Match of the Millennium

Description: Taiyo High has gotten quieter and quieter. The burning spirit that the school was once known for was beginning to grow dim. And the only culprit that can be seen is the new "V-Gage Educator" systems. While the main curriculum has not been taken over by the virtual reality machines, the same cannot be said for the detention hall. Students who go into detention come back changed. Quiet. Submissive. Obedient. And suffer a great loss in the burning Taiyo spirit in exchange. Sakura and Yuri have independently gotten wind of these changes, and finally have the opportunity to investigate, before Sakura must leave for the next King Of Fighters match out of Southtown. But as the unlikely allies investigate the Taiyo High detention hall, they will soon find an uncomfortable truth about the new, obedient students; a truth that must be set free.

[HONOKA]
The place: Taiyo High School.
The time: 3:30 pm, long after the final bell has rung.

Southtown School District has the unfortunate distinction of being the most violent municipal school district in all of Japan, owing in no short part to the city's reputation as the Fighting Capital of the World. The rise of competitive fighting, coupled with the awkward proximity of the joint JASDF-USAF air force base, has led to a unique requirement for the city's school districts: Detention.

The practice runs in stark contrast with the traditional Japanese concept of 'take a deep breath and hope they learn to behave properly.' But, over the past few decades, the Western practice has paid dividends, leading to year-over-year increases in school participation and academic performance. Proper use of force is stressed -- and students are urged to express their violent tendencies in productive, school-sanctioned activities.

Detention is the reason Tadao Ikeda is apologizing profusely to Taiyo's Korean teacher, Mr. Song, just outside the Teachers' Room.

"No, really, there's... it's okay, Ikeda-san, it's..."

"It's -not- okay! I said such horrible things to you! But... but now... Now I understand how much it..."

A worried Mr. Song bows his head, lowering his voice so as to avoid drawing further attention to Tadao, the voices of the two soon being drowned out by the echoing cheers from the nearby gymnasium -- the sound of the sports circles participating in their daily rituals.

And just a fair distance away, the scene is reflected in the mirrored sunglasses of two gentlemen with shiny gold badges. Behind them stretches a hallway that is the new home of the V-Gage Educator System -- a revolutionary new gaming device built around Virtual Reality technology. Which is part of the reason for the increased security -- each V-Gage system is rumored to cost well over a thousand dollars each.

Some students, like Tadao, were sent here as part of their time in Detention Hall. Others would be visiting the adjacent room as part of a pilot program in cooperation with the History Department. Whatever the cause though, the school resource officers won't let anyone amble down that hallway without a certified pass.

Still, something seems awry in this hallway. Particularly with the way one of the school resource officers looks towards a violet van pull up alongside the windowed hallway. The van is mostly nondescript, except for the emblem of Violet Systems plastered to its side. The officer nearest the window waves angrily to the van driver, making a series of wide sweeping hand motions -- there's no open door to the outside from this hallway in particular. After a moment of harried 'discussion,' the van driver backs up (noisily, with that beep-beep-beep alarm) and withdraws to an alternate location.

[SAKURA]
Sakura'd been hyped, buoyed by meeting Ryu and sparring him and getting his agreement to team up for the King of Fighters--and even getting Allen Snider to join, though he was kind of a dumb American bastard about it... but as hyped up as she is, she can't ignore what's going on in school. Taiyo is her home grounds, after all, and she knows it best as a rowdy place, if not quite as rowdy as, say, Gedo High. Word is is that the V-Gage things are being used in the detentions... and while Sakura is taking pains to not earn detentions especially now that she has a team...

She waits until after school, and just... casually wanders down towards the detention rooms. Trying to not look too out of place, which isn't terribly hard, since she does go to Taiyo. She'd look totally normal if she weren't whistling in an off-key tune and making herself a bit conspicuous...

[YURI]
Surprisingly, Yuri has chosen not to take part in King of Fighters this year. She hasn't said why or given any clue as to what her reason for this is, but she doesn't seem angry or upset about it. Instead, she's just as cheerful and spunky as ever. She's still the same old Yuri as everyone knows and loves... at least that's how she views herself. However, right now she's viewing things in a different light due to the whole V-Gage situation.

