Match of the Millennium

Description: As round one of Mortal Kombat begins, swordswoman Aya Hazuki faces off against the nimble psychopath, Black Lotus, in the Warrior Shrine.

[LOTUS]
It's been some time since Lotus came to this weird place. Ok, was bagged and dragged, but same difference right! Can't say she hasn't done worse (spoiler: she has!). Sadly, so far she's not been (un)lucky enough to run across someone to stab to dea- to fight a match against! In her ever-continuing search for an opponent/victim, she currently makes her way through the Warrior shrine, looking at all the statues of what are believed to be past fighters....

Lotus can't help but look over her shoulder every now and then while here. It reminds her of an old movie with a snake chick that turned you to stone with a glare. What if one of THOSE is slithering around!?

[AYA]
It's been a hell of a few weeks for Aya Hazuki, that much is clear. An 'exhibition' fight with live blades against someone who proceeded to ninja her off the side of a building (unintentionally), which led to an encounter with an Ainu spiritual guardian that put a lot of this whole wacky funtimes tournament in perspective. For better or worse, Aya was lucky that she walked out of that fight with Lita Luwanda alive, though some instinct tells her the Delta Red operative wouldn't have chosen to take Aya's life even if she'd had the opportunity.

But since then, things are getting 'real,' as it were. There are already reports of a few fighters whose lives have been snuffed out in the process of Mortal Kombat and Aya is relatively certain that they won't be the last. Even now, as the first 'true' round of the tournament continues, battles are being waged -- adhoc or otherwise -- across the entirety of Shang Tsung's twisted, half-transdimensional domain. By the time she's done here, another life will almost certainly be snuffed out.

From her perch atop one of the statues, sitting with one leg laid across the opposite knee, the swordswoman looks down at the black cord around her neck and the warm glow of the golden, polished citrine magatama that hangs there.

For all she knows, that next death could be her own.

At the sound of someone's approach, however, Aya is kicked out of her reverie state, and with barely a sound, slides down from her perch to land in a crouch on the shrine's straight path ahead of Lotus. She slowly rises to her feet, standing with her left side facing Lotus, the well-worn saya for her katana held in that hand. "Seems as if the appointed hour has come," Aya says, regarding the rather striking newcomer with undisguised curiosity. "Whoever's in charge has decided that we're to engage in--" and the annoyance is quite obvious on her face, as she makes the capital 'k' audible, "--Kombat."

[LOTUS]
Yellow-slitted eyes rest on Aya, and Lotus griiiiiins slowly "Ooohhh.....? THAT sounds interesting...... i DO hope you know how to use your little toy". She slowly steps around Aya, looking her over with all the demeanor of a shopper in a grocery store considering which steak to buy. The lookover isn't helped by Lotus licking her lips "Such a pretty little thing. Don't worry. I'll leave your pretty face intact......" she scrapes the metal-worn claw tips against the blade of one of her knives, causing a horrible metal screeching sound "..... oh, who am i kidding.... COURSE i won't!". She stops circling while behind Aya, abruptly grinning maniacly, muscles tensed, ready to attack!

COMBATSYS: Lotus has started a fight here.

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Lotus            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Aya has joined the fight here.

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Aya              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Lotus

Abruptly, Lotus LEAPS at Aya, stabbing at her with the sharpened metal tips of her finger guards!

COMBATSYS: Aya dodges Lotus' Catch the Prey.

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Aya              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
'I'm going to leave your pretty face intact.' 'Who am I kidding, I'm going to tear it off!'

So that happened.

Aya is too experienced, too composed to put down her guard just because a strange woman started talking to her like this is an episode of 'Hannibal'. As Lotus circles her, Aya's green-eyed gaze slowly tracks her. The movements are catlike, perfectly balanced; it would be folly to underestimate this woman based solely on her decidedly off-kilter manner of speaking. Which is good, because halfway through that circle, Lotus is leaping for Aya's actual face with actual claws out.

