Description: Inside Zack of All Trades, two teams contend with each other--and a noodly carrion crawler machine--for superiority. (Winners: PTSD)
EARLIER - ITEM SELECTION
Sada Asai flicks a ballpoint pen she found somewhere in her hand as if she were waving around a Virginia Slim while looking out at the selection sheet of possible items, posted mostly as advertising of the wares of Zack of All Trades. "This is SO dumb," she sighs at her partner, before considering what to get.
"What I want is..."
NOW
Sada does some light stretches while standing in the center of the store, wearing the "Scorpion" swimsuit outfit which was helpfully suggested to her by a clerk. The red bustier is probably way less likely to get whipped off, both 'in the general sense of not being nearly as Tran-vulnerable' and 'in the specific sense of not allowing for accidents.' The hotpant/short shorts facilitate motion while leaving her legs exposed, which is a win-win situation. The audience at home gets to see legs!
And she gets to -- well, we'll all find out.
"Okay, what the hell is that thing in the center?" she asks, skeptically, staring at the not-yet-activated "carrion crawler." "And what did they mean by 'class levels'?"
The screens display that Sada Asai is a level 6 Yo-Yo Girl Cop, with feats in Improved Scowling and Skill Focus (Tsun, Yan).
Having warmed up, Sada tosses her hair and walks over to pick up the submachine gun she chose as her weapon. (Fortunately, it's airsoft.)
(((Probably.)))
Tiffany has not complained about the selection at Zack Island nearly so much as Sada. She's gone with precisely what everyone expected -- a bright red, white, and blue America-themed number that is /technically/ different from the one that she wore last week, but only just, because of /course/ she has. Every now and then, you just have to go with something safe.
"I dunno, maybe it's some sort of weird wave pool thing," she offers, with a wobble of a boxing glove-clad hand. Having elected not to warm up at all, Tiffany is instead playing around with her purchases: a pair of ridiculous Japanese-style red fans, which look completely ridiculous, given... well, given Tiffany.
She /also/ has not looked at the screens, which indicate that she's an unleveled Foreigner. (Foreigners, as a roving monster type, have racial hit dice and abilities rather than class levels.)
Sakura had gone into the shop and boggled at the sheer selection of bikinis and swimsuits on sale. And at how... brief... most of them were. "Man, I bet Kyoko-sensei would have a -field day- out here," she murmured to Natsu as they sorted through the racks. It took... quite some time, to say the least, before Sakura found what she wanted in the bikini shop. It was easier to find something suitable in the 'weapon' shop.
So it is that Sakura saunters back -into- the store, wearing a white tanktop with orange and blue stripes and a black and blue plaid miniskirt, though, out of concession to the fight, she's also got her headband, red fingerless padded gloves, and her red Chucks on. Oh, and she's twirling a wooden steering wheel in one hand.
"A steering wheel?" Natsu had asked, and Sakura shrugged at her.
"I can, I dunno, throw it at someone, I guess...?" In any case, here she is now, and as a camera gets on her, it reveals Sakura to -also- be level 6, Karate Otaku Enthusiast Class, with Feats in Improved Hadouken and Stubbornness and a Skill Focus in Thrown Weapon(Hadouken). The representative graphic of her is done up in classic Super Nintendo 16-bit style, pumping a fist up and down. The subject stares at it for a moment then remarks, "I have -got- to get that to use as a Facebook icon..." Looking across at Sada and Tiffany, she raises her steering wheel in salute, spinning around in her right hand idly.
CLIP FOOTAGE -- "I really thought it was going to be a closer match," Natsu was recorded saying, caught in a rare moment away from her partner. "I knew Saku-chan was pretty fast, too. Did you see all the dodging she was doing? I just figured she'd throw more of those... ha... ma... gadouken things, but I guess that takes a lot out of her. Our opponents, though, I have to say, they were probably the toughest I've faced!" She pauses a beat. "Except for Daigo, I mean." Another pause. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"
ZACK OF ALL TRADES -- When the camera cuts back to Natsu Ayuhara, she's striding out in a black camikini -- a black tank top, with three heart prints across the top, and a denim blue miniskirt. It's an odd look, but it's one of many ensembles available for purchase here at Zack of All Trades! And it looks damn good on the leggy Amazonesque athlete. A zebra-print volleyball is tucked away under one arm: her weapon of choice for this particular fight.
Her screen readout: Level 8 Volley Brawler, with feats in Overkill, Determination, and Thrown Weapon(Volleyball).
She has already voiced her comment. There's no need to say more. Well, except to her opponents. Tossing the volleyball into the air, she catches it with a confident expression. Apparently, selecting -her- weapon took no time at all.
She eyes the 'carrion crawler' with some trepidation, before catching sight of Sada and...
"Tiffany! Hello! I've really been looking forward to this..." she smiles, offering a broad wave. Clapping Sakura lightly on the shoulder, the pair strides out to the stationary spaghetti monster.