Also like Sakura, Yuri's an attendee of Taiyo High, and she's tagging along with Sakura, albeit lagging slightly behind her. She occasionally glances behind her to see if anyone might be following her before continuing along casually like there's nothing going on. She has her trademark smile and perky bounce in her step, so aside from her occasionally glancing around, it's still normal Yuri, right?

[HONOKA]
"I never realized before how... how we... how the Japanese treated your people, I..."

"That's fine -- I won't hold it against you. But what brought this on, Ikeda-san?"

"It... well, yesterday, I got to see it from the Korean perspective. It was... it was terrible, and I had to... I..."
Ikeda blinks rapidly for a moment, as he looks up at Mr. Song.
"It's all such a blur..."

Mr. Song shakes his head, and rests a hand on Ikeda's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. All is forgiven..."

As Song and Ikeda walk towards the front gates of the school, the two guards standing watch at the near end of the hallway turn around and start patrolling to the opposite side. Now, with their backs turned, and with one of them retrieving a cellphone from his pocket, Sakura and Yuri have an opportunity to approach without being seen.

The hallway is mostly nondescript; sunshine beaming in through open windows on the west side. Windowframes cast dark shadows, leaving relatively safe spots to hide in the shadows of the squarish support columns spaced at regular intervals along the hallway. Both rooms have windows peering to the inside, but the windows are painted an opaque black, and the doors are closed securely. Is it any wonder that these rooms are avoided so often during school hours?

Though, that changes suddenly, as the sound of a heavy deadbolt slides out of position, just before Sakura gets into position -- the door to the Detention Room slides open immediately afterwards. And from within comes a man wearing a light purple shirt, backing out the doorframe while towing a heavy A/V cart, loaded to the brim with cylindrical power cells about the size of cans of soup.

Each cell is glowing faintly in coruscating colors, with a small circuitboard attached to the top, and a series of three indicator lights lit green.

The guards are most of the way towards the other end of the hall by now -- no telling when they're going to turn around.

[SAKURA]
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sakura missed the memo on all the V-Gage stuff. Like... yeah, she's kind of a weird tech nut, especially when it comes to gadgets and stuff (she has at least one of every Gameboy out there), but she isn't super sure about what all this is. Some sort of VR thing, she knows that much... and apparently it does something kind of funky to say the least.

Sakura loiters a little in the hallway just before the guards' field of vision, and when they turn, she slips into the hallway, at least to get a better look. It looks... secure, to say the least, and Sakura is not a skilled burglar. <<Should've called up Ibuki... or at least gotten some advice or some smoke bombs or something...>> she thinks to herself, until the door opens... and someone comes out. He's pulling a cart with some weird tech on it... batteries? Something like that. But she's never seen batteries that glow like *that*.

Sakura has never been known for being careful and cautious. Rather the opposite, actually, and so she bursts out from the end of the hallway and sets up a classic running tackle for the guy's back, intending to slam him back into the room along with his cart.

[YURI]
Meanwhile, Yuri's spotted that mysterious guy, and unlike Sakura, she's a little wary about dealing with him. She starts to lag back again and tries to find something to duck behind. She spots a nearby water fountain and takes cover behind it. After doing that, she peers out and attempts to get a good look at the cart and what's on it. It's hard to tell from her vantage spot, but she does know that something glowing like that isn't exactly normal. Then again, things haven't been normal here for a while.

Before she can think further, Sakura takes off running, and Yuri can only hold her breath. "Be careful, Sakura," She whispers, before realizing that leaving her friend to fend for herself isn't a smart idea. She adjusts her crouching position so she can take off at a moment's notice to back up Sakura if she needs help.

[HONOKA]
The person with the purple shirt has his back to the two girls, and the A/V cart is quite heavy; he's much more focused on the ticking time bombs he's carrying than the footfalls of a 5'2" schoolgirl charging towards him. So, he only turns his head towards Sakura at the very last instant, and then...

