Description: It started off as a routine mission for the NESTS operative -- wait till the tracked student is alone, then shock her from behind and haul her off for analysis. But this little girl can scratch back.
Gedo Street. No one really remembers whether it or the school was named first, but it scarcely matters -- the streets and buildings all share the same sort of dingy, run-down texture anyway. People whose lot in life forces them to reside here know to stay quiet and keep their heads down -- violence could erupt in the streets at any moment and no one wants to be an inadvertent witness, after all. So, aside from the few people shuffling to and from work in the mornings and evenings, the only people generally seen walking the streets on a weekday are highschoolers -- or people pretending to be highschoolers.
So this is the situation today -- just fifteen minutes after school dismissal. Some students had rushed ahead of Miko, eager to get back to home and... play video games on outdated game consoles, or whatever it is they do. Most are taking their sweet time loitering around school. And while Miko's schedule is not set in stone, she does tend to walk down this street most days.
The only variable is that her posse of three is nowhere to be seen. And this is -highly- unusual -- these fellow students from her History class are almost always at her side, all throughout the day. Perhaps their part-time jobs are keeping them occupied these days...
The gakuran-coated student has her headphones on, listening to a lighthearted violin dubstep song of some sort, humming softly to herself as she walks obliviously through the street. At one point, she lifts her head up, looking around for a moment in thought, before turning down a corner into a side street, narrow, foreboding, and cloaked in shadows from the two-story tall buildings on either side. Rats root through the refuse in a dumpster as Miko walks past, cockroaches scurry about -- none of it seems to rise above the ambient level of the softly-thrumming music from her earbud headphones. Quite possibly, Miko is oblivious to the rest of the world outside of what's directly in front of her.
This is how it worked : every now and then, Eve receives a name and the file of a student, someone that had been somewhat studied and whom shown some potential for her organisation in a way. The files were generally browsed by the higher ranking officers in her organisation, and this time it seems she has to chase a student from Gedo High.
Eve knows little of this female student. The only thing needed for her to do her job was a picture. After that, Eve waited like a predator to find this particular girl, and she lurks and follows her until she'll have a good time to strike.
As usual, her patient is rewarded when Miko ventures into a narrow street. Eve's lips curl into a wide smile. This one would make things a lot easier on her, definitely...
The girl leaps off the roof she had been perched on, using her chi to manifest air to soften the landing. She lifts her hand up, charging electricity in her hand. She approaches the woman from behind, silently... Until she'd grow close enough to attempt a shocking grasp in the back of Miko's neck, to stun her and knock her unconscious.
COMBATSYS: Honoka has started a fight here.
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Eve has joined the fight here.
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Eve
COMBATSYS: Honoka endures Eve's Medium Throw.
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Eve
The thing about Miko is... she's not a typical Gedo student. She may look like one, and she definitely -acts- like one. But when she has her headphones on, rather than her focus being entirely lost in the music like most students... her focus is actually razor sharp.
It wouldn't be terribly obvious until Eve strikes the young woman though. She keeps on walking, seemingly oblivious to the world... right up until the electricity crackles into the back of her head, frizzling the few hairs that haven't been gathered into her bun.
And as she's struck, Miko takes two steps forward, pivoting sharply to the side. Something in her pocket explodes -- sending an array of metal ball bearings raining to the pavement, a distracting sound to say the least. Her jaw is set -- spasmed shut by the sudden influx of electricity, perhaps? Her eyes are wide, her muscles tense, her frame still crackling with the tendrils of rapidly-vaporizing air molecules.
And yet, she remains standing. Focused. For while Eve thought she'd had an easy mark, her would-be target is instead leveling her forearm right back at Eve, making full use of the close proximity between the two.
Should her forearm strike, she'll be taking advantage of the sudden reversal of fate, leaping forward and grabbing the fabric of Eve's jacket, lifting up sharply.
COMBATSYS: Honoka successfully hits Eve with Niwen Horibi.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
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Honoka 1/------=/=======|=======\=====--\1 Eve
Miko lifts Eve up by the jacket, narrowing her cold blue eyes back at her capture. She spits out the leather thong she'd been using to bite down onto while the electricity was coursing through her. And she smiles.
"Gotcha."
And then Miko wheels about, pinning Eve against the wall. That smile broadens, as she cocks her head to the side. Eve would soon learn that Miko has her own variant of electricity. It doesn't cause external damage, doesn't char the flesh or singe the fabric, as Eve's does. It works directly on the nervous system. And it doesn't leave remarks. But... it would probably sting... -quite- a bit harder, without needing to shock through such impediments as clothing, or flesh.