When Sakura mentioned Kyoko, Sada frowned to herself, remembering the mysterious discovery she'd made - then forgot about. It makes her think of a vague image of a woman with brutal high heels. She frowns a bit more, but then she simply hopes that Daigo Kazama can handle that problem.
You know, while Sada takes a long vacation in tropical paradise.
She looks at the towering height that is Natsu then, even as a TIP staffer walks out to make the statement declarations. Sada steps forwards, the staffer reaches the machine... he pushes a switch...
WHAP! WHAP WHAP WHAP! He flees, screaming!!
Sada stares at the machine and the flailing noodles. "That thing takes up like the entire space," she complains, before tossing her hair back and looking down at her piece. Nothing happens when she pulls the trigger several times. Some fiddling with switches and --
The entire clip of airsoft pellets rips out of the front with remarkable speed, Sada staring at the replica weapon as it jerks a little in her hand. They bounce everywhere, whapped by pool noodles and spangling off the less fragile things that weren't taken off the shop floor. Noticing she's down to about 20% of the clip, she belatedly pivots it towards Natsu, shrugging with her other shoulder.
"How are you holding onto those anyway?" she asks Tiffany.
COMBATSYS: Sada has started a fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Tiffany has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Natsu has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
As things start to spin up, Tiffany moves toward the pair of Japanese schoolgirls, looking marginally baffled at the steering wheel that Sakura has managed to find herself. She makes a bit of a face at it after a few moments, trying to even comprehend how someone decides on, of all things, a /steering wheel/ as a weapon.
She rubs her face slightly, hanging back from the 'carrion crawler' for a few moments and holding her fans tightly. "Well -- good luck, you two," she says, with a small wobble of her hand. "Try not to --"
Hopping back as a particularly long noodle lashes out at her, Tiffany /then/ rushes in, swinging her fans at Sakura with force. With a glance back at Sada, she adds, "Don't worry about it! It's fine."
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Sakura with Light Random Weapon.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Makin' faces, is it? Sakura -makes a face- at Tiffany right back! Hey, she could've brought a -can of tomato soup- as a weapon. Imagine that. That store was stocked with -weird- things. "Watch out, Natsu," remarks Sakura, but she needs to take her -own- advice, 'cause when Tiffany comes at her with those fans, Sakura is unprepared. Taking the hit, she falls back into a rack of swimsuits, getting briefly entangled before pulling herself back out.
"I don't like weapons anyways," she remarks, sort of a general remark to the room at large, and with that she winds up and throws the wheel at Tiffany. She's losing her weapon but it was kind of cumbersome to think about wielding as a weapon anyways. She'd seen wind and fire wheels used, that kind of thing, but that's really not her bag, so to speak.
COMBATSYS: Natsu just-defends Sada's Thrown Object!
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Airsoft pellets fly every which way, causing Natsu to bring an arm up to shield her eyes. The velocity is dampened by the initial collisions with the foam noodles, but it's still hard enough to sting a bit. Unlike her partner, she isn't forced into a close encounter with a rack of swimsuits: instead, she's assaulted by the direct fury of an automated assault weapon!
The first thing Natsu can do is use what's at hand. And what's at hand is the zebra-striped volleyball, which deflects a good majority of the airsoft pellets. But Natsu, a true Japanese patriot, can tell that the ball is deflating, and right before it's about to pop, she takes both palms and gives it a quick shove at Sada.
POP!
It gets caught up in the chthonic contraption before hitting Sada, causing Natsu to give it a brief frown. But she doesn't seem to give it -too- much more thought, as she simply grabs a gold-colored volleyball off the shelf and pounds it downwards at Sada, hoping to capitalize on the confusion. "Here you goooo!"
COMBATSYS: Natsu successfully hits Sada with Jikkon Serve.
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
"Did you use glue? You glued them on," Sada accuses Tiffany.
She finishes emptying her clip, looks towards Natsu again as she holds her deflated ball, and smirks as it hits a noodle as she chunks it forwards. Stalking nearer to the menacing hazard, she says with a characteristic little sneer, "Awww, did it break?"
Sada reaches up to run a hand over her forehead when
SPUD!!
A golden volleyball hits her upside the head, sending her staggering back into a display case of classic DOA prototype disks! Her forehead reddens visibly, as does the rest of her face, as she breathes heavily, her eyes narrowing to thin slits as she glares at Natsu. "You--"
She's sweating now. That's bad - for others. Sada wipes off her forehead in a curiously deliberate way as she stalks forwards, and while she circles around to try and avoid the main body of the Noodle Crawler, she does get close enough to whip SOMETHING out of her hand not much more than an arm's length away.
Sweat!
It screams and/or explodes and/or burns when it touches!
COMBATSYS: Tiffany dodges Sakura's Thrown Object.