*KAPOW!*
The Violet Systems employee -- so named by the logo embroidered on his left front breast -- tumbles over, knocked over bodily by the Ansatsuken Angel's charge. The cart he was carrying rolls back into the room, steadily at first, before the wheels get caught up on a cable on the floor, upending the cart. Literally dozens of batteries fly from the cart, casting all sorts of pretty lights upon the curtained walls before cascading to the concrete floor. When the chaos settles, two of the batteries are beginning to glow significantly brighter than the others; their indicator lights begin flashing orange at a furious pace.

By this time, though, there will be time to take a look around. Heavy cloth curtains, colored black, line the 'hallway' in which Sakura and Yuri find themselves. On their left will be a solid wall -- the wall shared with the History Lab. On their right, the curtain will have no wall behind it -- instead, if either were to draw the curtain aside part way, they would catch sight of the Detention Hall's unfortunate attendees.

The majority of the room -- that not curtained off into the entrance 'hallway' -- is occupied by the detained students. Each student has a helmet on, blocking their eyes and ears. Each student has a pair of gauntlets on, and each student is centered within a circular 'fence' made by synthetic ribbons. More notably, beside each student is a rectangular box with one of the cylindrical batteries protruding from it -- each battery is illuminated to a different degree of light.

"Hey, you two!" Mr. Inaba, the man in charge of the Detention Hall, appears on the far end of the drape-lined "hallway" -- He has a clipboard in one hand and he's shaking his other hand at the two. He continues in a hoarse whisper, "Neither of you two are on my attendance log, so you -must- be here for the extra History credit next door! How -dare- you come in here and make a ruckus -- look at poor Mr. Matsuda!"

Sure enough, Mr. Matsuda is passed out on the floor.

"You better clean up this mess or I'm going to call the guards!"

[SAKURA]
Room's too big for Sakura to cover herself; she notes that as soon as she shoves the guy back in, spilling his cart. They've definitely changed the room, and something about it makes Sakura feel almost queasy, before she hisses towards the doorway, "Yuri! Get in here! I can't sort through all this myself!" She's foolish and impulsive, Sakura is, but she's not enough so to miss the two batteries.

Walking over to one, she kneels down to grab it--unless it feels weird, like if it's radiating heat or the like; the glow is worrisome enough because Sakura watches plenty of sci-fi shows and so that to her means something like 'radiation' or 'about to explode'. She's just about to pick it up when Inaba comes in.

Battery in hand, Sakura gapes at Inaba, then shakes her head. "No, came here to see what was up with *this*," she says, pointing a finger around her vaguely. "Don'tcha think it looks a lil' too Matrix-y?" she asks, striving for nonchalance as she begins walking towards Inaba... goddammit Yuri where are you, she's thinking, tension building in her limbs and her core. This is.. this is out of her league, she's gonna have to do something with this battery thing.

Maybe she'll call Interpol and drop it off there... if she gets out of here. "Anyway it's been real cool but uh... I think I gotta go," she says, as she attempts to pick up the other glowing battery.

"... does this mean somethin' bad?" she asks, holding up one of the abnormal cylinders.

[YURI]
When Sakura calls out to Yuri, she comes running fast. "I'm coming Sakura! Just hold on!" Upon her arrival, Yuri scowls at the sight of what's inside. "What the-- what is this place?" She looks to Sakura for a moment, before remembering Sakura wanted her to look around. "Uh... OK, I'll take a look. See what I can find." She still scowls as she starts looking around, trying to find anything that might seem suspicious or unusual.

At the same time, Yuri's starting to wonder just what she and Sakura have gotten themselves into. She wonders if they'll walk out of this alive, or if there's going to be combat done. She's not afraid to fight once in awhile, but this is occupying her time too much and she wants to get to the bottom of this mystery before she does any fighting.