All it took was one nasty discharge and it would be over. At the very least, that's what she thought. Though it seems Miko was somewhat prepared to all of this. Her eyes widen in surprise as Miko resists the electrocution and reverses the hold -- the resiliency of those students in Southtown will always astonish her.
The blond girl attempts to slip out of the way when Miko attempts to grab her so she can reposition herself for another strike, but Miko's hands prove to be too fast. In a matter of second, Eve is shoved around and slammed against a wall, the pressure and Miko's own psychic empowered attack disrupting Eve's electricity momentarily.
A loud scream of pain escapes Eve's throat, wincing at the impact. She opens her eyes and glares up at Miko, biting her lip. A wicked smile spreads on her face though and Eve attempts to counter by shoving her knee straight for Miko's midsection, a powerful discharge of electricity following the hit if it connects. She quickly follows up by reaching out for Miko's arm, hands reaching for joints in her right wrist and twisting her arm around into an armlock.
COMBATSYS: Honoka fails to reflect Charged Combo from Eve with Sarak Kamui.
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Honoka 0/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1 Eve
The tendrils of psychic energy flowing throughout Eve cast Miko's smiling face into sharp relief, light and shadow fluctuating rapidly in the narrow alleyway. It seems both Eve and Miko have a few shared interests: lightning, and inflicting it upon others. Her attack is mercifully short -- enough to get a good jolt out of the young woman -- enough for Miko to gauge that, yes, that -hurt- her would-be attacker.
When Eve bites her lip, Miko takes this a sign to continue. "So tell me..." she begins, only to be cut off as Eve suddenly jams her knee into her midsection. Miko's free hand had already begun to flare with a bright purple energy, but Eve's sudden knee had caught her by surprise, forcing Miko to stagger backwards. The crackle of electricity sears into her torso, forcing her muscles to convulse rapidly -- the side effect of this being Miko's grip loosening. Eve is then able to grab a hold of her wrist, forcing it to bend at a rather uncomfortable angle.
But even as pain lances through her form, even as her voice is strained from the exertion, Miko is able to keep her mouth in a slight approximation of a smile. Clearing her throat, she turns her eyes back to Eve, curling her free arm about her side as she tries to stop the convulsions.
"So... tell me... do you like working for Atelier?" she asks, the criminal puppetmaster's voice just as shaky as her frame.
The sound of other students can be heard approaching the alleyway. It may not be long before there are others present -- something Miko seems to be counting on.
Miko's words earn her a smile from Eve. A soft, disdainful chuckle escape her throat as she replies, "You're a clever girl... Much more than the others," Eve retorts with a snort.
Hearing the sudden noise that comes down the alleyway causes Eve to lift her gaze up. For a second, she seems to ponder what to do -- letting go of Miko and aborting her mission, or trying to finish off Miko before the students come near by. Leaving with witness would be such an horrible failure that Eve decides against retreating. She'll just have to make it quick.
She lowers her gaze at Miko, a wicked smile spreading on her lips, "No matter, being smart will do you no good once I knock you out!" Best way to get rid of Miko and potential students to come? Scare the hell out of them with Eve's most powerful and devastating attack.
Electricity rushes through Eve's body suddenly, a loud thundering noise echoing in the small street, as if lightning had just struck there. A powerful blast of electricity follows, many arcs of lightning leaving Eve's body as she discharges herself fully into Miko and herself, like a reverse thunderstorm, except all the lightning were going upward this time.
This powerful discharge seems painful even for Eve, as if her body was barely able to endure this much. She uses her grasp over Miko to swing her around a few time, holding her arm and shoulder and once she's out of electricity, she hurls her off back in the street.
COMBATSYS: Eve successfully hits Honoka with Thunderstorm EX.
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Honoka 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Eve
Clever, Miko may be -- but she is still human all the same. With no particular defense against the raw potential Eve brings to bear, the electrical shock takes its toll on her -almost- as well as any other student. It's a testament to her determination that allows her to keep standing, grimacing even though her arm is held, wrenched backward.
"You may find me a bit... tougher to knock out," she bluffs, grimacing with the obvious pain coursing through her. Even through this, she finds herself trying to read Eve's feelings on her line of questioning -- really, all she gets is confirmation of the name Atelier.
Which doesn't help her, as the young woman's coat is practically blasted apart from the sudden outrush of electricity. The trills of her music player are silenced as the headphones fly from her ears, the electronics of the music player and assorted other devices in her coat popping and fizzling -- sounds audible as Miko doubles over in a soundless, agonizing fury, her vocal chords vibrating, but her lungs contracting in on themselves, giving no air to transmit the sound.
Her gakuran frays instantly from the exertion, the cloth fibers not meant to withstand such intensity -- the extra rods Miko keeps in her sleeves and coat cast into sharp silhouette.