Wasting no time, the swordswoman doesn't stop to buckle her sword on; she kicks off the ground in a backward hop and spins in a low angle back somersault that takes her out of the path of Lotus's leaping strike, which shears through the air at Aya's previous location mere fractions of a second after she leaps away.

In midair, Aya's hand goes to the hilt of her blade, and as she lands in a crouch and then rises, the swordswoman draws the blade in an arc of silver. In the path of the strike, erratic towers of flash-frozen ice spear jaggedly from the ground, and will quite thoroughly do the same to Lotus if she doesn't defense herself. "I'm rather attached to this face, thank you."

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Aya's Hyouga.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aya              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
It's a nice dodge on Ayas part. Lotus didn't exactly play it subtle, but still..... Her eyes track Aya as she evades, and her grin remains in place. As the attack comes in response, she can't help but squeek out what sounds like a small giggle....?

Twisting almost impossibly in the air, Lotus manages to evade the sharp points of all the ice spears. Grabbing one mid-flight, she twists around it before leaping up and into the air "Allow me to change that!". She abruptly seems to blur, as she drops straight down out of the air to the ground, then again as she dahes in at very high speed, much faster than a moment ago! Lotus quickly circles Aya, daggers drawn and slashing at the womans midsection, upper legs, and neck from various angles! The cuts don't seem very deep on their own, but enough are thrown to hopefully add up fast!

COMBATSYS: Aya blocks Lotus' Slice and Dice.

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Aya              0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
By the general rules of combat, taking on two daggers -- light, swift weapons -- with a full-size katana should not, in fact, be possible. It's a testament to Aya's skill with her chosen weapon, however, that when that flashing blade comes in at multiple, seemingly contradictory angles, she's able to mount a relatively effective defense without too much trouble... though "without too much" is not the same as "without any." Knowing she can't reach all of those strikes as they sweep across various vulnerable points, Aya takes the saya for her blade -- still held in her hand rather than positioned at her belt -- and uses it to, for lack of a better word, slaps the knife away from the *most* vulnerable spot: her neck.

There's a satisfying wooden *thock!* sound with each impact of dagger on scabbard, but Aya couldn't possibly catch them all. The blade tags her upper thigh, another cut across her torso, slicing a barely-perceptible line through her shirt. But at the very least, the worst has been averted; a dagger to the carotid is not how she wants to start the official tournament.

"I'll have to decline, if it's all the same to you," is Aya's response, before she suddenly surges forward and attempts to bring her knee up to slam directly into Lotus's stomach in an almost Muay Thai-like strike of surprisingly savage nature. Hopefully she'll have the opportunity to do so before the nimble knife-wielder can fade back out of the zone of opportunity.

COMBATSYS: Lotus blocks Aya's Medium Strike.

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Aya              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
With a quick motion, Lotus positions an arm between her stomach and the strike, stopping the attack from being more than an annoyance. Strangely, any evidence of damage seems to vanish right before Ayas eyes! Taking advantage of the sudden stop, Lotus lashes out with an attack of her own, aiming one of her knives at Ayas shoulder, in the meaty area between the bones of her collar and chest area! Quick and savage indeed! "Oh well! Your loss! HEEEEEEEEEEHEEHEHEHEHE!"

COMBATSYS: Aya dodges Lotus' Power Strike.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Aya              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
When she doesn't feel the connection of her knee with Lotus's stomach, Aya is already on the move, realizing that the counterattack is probably imminent. Lotus has, in her view, that kind of personality: unlikely to wait and pick her moment, instead overwhelming her opponent with a relentless flurry of strikes. Without time to make a plan of attack herself, Aya's only real option is to keep nimble, pick her moments, and be just as aggressive as her opponent is. When the dagger comes for her neck, the swordswoman drops low, the swift strike whistling harmlessly overhead.

"Pretty sure it's *not* my loss," Aya says carefully, in the split second of pause where she's crouched but has yet to make a countermove. "That's the *point*."