[HONOKA]
When Yuri lifts the curtain aside to peek, she will see most of the receptacles filled with students. Only a handful are unmanned, the V-Gage headsets rested securely in their cradles alongside their rectangular base units, and their related batteries dim. Each of the students appears to be walking in place upon a pedestal, with the encircling barrier serving to keep them from wandering. Their feet are perched upon frictionless rollers. Each student appears to be holding some sort of weapon -- and marching.

But -- and this is something only Yuri is likely to see -- there is a monitor nearby that shows the stereoscopic display within the headset. Far off in the virtual distance, on that display, are several columns of samurai, with swords, pikes, and bows drawn. And as the student nearest the screen looks side to side, the student's avatar appears to be surrounded by men in considerably less armor than the samurai warriors -- simple cloth and leather, armed with relatively primitive spears.

Not far from the display is a case, about the size of a DVD case, with a white label and the name 'Shakushain's Revolt' written upon it in marker.

Mr Inaba had already been irritated at the two intruding students, but once he sees the brightly glowing power cell in Sakura's hands, he reaches out for it with considerable alarm. "Give me that before you blow us all up!" he snaps, sweeping it into his arms. "Get them all back on that cart or there'll be hell to pay."

He looks around, and quickly spots the second malfunctioning cell, snaring that one as well. A moment later, he hurriedly tugs the curtain aside and plants them into a small device, not quite the size of a V-Gage base unit.

At this point, Matsuda emits a slow groan, and starts clutching his head, from his spot on the floor. If there was ever a time to bolt...

[SAKURA]
"H--hey!!" Dammit, she just wasn't expecting the guy to be this fast. But time is limited, isn't it? The two guards they saw can't be the only ones, that's silly video game logic. Sakura's already kind of railing at herself internally for not seeing what was going on earlier. Her first instinct is to grab for one of the canisters that he has, but that's not gonna happen, she senses. "Put this back ont he cart? Uh... okay..."

Sakura *looks* at Yuri, trying to tell her to go, go, go, be like a leaf in the wind, but don't get Washed, as she crouches down to pick up one of the cells... grips it firmly in her right hand...

And with little left to lose, bursts into a dash, shouting, "GO GO GO!" at Yuri, just in case the Kyokugen girl didn't get the non-verbal communication.

"We gotta get out of here *now*," she adds, urgently. Hopefully Inaba is too busy/has his arms too full to do anything but maybe shout and maybe Sakura was fast enough to keep him on his toes and there aren't that many guards around.

Probably a good thing Sakura's off for King of Fighters soon. Can't come back here for a while, not after this...

[YURI]
Sometimes, non-verbal communication is sufficient to get your point across. And in this case, Yuri gets the point quite easily. She's taking off rather quickly as well, albeit while grabbing one of the cells as well. She figures the more evidence they have, the better off they'll be. Regardless, Yuri is running as quickly as she can, not bothering to look back or anything like that.

"Gotta get outta here! Fast!" She comments as she races for the nearest exit. "If necessary, we'll take an emergency exit! Maybe we can sneak out the back or something?"

[HONOKA]
Indeed, Mr Inaba is a bit too busy with the power cells -- as he places one on the receptacle it hisses with a gout of steam, forcing him to throw an arm in front of his face. But, as one might note -- the glow decreases, and the LED indicators flicker back from three orange to two, then finally one green.

It's not until he hears the heavy footfalls of two girls running out of the now-unsealed room that he realizes he was much too trusting of the two girls. Not only that -- that he completely forgot they -knocked a worker out-. (Not that it was -his- worker, but still!) He whips out a cellphone and barks out an order, before swapping the disarmed power cell for the second: "Officers! Stop those two girls!"

Officers? What officers? Oh right. Sakura and Yuri will probably remember those two guys who were patrolling in the hall earlier. Why, they're just ten feet from the door as soon as Sakura and Yuri come springing out of it! "Hey, you two -- stop right there!" cries out the nearest one, bringing out the baton that was fastened to the back of his belt. The furthest adopts a similar stance, and starts to approach the two...

The coast is clear -- Sakura and Yuri have a good lead on the two middle-aged officers after all. But what they don't know is...

There were actually four guards.

