most bone crushing blow she could muster, leg, arm, and torso muscle acting in perfect unison to deliver the Oka Ranman and attempt to smash Cammy through any obsticals that might get in her way!
COMBATSYS: Kasumi successfully hits Cammy with Oka Ranman EX.
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Cammy 1/------=/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Kasumi
Cammy only had time to widen her eyes slightly. There was a chance, a small small chance, to get out of the way by pushing on the wall with her boot, Cammy hoping to knock herself out of the line of...
For a moment, Cammy's world goes black with a sudden pain sharply blossoming in her stomach...
And there were flickers of conciousness there. A strike against her chin, just as strong as the one against her gut, Cammy's legs moving to try to catch herself and keep her upright in spite of her not entirely being aware, when... the single strike slaps her. Cammy is knocked /through/ one of the seats and towards one of the windows, banging her head off of it so much so that it shatters the glass, the sound of train rushing in.
And for a moment, those Doll's eyes seem a little blanker. But almost immeadiately, Cammy reaches up to the windowsill, glass cutting into her palm as she reaches up and... falls back down into the wreckage of the seat twisted around her. It would take her a moment.
And she was vulnerable.
It was a few seconds that felt like a lifetime to Cammy. The back of her mind, all she smelt was sakura blossoms.
But she could not remain where she was. If Kasumi was advancing on her when she was down, great. Otherwise - otherwise... Cammy would slide out of the wreckage, and advance on her with everything she had left, only to duck down low - duck down low and launch herself high, snapping her foot out before herself as she rises.
"Cannon Spike!"
COMBATSYS: Kasumi full-parries Cammy's Cannon Spike!!
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Cammy 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Kasumi
The outcome of the exchange rests atop a line as fine as any blade's edge. Driven to desperation by the superiorly calculated tactics of the girl shy on emotions but ridiculously gifted on talent, Kasumi is moving faster now than she had the entire exchange. Every technique is being put to use against the shadow operative. Too fast for thought, cunning, or decisions, every step now is being executed on instint honed by reflexes and fueled by heart pounding adrenaline. This is not where the young shinobi intended to put her life on the line, running another's errands.
She was the Kunoichi of Destiny.
That's what her father once called her... years before issuing her own execution order. Dying unknown in the damaged car of a bullet train is no destiny of /hers/. Cammy was correct in assuming that Kasumi would not stop moving after connecting with her powerful technique, the girl coming out of it in a power slide down the aisle until her foot comes to a stop bumping against the head of the unconscious agent.
Whirling around, she bolts for where Cammy had landed, sprinting as if with reckless abandon, as if she'd lost all sense of technique and cared only for speed above all else. It is only when the Killer Bee springs out, aiming to smash into the girl with a crushingly strong kick, that her final option becomes clear. The rising foot smashes clean through the space where the young Exile was only an instant before, scattering a small storm of suddenly manifested blossoms through the air as she rises, the lingering perfume of cherry trees in Spring left behind.
"YAAA!"
From behind Cammy, also airborn, Kasumi dives with her left foot leading heel first toward the young woman's back. If she connects, her right foot would slam forward secondly, delivering an additional force to try and send the other girl flying out of her risky ascent!
Kasumi, for her own part, would hope to slide into a landing, but given the broken seating, shattered dividers, glass strewn about, just landing at all might be a miracle at this point.
But one thing at a time.
COMBATSYS: Kasumi successfully hits Cammy with Run Shunpu EX.
- Power hit! -
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Cammy 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Kasumi
It was too quick. The strike against her back - knocked out of her formation, she goes limp a bit - flying through the air a bit like a ragdoll. What stops her flight was the presence of one of those iron handrails against her, Cammy sliding down into a heap at the bottom of it. And for a moment, a long moment, it might seem as though Kasumi had won - a light of sorts leaving Cammy's eyes.
But then... a whisper.
"...lock on."
It was shakier than it should be, and opposed to being nothing but fast fast fast, it was fast just in spurts. Cammy darting forward, leaping off of the ground, lifting boots to lead into the nin's gut if possible.
Then a leap up towards the ceiling of the train, digging her hands into that and bringing her boots up against the roof, looking, for all the world like she was crouching upside down, her braid hanging in the air. Up there, she was taking a moment of her wavering conciousness to determine where Kasumi was - and then launch herself downwards with a snapping, twisting kick that she pours everything into.
One knows that it is everything because after she delivers said kick, she crumples into a crouch - and looks like it would be difficult for her to rise again.
COMBATSYS: Cammy can no longer fight.
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Kasumi 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kasumi dodges Cammy's Killer Bee Assault.
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Kasumi 0/-------/-----==|
After this encounter, the phrase 'Lock On' is going to have taken on an all new meaning of trauma for the Mugen Tenshin Exile. Landing out of her double dive kick with more of a stumble than a slide, only by catching one of her hands on the back of a seat is she able to keep from falling over all together. Blood has started to trickle down from her hairline from the earlier bashing she took against the pole, and the other aches and pains accumulated are beginning to make their presence known even through the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Turning around, she's already started to advance on Cammy again. If the other girl has finally been slowed down, then this is her chance to catch up with her. But it is not with a killer's instinct that she moves toward the girl but rather a quiet resolve to make sure that she is safe to complete her mission... and maybe learn more about this unknown skilled operative.
That's when Cammy utters the sound that sends a chill down Kasumi's spine. Even after all that, she can still move? With one last surge of precision adrenaline, she twists to the side, narrowly avoiding the first kick. Closing her left eye as blood trickles into it from her cut, she still has the ability to follow the other girl's movements in her graceful, deadly dance through the air.
She's forced to leap out of the way from the descending kick, landing in a forward roll and coming up in a crouch with her back turned a couple meters away. Sucking in her breath, she finally glances over her shoulder, fearing another 'Lock On' to be menaced by, but the lithe blonde has become still in her crouch.
Severely hurting herself, Kasumi keeps her distance, copper eyes locked on the young woman, fearing she could attack again at any moment. "This doesn't need to go any further," she murmurs softly. "I mean you no harm, I just-" She cuts herself off, a flicker of emotion catching in her voice. She just has to do someone else's bidding. Such is the life of a lone nin for hire. Far from the position of leadership she absconded from half a year ago.
Backing up to to the rear wall of the car, still keeping attention on Cammy, she finishes frisking the fallen escort, discovering the key she was looking for before. Cautiously scooting over to the other, the chain is unlocked, the heavy metal cast hefted with one hand.
"I'm sorry that it came to this. I-"
What will be the consequences for the robotic girl? A tinge of guilt gives Kasumi further pause, right hand lifting to rest at the base of her throat as she swallows, biting back dangerous second thoughts. There can be no hesitation in this path she is on. The consequences could be fatal.
Maybe those she works for will know more about who would have sent the girl. Maybe it is linked to the conspiracy that has infested the Southtown schools. "The train will be at the station in seven minutes." she warns. It would be good not to be on it when it gets there, she imagines, slipping to the window that provided her earlier entrance.
"Good luck."
And with that, she climbs out. Seven minutes to get back to where she originally infiltrated, change, and disembark in the Port City of Yokohama where her ride home would be waiting. Weighing heavily on her mind will be the emotionless girl of exceptional skill... and the monsters who would do that to someone.
COMBATSYS: Kasumi has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:40:21 12/23/2014 by Kasumi, and last modified on 23:33:21 12/31/2014.