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Hastily ducking the whirling pool noodles, Tiffany ends up /also/ ducking the thrown steering wheel; it's not exactly a great position to aggress from, but she could do a lot worse. She clenches her fists tightly, and ends up bending the fans slightly in the process; she doesn't /break/ them, at least.
Continuing to maintain that evasive posture in the hopes of keeping herself safe from both the whirling object and Sakura herself, Tiffany decides to avoid sticking /solely/ to the fans, given it'd be pretty impossible for her to get too much done with /just/ the fans.
Rearing a fist back after transferring both fans to one hand, she starts murmuring, "Guru, guru, guru," building up bright, sparkling light -- before ultimately swinging it forward at Sakura with a, "-VY PUNCH!" The fist, of course, bursts with that same light.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Sakura with Groovy Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-----<<|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Sakura
"GUH!" The whirling pool noodles obscure Tiffany's approach and Sakura doesn't react until it's too late. The punch busts through her hasty guard and sends her flying back into another rack of clothing. This time it takes her a bit longer to get untangled and she's looking a little more... piqued. She hasn't felt on her game since the last fight she had. Gotta figure out how to get back into it.
Sakura slaps her face twice, sharply, raising red color in her cheeks, and, hopefully, shaking off the bad juju. "Not bad," she compliments her opponent, as she rises.
"Let me show you a little of -my- punch!" Drawing her hands back, she pours chi into the space between her hands, creating a ball of white-cored, blue-tinged chi, a ball that swells to the size of a beach ball, appropriately enough, before she hurls it for Tiffany with a defiant, if wordless, cry.
COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks Sada's Glow Bomber.
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Sada 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-----<<|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Sakura
Natsu frowns. How -did- Tiffany hold onto those fans? ... It's not something she diverts a lot of attention to though.
[ PICTURE-IN-PICTURE: "It's rude to give any less than a hundred percent of your attention to your opponents!" "But don't you think you're being too serious here?" "... What do you mean?" ]
Natsu frowns even more as Sada swings deliberately short. The exasperated expression upon Natsu's face seems to be saying: What the heck kind of punch is -that?- But it doesn't change her reaction much -- she throws her forearm up into the blow.
Only for her forearm to be jerked backwards suddenly, the repercussions of an explosive burst. What the heck...
"Oh. I see," acknowledges Natsu. ... What does she see? ... Well, not much. Other than that Sada is a bit weird and she is probably in need of a kick to the torso. Curling the volleyball in the crook of her arm, she sails forward and plows a kick... right into the torso!
The camera angle is likely to show the upskirt view for one likely-to-be-freeze-framed moment. Leopard spots? Blame Zack's odd fashion sense for that crazy mix.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Tiffany with Medium Hadouken.
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Sada 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Sada interrupts Medium Kick from Natsu with Beat the Cheek.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/-<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\0 Sakura
As Tiffany goes the other way and opens the portal to a new punchfest, Sada smirks to herself. She advances forwards, ducking low, expecting another volleyball to come in -
And instead, Sada takes a monstrous bump right in the rib cage, even as her hand is already slinging around. And yet despite this the CARRION CRAWLER interferes! My God!
Pushed forwards into the kick, Sada staggers, face momentarily ashen with the pain of that kick, though it was foreshortened by foam noodly impact on her back. She slings up her hand to throw a harsh, bursting SMACK! of detonating, stinging light against Natsu's cheek, baring her teeth at her.
"The only thing you'll see... is pain!"
At least the carrion crawler is working on Tiffany's behalf, for now! ... on the other hand, it's the /only/ thing that's working for Tiffany, as the ball of energy bowls her backward. It's not /quite/ enough to disrupt her footing around the running machine... but it's enough to lose her a good chunk of distance.
"It's -- /fine/!" Tiffany says to Sada, with a wave; it is at this point that it becomes apparent that she has, in fact, safety-pinned the fans to her gloves, allowing them to pivot and be easily /moved/ but not actually be that... useful.
With that in mind, she goes back to having her hands balled up into fists; she moves toward Sakura in an attempt to regain that distance lost to the Hadouken, throwing a massive overhand punch.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Tiffany's Strong Punch.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura stands her ground as Tiffany comes back, rather than rushing to meet her. Taking a more cautious line, perhaps, as Tiffany swings with that big overhand punch; she steps away from it, taking a shuffling step, rather than a more telegraphed motion. Ducking past a few of the pool noodles, she searches for an angle of attack, ducking a whipping pink noodle as she slides forward again.
There's still some distance between Tiffany and herself--but now she's the one closing the distance, getting up as close as she can before she goes into a half-crouch, gathering tensive power in her legs and using it--springing up and forward as she spins forward with her right leg out as a blunt weapon.