Deciding to use her position to her advantage as much as is possible, Aya snaps a hand forward and attempts to grab Lotus's ankle, yanking it forward to send the knife-wielder off balance and onto her back; if it looks like Aya's struck properly and Lotus is about to go over, the swordswoman rises, looking to slam her shoulder into Lotus's stomach as she falls, adding some weight and distance to the simple tripping technique.

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Aya's Armed Combo.

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Aya              0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
A simple lifting of Lotus' foot negates the grab! She tries to bring her foot down on Ayas hand, but isn't fast enough and misses unfortunately. "HEEEEEEEHAHAHA! Oh good pun! Good fun, too!". With a quick movement, she moves in on Aya, attempting to whisper in her ear "I LIKE this one!". She'll lick Ayas ear too if not stopped, before attempting to stab the green-eyed lass in the lower torso before grabbing at her wrist and flipping her over!

COMBATSYS: Lotus successfully hits Aya with Armed Combo.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Aya              0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
After a rather swift series of evasions and dodges, it would appear that Lotus has finally landed a hit that will stick... and it may be that her creepy, serial killer-esque demeanor is what might be the difference that gives her the opening. The attempt to lick Aya's ear is what does it; it triggers an *intense* desire to simply get AWAY from Lotus at that point, in the way that most unexpected violations of personal space are wont to do. And the problem with on-instinct reactions is that they lack finesse and strategy. It may be that Lotus was counting on this; it may instead be that it's a happy accident that pays her dividends.

Either way, the result is that Aya's trajectory away from the ear lick takes her INTO the path of the knife and then, consequently, onto the cold floor of the shrine on her back. She doesn't stay there long; there's a reverse kippup that thankfully is able to put a bit of distance between herself and her opponent. She puts a hand to her bleeding side with a hiss of annoyance, and then turns to her opponent, expression hardening. "Fine. You want to upgrade yourself from 'unsettlingl weird' to 'troublingly threatening', be my guest."

Leaning forward, she puts a hand on the hilt of her sheathed blade, and then kicks off the ground with blinding speed, dashing toward Lotus so fast she's a barely-visible blur of white and green. The swordswoman performs a drawing slash, intending to go right *through* her opponent, the path of her strike exploding with torrents of wind, a compressed hurricane that's just as dangerous as the blade itself.

COMBATSYS: Lotus parries Aya's Kamaitachi!

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Aya              0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
Grinning, licking the blood from the offending knife, Lotus tilts her head sideways at Aya as she speaks. Her expression indicates that she heard and understood Ayas words in fully.

It's only increased her amusement, it seems!

As Aya comes in, Lotus races towards her at matching speed, both daggers drawn! Using them in a crossblock, she ducks low, catching the sword with the knives, ducking, and then using one knife to slide the swords edge off the other safely on the other side! Continuing to move with the momentum, Lotus rises with a half-spin, knife in one hand reversed to face down while the other faces up, and attempts to drive them both into Aya, one into the armpit, the other the side of the neck! Hit or miss, she then leaps back to give herself room in case of a counter-attack!

COMBATSYS: Aya dodges Lotus' Exsanguinate EX.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aya              0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
The girl with the knife isn't the only one who can be tricksy.

So, dual daggers doing the work of parrying, one of the major benefits of a two-weapon style over a single-blade style... and 'single blade' is right there in the name of Hazuki Ittou-ryuu. But Aya was already prepped for this; after all, she's seen Lotus make deft maneuvers time and again in this fight. And then, well... then there's the voice in her head.

'Don't see where she is,' it says. 'Feel.'

Maybe, for a fraction of a second, Lotus can see the look of annoyance pass like a stormfront across Aya's features, but then for whatever reason, the swordswoman... closes her eyes. And behind those eyes, she lets her awareness expand, relying on senses other than the typical five... and as she does so: there Lotus is. A swirling mass of energy, amid all the other... whatever it is, out there. Plain as day.

With her eyes still closed, fractions of a second before Lotus would make contact with her knives, Aya suddenly plants the sword in the floor, tip down, and does a literal handstand on the blade's hilt, Lotus's strikes shearing harmlessly by, the last few vestiges of the wind of Aya's strike buffeting her, helping her keep her balance.