And just when Miko senses the end of the storm, she's hurled down the street -- but not without bouncing into the side of a building, tearing off a chunk of the material. A cloud of dust rises from the impact, obscuring the form of Miko as she tumbles, rather painfully, to the ground.
The sight of an aluminum bat can be seen above the height of the dustcloud. It's being held by a Gedo student -- and it's clear from the sudden shudder of the bat that Miko just collided with him.
"One thing you have to realize... is that you're in Gedo territory. And you have... much to answer for."
Another student can be heard approaching, the distinctive whoosh-whoosh of a sickle being swung from a chain.
Two more students can be heard laughing, whistling from the -other- end of the supposedly vacant alley Miko and Eve were fighting within. And somehow, in the aftershock of the thunderstorm...
Everything gets -darker-, the sun blotted out from the sky by a cloud.
"Tell me! How much longer will Atelier be here? Gedo won't stand for this nonsense much longer!" Miko's voice cuts through the darkness like a knife.
And then something -else- cuts through the darkness -- louder, More intense. Like the sound of a sniper rifle being fired through the mists of the sudden supernatural dark.
COMBATSYS: Honoka successfully hits Eve with Nochiu-o Kando.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
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Honoka 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Eve
Though the report of the sound sounds like a rifle, reverberating through the narrow alleyway... the attack itself will feel like a knife plunging into the very core of Eve's being: like cold metal, sinking rapidly past flesh, effortlessly spreading apart bones, piercing internal organs to reach its goal -- Eve's very -heart-. The dust is left parted in the wake of the psion's strike: a cylinder left completely devoid of the particles, hollowed out in the wake of a fading pink light, the aftermath of a blast that moved so fast it wasn't even registered at first.
As the dust cloud begins to clear, and the cloud moves onward, Miko's form can be seen once more. She staggers forward, coughing up blood at the rapid exhausting of her energy reserves, coupled with the fading effects of adrenaline that had served to insulate her from the initial effects of the electrical discharge. She leans on one of her Gedo compatriots, one eye clamped shut from the pain, the other wide open as she looks back at Eve -- her other two coming into view from further down the alleyway. "N-now. Are you ready for a nice... quiet... chat? Like civilized people, mmm...?"
Her released power leaves Eve panting loudly from fatigue. Though despite the obvious exertion, Eve seems ready and determined to finish this fast. Miko's threat about being on Gedo High's school hardly seems to phase Eve, at least until the other students arrive...
A few moments before the veil of darkness sets on her sight and shrouds her senses. "It will remain for as long as it has to -- and there's nothing something pathetic students like you can do about this," Eve retorts.
The sudden and sharp pain she feels in her chest causes her to clench for her breast. She falls to her knees, gasping for breath, a scream escaping her throat as the pain seems to be accentuated. Her body trembles, feeling numb by the keen pain that echoes through her body.
No quite recovering from this horrible sensation, Eve whimpers softly as she tries to lean on the wall Miko pinned her against moment ago. She growls and forces herself back to her feet, her limbs trembling from the pain that lingers.
"Th..." She breathes heavily, "There is... Nothing more to say!" The girl shouts. Drawing into her inner reserve of energy, the girl summons up a powerful gusts of wind, unleashing it in an attempt to kick up as much dust and debris in Miko and her gown's direction.
Considering the amount of pain she felt, the only thing for her left to do was escape, before it would be too late.
The girl moves her hands, using her chi to manifest a burst of air underneath her, to perform a high jump so she can jump off a good distance, hopefully atop one of the building to flee.
Glaring back at Eve, Miko gathers what's left of her tattered uniform around her. With the coat bearing the brunt of the electrical onslaught, her seifuku is still -mostly- intact, but of course the other students are freely able to see the sorts of things she'd have preferred to keep as surprises. But for some reason, they're all moving as one unit, five sets of eyes scanning the sky to follow Eve as she stumbles away... only to be borne aloft on an gust of wind.
Miko curses under her breath. If she were in better shape, if she hadn't been so thoroughly wrecked by Eve's conductive attacks, she'd be able to vault up the side of the fire escapes, and give chase. The need to find out -what- Atelier is, to find out what /NESTS/ is up to, is powerful... but the needs of the body take greater priority.
"Have fun telling your boss the bad news!" she shouts after Eve, cupping one hand over her mouth as she leans heavily on her bat-toting friend. This ... could have gone better, mutters the puppetmaster to herself. She glances back at the other things that had fallen during the short melee. the discarded scraps of fabric from her coat; wordlessly, the two students from the alley collect her things, sweep up the detritus so as not to leave a mess. Definitely could have gone better.
Log created on 15:44:04 01/28/2015 by Honoka, and last modified on 21:21:41 01/28/2015.