The rising-and-falling arc of the kick technique is a little unusual, making Sakura look almost like one of those ballerina dolls that spins on its base when you pull the string. "Natsu!" she cries, as mid-revolution she sees Natsu taking a hit from her opponent. It's not that she's concerned, but she's concerned! That is her friend over there, all six feet of her.
With the volleyball curled under her arm, Natsu certainly doesn't expect Sada to rush back at her so -soon-. Especially not with a slap to the face.
The tall volleybrawler goes down like a sack of potatoes into a display of volleyballs -- the same one she'd snatched her gold volleyball from earlier. As the sportsballs tumbles into the aisle, Natsu picks herself up, shaking her head with confusion at her attacker.
No, she catches herself, as she'd been aimed towards the carrion crawler and not Sada. Peripherally she turns to note Sakura, frowning somewhat. "What is it, Sakura? I'm kind of busy!"
And with those words escaping her lips, she takes a step backwards, gritting her teeth. This... may be a bit more tricky than she'd anticipated, she notes, narrowing her eyes at her sweaty opponent.
COMBATSYS: Natsu focuses on her next action.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Tiffany fails to interrupt Shunpuu Kyaku from Sakura with Very Groovy Knuckle EX.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1 Sakura
Sada lunges forwards as Natsu recovers herself, staying down low to avoid a whirling foam noodle as she draws nearer yet. Natsu may be trying to withdraw but Sada IS NOT HAVING IT. A sweaty woman in a swimsuit is perhaps not a huge peril, especially since Natsu has a ridiculous nine inches and a indeterminate but probably non trivial weight advantage.
Sada stays low even so. When Natsu turns her attention towards Sakura, Sada seizes on the opportunity to throw herself around and behind the queen of volleyballs. Indeed, that same volleyball she's carrying is now a weakness --
For Sada aims to slam an arm through that crooked limb and pull Natsu into a nelson, from which she will power herself upwards and smash her glistening knees into the kidney-zone of Natsu's own personal back.
"PAY ATTENTION!" Sada screams. Her skin burns to the touch, like a poison dart frog, or Momo!
Tiffany ducks low when she sees that incoming kick from Sakura, preparing to meet spinning with spinning. Unfortunately, spinning meets /spinning/ in a very different sense, and the pool noodles smash through her attempt at defending herself in a manner best described as 'humiliating.' She falls directly forward into Sakura's foot, and worries for an instant that a tooth has cracked.
Fortunately, it hasn't; that said she sure does just sort of lie there for a moment, letting the spinning 'tentacles' whirl over her a few times, adding insult to injury.
And injury to injury.
Really, it's just sort of not great.
COMBATSYS: Natsu fails to interrupt Sugar Hold from Sada with Set and Spike.
- Power fail! -
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>------\1 Sakura
Sakura's given a moment of respite as Tiffany decides to lay there for a moment. "What is it? Hina-chan fell down the well!" she quips at Natsu, sticking a tongue out at her friend. Man. She supposes she should strike while the iron's hot, so to speak, but she's never felt good about attacking a downed opponent, so...
She'll give Tiffany a chance to get back up. Finding a place in the whirling tentacles that aren't getting whipped around, and settling her feet. The power draw she initiates isn't visible at first, but then becomes obvious as a lashing, flailing blue swirls around her legs and feet, her elbows tucking in by her hips.
COMBATSYS: Sakura taps into her inner strength!
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1 Sakura
Natsu had only looked away for a moment -- just to make sure Sakura wasn't shouting out to let her know, 'hey natsu, i'm about to crash into you,' or 'hey natsu, that tran dude is totally creepy' or something like that. You know, something important!
But that moment spent looking aside is one in which Natsu actually, impossibly, lost track of her opponent. The human eye is documented to have some neural pathways similar to that of a frog, pathways whose raison d'etre is to do one thing, and one thing alone: fire when a specific motion is detected. Motion to the left fires one nerve. Motion to the right fires another. And the damn carrion crawler is moving EVERY WHICH WAY.
Suffice to say, Natsu doesn't see Sada until she's right upon her -- screaming for her to pay attention. She -was- paying attention! Just...
"SHUT UP! We're trying to tal--" Natsu's snap reaction is to fire back at Sada, to throw herself into the air with an attempt at blasting Sada out of whatever it is she's trying to do. In the process, though, she ends up leaping right into those alkaline arms. Or is that acidic? The point is-- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Yeah. That's the damn point. The bigger Natsu is, the harder she falls over whenever leveraged in such a fashion.
As the Amazonesque fighter is pulled about like a pretzel to Sada's machinations, she stammers out: "... Saku-chan... if you're going to scream for my attention, at least make it useful?!"
The announcers look at each other, eyes wide. "Wow, these two aren't gonna be talking to each other tonight..."
Sada wonders to herself for a moment: Safety pins? but how did Tiffany get TWO of those on? Does she have powers over safety pins!?
Of course, she's also doing well. Natsu is forced down, ground against by Sada's unnaturally corrosive badii, and in this kind of a position, Sada thinks...