And then? She suddenly drops *off* the sword, legs first, attempting to smack her foot into Lotus's face, *hard*, before turning and driving the now-sheathed blade's saya right into the knife-wielder's stomach, the pair of attacks snapping out with a fluid speed in the blink of an eye.

COMBATSYS: Lotus blocks Aya's Crushing Strike.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aya              0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
Ho HO! Now THAT'S impressive!

However, it just isn't fast enough!

As Aya brings her foot down, Lotus raises her arm up to block the strike on her forearm, her knees bending with the force of the impact, while deflecting the sheathed sword with her other arm as she spins to face her target! In the instant that she has contact with Ayas foot, she attempts to grab the ankle, and SLAM the woman down face first onto the cobblestone ground!

COMBATSYS: Aya fails to interrupt Medium Throw from Lotus with Amagumo.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aya              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
Blood loss can definitely do things to a person. Miraculous dodges aside, bleeding out causes all sorts of fun things: fatigue and exhaustion, slowing of reaction times. It causes tiny little slip ups in timing, and that's what gets Aya as she attempts to take a more aggressive defense, spinning to try and attempt to catch Lotus mid-throw. But if it's blurry vision or some other reason, Lotus manages to make her fall instead, the swordswoman rolling to a stop a short distance away and preparing herself for the next go-around.

[LOTUS]
Lotus watches Aya roll away, trailing red droplets. She lets her go for, giving her time to recover. That IS part of the fun, after all! Giving the prey some breathing room.

She crouches down in a strange ready stance, grinning ear to ear "You getting slower..... i wonder how long you'll last! A minute? 50 seconds? 30 seconds!? Teehee! Don't disappoint me NOW!". Those yellow cat-like eyes take in her wounded opponent "The fun is only beginning, after all!".

COMBATSYS: Lotus focuses on her next action.

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Aya              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
Despite all she's endured this fight, Aya does not seem particularly perturbed. As Lotus decides to add more banter to the situation, the swordswoman merely holds her ground, taking a breath. At her side, wounds close; her breath evens out, her vision clears. Her focus remains. And without moving, without apparently doing much of anything at all, a tiny handful of rubble -- unearthed by Aya's impact with the ground -- rises from the ground and flies out at the taunting Lotus, impelled by some unseen force.

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Aya's Thrown Weapon.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Aya              0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
Dashing forwards, Lotus goes right underneath the tossed rocks! Her daggers back in their sheathes, she brings her metal-clawed fingers to bear, swiping rapidly and viciously at Ayas body! It's a simple manuever, standing still despite her arms moving, but brutal nonetheless should it connect!

COMBATSYS: Aya parries Lotus' Vicious Rake!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aya              0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
It's like... a switch flipped.

Whatever it was that Aya used to throw those rocks, it suddenly kicks into overdrive. The woman herself, despite Lotus coming right AT her, doesn't appear to move in any way. But each swipe of those clawed hands finds, instead of its intended target, something else: a chunk of rock, a burst of air. Nothing that hurts; nothing capable of injuring her back. But it's as if the actual room itself was acting in Aya's defense, pushing Lotus away. As for the woman herself, Aya is just watching her opponent, eyes placid and careful, not actually MOVING at all.

Until the last of Lotus's strikes is deflected.

In the blink of an eye, Aya's arm swings around, as if holding a blade, but there's nothing in it... or there isn't at the START of the motion, but midway through the swing, a blade of pure frost, formed from thin air, erupts out of her closed palm, looking to put a chill on Lotus in a serious way. But whether the attack hits or not, the sword reaches the end of the swing and explodes into a cloud of frost that Aya spins into, drawing the REAL sword, slicing through the glittering, distracting cloud of frost particles with a secondary strike.

COMBATSYS: Aya blitzes into action and acts again!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aya              0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Lotus

COMBATSYS: Lotus dodges Aya's Random Strike.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aya              0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Lotus

COMBATSYS: Aya successfully hits Lotus with Kogarashi EX.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Aya              0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0            Lotus

[LOTUS]
This was..... not expected. Impressive, but completely unexpected. Lotus can't help but look suprised when she sees not only all her strikes deflected in sequence, but a blade of ice coming her way! The sword impacts her shoulder, causing a nasty gash that is only made nastier by it's exploding finish, enveloping Lotus in a cloud of icy frost!

When the other sword swing comes, it slices through the particles, revealing.... nothing is there! Meanwhile, Lotus has taken to the air, leaping out of the cloud before the second strike. Turning as she descends, she aims to come down behind Aya, attempting to slam her arm down on the womans shoulder with the momentum of gravity!

COMBATSYS: Aya fails to interrupt Fierce Strike from Lotus with Tsubame Gaeshi.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Aya              1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0            Lotus

[AYA]
Once that sword went back in the saya, it's notable that Aya didn't touch it afterward. And she is perfectly able to track Lotus as she twirls through the air, but whatever it is Aya's doing that is dominating her responses in battle right now, it isn't working very well. The auburn-haired fighter turns her head around and up, spying Lotus, and the knife-fighter will have a moment of noticing -- below her -- rather *larger* chunks of rock on the floor start to tremble and float. But before they can actually get high enough to do anything, the crazy girl has slammed into Aya's shoulder, sending her staggering backward more than a few steps. It would appear this fight is near its conclusion.

[LOTUS]
Not stopping to enjoy her handiwork, Lotus pulls out a pair of smaller throwing daggers, but instead of throwing them, she tries to use them to stab with. Holding them reversed, she brings them down on each side of Aya, one towards each shoulder, in the soft areas between the shoulder socket and neck behind the collarbones! If that connects, she pulls down while bringing her knee up in a chest strike! At best, it'll hurt and cause nasty injuries! At worst, it could snap her collarbones!

COMBATSYS: Aya fails to interrupt Crushing Strike from Lotus with Sakura Fubuki.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lotus            0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Aya can no longer fight.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Lotus            0/-------/--=====|

[AYA]
It's done.

Perhaps it's happened a second time; just like her fight with Lita Luwanda, Aya got lost somewhere in the overwhelming experience of tapping directly into elemental powers that are... not entirely hers, and imperfectly borrowed. When the knife-fighter comes in for her next attack, the wind around Aya kicks up until it's like standing in a hurricane, but the problem is that every hurricane has an eye, and by the time the force of the wind has spun up, Lotus is already inside said eye. The knives sink home.

Push a fighter to the brink, and it takes shockingly little to end a life. Underneath layers of training and resilience and on occasion quite real mystical powers, there is sinew and muscle and bone and blood.

She has enough strength left in her body to rip both knives from her throat, sending them skidding across the stone floor toward Lotus, before dropping to one knee, leaning heavily on the sheathed blade. Around her, blood from too many wounds pools at her knees, runs down her arms. Her eyes are hoooded, her hair falling in her face, masking her expression.

And then, finally: a ragged laugh.

"I guess... I'll see you... at the Lake Biwa pier..." says Aya Hazuki, speaking her final words.

With a clatter, the sword drops to the floor, and then the fighter drops on top of it... perhaps one last act of defiance, protecting her family's blade from any who would defile or steal it.

Even in death.

[LOTUS]
Yellow inhuman eyes peer down at Ayas remains, Lotus kneeling down to inspect the body. She flips the downed warrior over, seemingly lost in thought a moment, her mania absent for once. If the eyes are open, she closes them with her hand before standing up "Aaww... so fragile. Too bad it was over so quickly...". She blows a kiss to Aya as she turns to leave "Rest well". Her mad smile returns, and she reclaims the dropped and bloodied weapons and moves on.

COMBATSYS: Lotus has ended the fight here.

Log created on 18:37:59 10/05/2016 by Aya, and last modified on 23:23:28 10/05/2016.