Yes. It's time for [That].
Sada's grip on Natsu's ball-holding arm loosens momentarily - as she grasps at Natsu's free arm and twists it around, aiming to choke her with her own forearm through the implacable grasp of her dreadful agonizing arms! At least it seems that she's not taking pains to smear sweat - or worse - onto Natsu as she does this.
The motion is bad enough. If Natsu isn't careful, she just might black out! (Or worse... /tap/.)
The back-and-forth between Sakura and Natsu is just a little meaner than Tiffany was expecting; it's not /that/ much meaner, but it's at least a little on the sassy side! While reflecting on that, Tiffany does indeed take the opportunity she's afforded to get back up, shaking the cobwebs out of her head and trying to find her footing again.
Even if she's found her footing, she's pretty well lost her groove -- she seems pretty intensely displeased with how this is going, and indulges herself in a brief, intense frown. She weaves toward Sakura again, watching her gear up for something big --
--and just elects to plow through it with a high-speed cartwheel, ignoring anything that seems even vaguely threatening! At least this time she moves over an incoming pool noodle, rather than just eating shit. ... that she knows of.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Sakura with Groovy Wheel.
Glancing Blow
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>---\1 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks Sada's Cobra Clutch.
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Natsu
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Tiffany 1/--=====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>---\1 Sakura
Sakura winces. "Uh, sorry Nat-chan," she offers. Rather lamely, actually. She'll make sure not to do -that- again. Save the witty repartee for her opponent. When she sees Tiffany piling for her again--this time with an impressive full-on cartwheel into her--she reacts instinctively, attempting to get out of the way. Unfortunately she basically forgot what she was doing and that tapping into her inner strength makes it harder for her to move. She still manages!
... kinda. Tiffany's feet clip Sakura in the chin as she's moving out of the way and that makes Sakura stumble and flail a little, before stopping herself with a heel stamped backwards. "Phew, that was pretty cool!" she says to Tiffany, with a grin, then she charges back in. She tries something she saw in an internet clip--twisting her hips into a swift mid-level right roundhouse, a popping kick which would provide the momentum for a spinning left hook kick--this one aimed high, for Tiffany's temple.
There's a reason Natsu doesn't talk much in fights, and it's rooted in volleyball tradition, where you're not -supposed- to talk much in a game. According to Gorin team strategy, if you call out someone's name, it's because you're expecting them to pick the ball up instead of having three people leap for it and conk their heads together.
But Sakura -is- one of her BFFs. "All good," she responds with a small amount of cheer in her voice; her way of apologizing for the temper.
Whatever it is that Sada's planning, though, it doesn't work -- the volleyballer uses the opportunity of shifting about to overpower the smaller woman, breaking free of the hold.
She can tell the volleyball is going to be a liability here, though, and tosses it to the floor -- but not without taking full advantage of the motion as she tries to get behind Sada.
And wrap an arm around her neck.
And sling her legs forward, relying on her considerably higher momentum to slam Sada's face into the floor.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany interrupts Medium Kick from Sakura with Rival Launcher.
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Sada 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Sada parries Natsu's Bulldog!!
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Natsu
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Tiffany 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
Sada has not really noticed the levels of backsassery going on with her opponents, they're mostly saying aloud what she's thinking but not yet hollering out, because Tiffany has yet to really screw the pooch. The rampaging sexual charisma of the Doctors Tran can't really be blamed on Tiffany, after all.
For after all... Dr. Richard Tran is a known criminal. A /sexual/ criminal.
Speaking of criminal acts, though, Natsu's now behind her. Sada's eyes widen as she sees an arm lash out and in the moment before it can get around her neck, she decides to fall to the ground.
This is a controlled fall, recalling Sada's childhood tumbling days (who didn't do tumbling as a child? if informally...) and it means that Natsu gets a brief grasp on Sada's really unduly lush hair. (She conditions aggressively, since for obvious reasons she gets dry hair easily.)
Being down on the ground her options are limited. What can you do with your horrible sweaty body and grasping hands from the ground? Oh, right: Sada reaches out to twist her hands around Natsu and try to pull her ankle and calf over one of Sada's very own personal shoulders, before twisting to try and send HER spinning to the store ground!
Rushing forward toward Sakura in spite of the /extremely/ credible threat of damage, Tiffany breathes out, "Thanks," before bringing her hands low and swooping them up, fans still pinned to her gloves as she launches Sakura up into the air.
Her arms sweep Sakura surprisingly high, and Tiffany waits for a nice gap in the spinning of the 'monster' before following suit. Once she's successfully chased, Tiffany just starts kicking over and over; the last strike is a vicious axe kick that carries Sakura back down to the ground.
As Tiffany herself lands on the ground shortly thereafter, she blows a stray lock of hair out of her face, noting, "You're not bad! I mean -- I already KNEW THAT, but..."
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Natsu with Strong Throw EX.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
Sakura lands hard, the breath blown from her lungs by the sheer impact of hitting. That... hurt. Quite a lot actually. Sakura wants to just kind of lie there for a moment, but she forces herself to get back up. "That... hurt," she gasps, between breaths, rubbing her abdomen--she can't help it. Her face takes on a determined air, though. She isn't -happy-, per se, but she's still ready to fight.
Tiffany took the fight aerial--so Sakura decides to do the same. Crouching, she leaps into the air, arching her back, clasping her fists together and, as she falls down, she slams her doubled fists down for Tiffany's head, kicking her legs out to to either side to clear some room for her falling strike.
Natsu overcompensates, practically launching herself right over top of Sada, and stumbling to maintain balance.
And then she gets her ankle snagged. How does that even happen, really? That's what rewind buttons are for. The fact is, Natsu finds her world turned topsy-turvy, and her lanky frame is slid to the floor, stopped only by her back thumping into a display rack.
She rolls onto her side, skirt flaring for just a frame or two before she pushes back to her feet. Arms hang low, like a zombie, as the volley-brawler stares back with dull eyes at Sada -- apparently that sweat is taking more out of her than she'd anticipated.
"... do you just not bathe?" she asks Sada, coughing lightly into the back of her hand. Apparently, she is not exactly hip to the Sada Story.
COMBATSYS: Natsu gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Tiffany blocks Sakura's Sakura Otoshi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Tiffany 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1 Sakura
Natsu hits the ground. Sada rises. As Natsu gets back up as well, Sada's expression is full of cruel triumph. Then Natsu asks....
If she just doesn't bathe.
Sada smiles. Her eyes crinkle up. Her lips pull back from her teeth in a big wide grin. And lo and behold, to Tiffany's probable amazement, Sada just bursts out laughing. She crouches slightly, letting out a ringing laugh, looking towards Sakura and Tiffany, over towards the crew, her mouth split in a huge grin, gesturing out wordless amusement. Ha ha! It is to laugh.
Then she reaches out as if to take Natsu's arm... oh wait, you don't usually go for the arm, do you? She aims to twist that limb around as her voice lowers into a lethally furious register, "/do you think I wanted this you miserable little hormal freak/"
Though she's not going to play /that/ aggressive at this stage of the game, Tiffany knows better than to aggress into a strike like that; she doesn't quite have the vertical rise on any of her usual repertoire to really stick something out into Sakura's falling strike. As a result, she just throws her hands up to defend herself, letting the blows rain down on her arms, and she winces a little.
Ducking low, the Lords heiress brings her bikini-clad form around in a circle, hoping to catch Sakura off-guard after that particularly aggressive strike with a full-speed spinning backfist... and then another, and then another, and then another, each one a little brighter yellow, a little more laced with that sunshiney, sparkly chi.
She's committing pretty hard to this round of aggression -- does she have something left in her after this?!
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Groovy Special from Tiffany with Shinkuu Hadouken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/=======|
-- And while she's spinning her arm around to build up even /more/, an impossibly bright beacon of chi building up in her wake for one final punch... someone might have something to say about that.
COMBATSYS: Natsu interrupts Figure Four Armlock from Sada with Rival Launcher.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Sada 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/=======|
Sakura does have something to say about it. It's something like this. As Tiffany is rushing in--as Sakura herself is landing from her strike--she's already preparing herself for the next phase of the exchange. She lands, turns, and is in her stance before she's fully turned. The power buildup is brighter and faster, and though it swells to roughly the same size as the first hadouken Sakura threw in the fight, it's... much more -intense-, as if solid, not just energy, crackling with power.
And were she faster, she might even have gotten away with it clean. But even for Sakura--a virtual prodigy in the self-taught arts of the Hadouken--it takes -time- to do this. Time that she doesn't entirely have. The first backfist lands. And another, and another. And Sakura's already practically out on her feet... but she still manages to release the projectile straight into Tiffany's chest.
Still--it's for naught, as Sakura is falling away even as she throws the hadouken, landing on her back, out.
Natsu has no idea why Sada is smiling here. Again, she's got no idea of what Sada's all about, other than seeing her completely unwarranted reaction to Himeko Kashiwagi being awarded the Prom Queen tiara. That's the same girl, right? Or was that Rocket. Anyway.
Natsu may be a bit dazed, but any attempt to take her by the arm is just not going to be well received at this point in the night. The Amazon throws her hand in the direction Sada's grabbing for it -- rolling with the motion, and extending it. Sure, it wrenches the wrist a bit, but Natsu would rather take that than whatever the Seijyun student may have had in store.
"No, but gosh, bath salts have come so far these days..."
Yeah. Whatever Sada's trying to tell her, she might want to be a bit more direct. The thick-skinned Gorin athlete has practically -no idea- what Sada's going on about -- that curious burning sensation attributed to just -really- bad B.O.
as she wheels about, slamming her shoulder into the Seijyun student. She continues with the gesture, twisting about to slam her -other- shoulder into the young woman. And then she'd grab both hands together into an axehandle, and scoop Sada up into the air, sailing her right over into the men's swimwear section.
At which point Natsu would already have leapt into the air after her, perfectly poised to spike her down right into the discount rack of trunks.
Battered.
Beaten.
MOCKED for something Sada herself doesn't understand.
HOISTED.
/SPIKED/.
//LANDING IN THE MEN'S SWIMWEAR SECTION//.
Buried in thongs and manties, Sada looks on the ropes. Down, crushed, defeated, even as Natsu gets a moment of lingering air time.
Her hair's hanging in her face.
Then Sada raises her head upwards and her left eye is wet. Is she crying? No, it's something else. Something gruesome. Natsu might briefly wonder if she'd permanently hurt Sada somehow, maybe smashed her head on a rack and given her an inadvertent prefrontal lobotomy, but suddenly she's grinning for real.
And with a gritting flexion of her face muscles, her tear duct almost bubbles --
And a screaming lance of fiery blood arcs up in the air, sprayed out in a manner not unlike the famous horned toad of Texas, if with several key differences, such as 'being on fire' and 'clinging, also on fire, to skin that it touches.'
The massive hadouken buffets Tiffany back toward the whirling pool noodles, but not quite /into/ them; she breathes a momentary sigh of relief as she sees Sakura's body start to crumple, though. It's close. It's going to be /very/ close -- but she thinks, now that one of their opponents is down, that they just might have this.
Not wanting to get right up close with Sada's general-purpose grossness flying around, Tiffany hangs back for now. She breathes in and out evenly, eyes resting firmly on Natsu as she watches for the results of that nasty burning chi from Sada.
"Oof... you two're really damn good," she murmurs, as she takes a second to get a feel for the movement of the noodles as well. Maybe she can capitalize on that...?
COMBATSYS: Tiffany focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Sada 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Natsu interrupts Haemolacria from Sada with Knock It Off!.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Sada 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Natsu keeps on fighting!
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Sada 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 1/---====/=======|
Natsu's not had the best showing here on Zack Island. Cameras have been following her around, sound-biting the choicest moments out of her day, which of course line up perfectly with the moments of least discretion, the poorest word choice, and so forth. And right here, just a few moments ago, she snapped at her teammate, a friend she's known for so long she'd have to ask her mom when they first met. A friend who she notes, with dismay, has been tipped over by Tiffany.
Suffice to say, Natsu's left feeling like her worst is on display, and whatever's got -Sada- mad at her is just not leaving the best impression upon her.
Let alone, whatever's gotten her crying her eyes out to such a degree that they're red, and bleeding, and oh my gaw--
Something, inside Natsu, just triggers.
As soon as she lands, she bursts forward. That searing-hot blood races out, but instead of hitting Natsu in the face, it hits her in the shoulder -- burning the strap on her camisole top's spaghetti straps clean through; a few drops spatter elsewhere, leaving cigarette-burn-sized holes dotted all about the swimsuit. It fits the tall Amazon snugly enough that it's not about to fall off with just one strap down, but it's a mild discomfort.
The real question is -- why was Natsu's shoulder turned towards Sada, and not her face? Because she'd surged forward, and was in the midst of beating her cheek in recompense for the earlier slight!
Natsu rushes forward, into the blow, quickly reversing the direction of her strike for a second, more powerful backhand, intended to knock Sada out of whatever -other- gross thing she might have in store.
Pulling her hand back, she winces as she rubs the sore spots -- wherever that blood hit, it hurts! "... What the heck was -that- all about," comes the contralto-voiced reply, as she looks back over at Tiffany. "... You two are pretty good, too..." she comments, Japanese politeness rearing its well-mannered head.
Sada rises to her feet JUST in time to get the shoulder bust, the cheek beat, everything. She staggers to the side two paces, then falls to her knees, a hand coming up to her face.
"I never asked... for what I am..." comes her half-choked reply.
But laying in front of her...
Is that airsoft SMG. And what's that? It seems like a helpful TIP staffer has dropped a clip of fresh ammo.
With blood smoking lightly on her face, Sada slides her hair to one side. It's like she's weeping from that one eye! There is totally a camera on her face as, with a grimace, she pushes the new clip of airsoft rounds back into the replica gun.
"And now YOU..."
Sada raises her chin slightly, almost sneering as she often does. "Are in my way."
She pulls the trigger again - and this time, the fire is actually focused on Natsu!
(This is probably going on a T-shirt.)
/This/ time, Tiffany has no intense, horrifying chi from Sada to deal with, and accordingly, even though Natsu is starting to pull herself back up off the floor despite a pretty rough set of runs, Tiffany feels like she should be going in now. She rocks back and forth on her heels for a second, letting Sada take the initiative with her weapon first.
"... all right, let's finish this with style!" comes Tiffany's announcement in English as she rushes up toward Natsu, leaping up into the air. She plants a foot on one of the pool noodles, near its 'root,' then kicks up off it even higher into the sky.
Her thighs aim squarely for Natsu's head, and she seeks to plant herself in a seated position on her shoulders. That, in itself, might be painful enough -- but what follows...!
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Natsu with Thrown Object.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\ < > // ]
Sada 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully hits Natsu with Groovy Screw EX.
[ \\\\\\ < > ]
Sada 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Natsu
[ \\\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
-- is the sort of whirling more appropriate to an /electric/ fan than a paper or fabric fan. Tiffany spreads her arms out, whirling in circles with enough speed and force to carry Natsu up into the air a little bit. The twisting force she exerts is intense...
... though just as bad is the sudden /stop/, as Tiffany pushes up from Natsu's shoulders and forces her, in turn, down toward the ground.
It's right about then that some wisearse in the production studio decides to turn on the 4000-frame-per-second super-duper slow-mo camera. It's beautiful footage, really, showing how Natsu flinches at Sada reaching for the gun. How Natsu has trouble deciding which of the two fighters to fight defend against, after having a (relatively) straightforward go of only having to deal with Sada for most of the night. She ultimately decides to stick it out with Tiffany, to dealing with the thighs.
It's pretty crazy. This 4000-fps tech creates some awesome footage.
(A caption flies across the screen: Natsu's swimsuit, the Hawk is available for just 500,000 Zack Dollars right here in Zack of All Trades)
It ultimately is regarded as a 'bad move', though -- for both Tiffany -and- Natsu, as both are likely pelted with bullets from the same gun -- especially with how Tiffany is helicoptering about.
This is where the slow mo -really- shines -- you never realize how much skin actually deforms when it's impacted by a soft plastic shell! It makes some killer gif files.
But what -really- cooks is when Natsu hits the floor. Her face slams against the floor. And right in front of her.
Is heaven. (No, it's not Dr. Richard Tran. Sorry.)
It's a gold volleyball. And she pretty much just slams her fist on it, igniting the gold paint of the volleyball on fire as she blasts Sada. It's likely to catch on the floor, which would take some of the speed off -- but if it hits Sada? She'd consider it 'worth it'.
Right before darkness finishes its garotte of what's left of her senses, and claims another victim.
COMBATSYS: Natsu can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Sada
COMBATSYS: Natsu dazes Sada with Blazing Serve!
[ \\\\\\ < > ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Sada
Super slow moooooo.
Sada throws aside the gun and rises to her feet as Tiffany finishes her twist and dismounts. Sada's own sneer is lovingly photographed in 4k resolution. She takes one step forwards, and then -
FIST!
The volleyball bursts into flame. The look of sudden surprise (not even DULL surprise) and horror on Sada's face is also lovingly recorded. Finally, the volleyball enters frame as Sada tries to throw herself to the side, instead getting struck with another of those over-elaborate visible body ripples, twisting around and ending up slamming back into the already collapsed rack of swimsuits.
But the soul*...
Still burns.
(*- Tiffany)
(** - is not downed)
As Sada goes down from Natsu's desperate assault, Tiffany immediately moves to recover her fallen partner -- despite the sneer, despite their somewhat weak tag team chemistry... they /are/ partners, and accordingly, Tiffany has an obligation to Sada to make sure she leaves the fight as solid as she can.
That means, of course, that she gathers the limp Sada into her arms and out of the pile of swimsuits, takes a deep breath... remembers that she's dealing with someone with gross, stinging bodily fluids...
... and then plants her lips squarely on the other girl's anyway, hoping to give her a mighty chi infusion that lets them both walk out of here under their own power.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany successfully aids Sada with Kiss of Life.
[ \\\\\ < > /// ]
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Sada
Hoisted up by Tiffany while in a daze, Sada looks confused.
Then Tiffany mashes her lips on Sada's own. Her brow furrows and she looks utterly consternated for a long lingering moment. Nonetheless, the huge infusion of power gives her her legs again, and she straightens up, putting a hand on Tiffany's shoulder.
"Wh," she says.
Her legs give out again. But hey! At least she'll sort of technically be walking off, instead of laying in the garbage.
COMBATSYS: Sada takes no action.
[ \\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sada can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Tiffany 0/-------/-------|
Dr. Richard Tran, officially and legally the slave of Sada, has been here the entire time in the stage background. Once Sada is back up on her feet, he uncertainly and wordlessly brings her another liquor popsicle.
It is unclear where he was keeping it.
COMBATSYS: Tiffany has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:06:26 02/07/2015 by Sakura, and last modified on 16:26:00 02/08/2015.