And two of them are barring the girls' path out the hallway -- the windows being the only alternate way out. Each has one finger to their cellphone earpiece, and the other hand brandishing a billyclub, as they stand in Yuri and Sakura's path.

The man with the badge reading 'Yamada' states cooly, "Stop right where you are, and we can discuss this like grownups."

The man with the badge reading 'Fujisawa' seems to be less favorable of this plan, thumping the club into the palm of his hand eagerly.

COMBATSYS: Fujisawa has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0         Fujisawa

COMBATSYS: Yamada has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0         Fujisawa
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0           Yamada

[SAKURA]
There's almost a cartoonish 'screeeeeech' when Sakura pulls up short, still carrying the stolen power cell. What goes through her mind: Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. What comes out of her mouth: "Yeah 'cause you know you look like you wanna talk real calm-like. Your friend there--" Pause to squint at the badge--"Fujisawa looks like wants to talk in the more traditional manner." Of course, Sakura is a bit hindered by holding the power cell, but she doesn't dare drop it. Whatever it is, it's not supposed to be in Taiyo High, she knows that much.

"C'mon, Yuri. We're gonna have to drop these punks," she says, showing a lot more bravado than she's probably feeling. She can't raise both hands, but she raises her left, keeping her right tucked in--she'll use it for defense at least--and she just acts, lunging in and throwing a long side-kick for Fujisawa that sees her leaning back as a counterweight.

COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Fujisawa
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0           Yamada

[YURI]
As soon as Yuri spots the thugs, she too skids to a halt. "Oh no... We were so close!" She seems frustrated, but then notices Sakura is about to fight, and Yuri nods as well. "Well, if it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they'll get!" Her scowling frown turns into an evil grin as she looks at them, tapping her fists together. "You wanna piece of me? You're no match for Kyokugen Karate! You've no chance!" She chuckles a little.

Unlike Sakura, who doesn't dare drop her cell, Yuri throws hers off to the side. As long as Sakura has one, that'll be more than enough hopefully. After that, she looks to Yamada and says, "The only thing to discuss is that you're a bad cop and I'm gonna punish you for that!" She runs in fast, attempting to strike Yamada with a running elbow strike.

COMBATSYS: Yuri has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Yuri             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Yamada endures Yuri's Jab Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Yuri             0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Fujisawa blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Yuri             0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Yamada

[HONOKA]
The first two guards take one look at the situation, and realize that Fujisawa and Yamada are on guard, and they can no doubt handle two schoolgirl delinquents. Not sensing any real danger, they instead move to the Detention Hall to assist Mr Inaba -- and soon, they would find they need to assist Mr Matsuda as well.

Fujisawa, though, was gunning for a fight. And he cackles with glee as Sakura decides to give him one! "Hahaha, that's the spirit! I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!" He rightly senses, though, that Sakura's going to be using that heavy battery as a counterweight, and keeps from leaning too far into her kick -- instead, he raises the baton vertically to oppose Sakura's kick as it careens towards his ribcage. The kick still lands against his abdomen, but not as much as she might have liked.

"C'MON, BABY... Is that all you got?!" Shaking aside the pain, he steps forward, lunging his baton-wielding arm past her, and then trying to use the baton as a lever by which to wrench Sakura to the floor by the back of her neck. He'd do this by simultaneously extending his knee, providing it as a fulcrum to her own long legs.

Yamada, though, is hardly disturbed by Yuri's pre-emptive strike. He'd kind of expected it -- and with a cocky smirk, he -does- lean into the elbow, bracing himself by planting his trailing heel into the carpeted concrete.
"No chance for your brother or your daddy, maybe," he comments wryly, allowing his held stance to give way once her energy's been transmitted to him.

Once that happens, though, Yuri's right where he wants her: within his reach. He reaches out to ensnare her with a big ol' bear hug -- and if he manages that, he'd twist sharply and slam the Kyokugen warrior against the wall slamming the butt of his baton into her abdomen three times in succession!

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Fujisawa's Medium Throw.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Yuri             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Yamada successfully hits Yuri with After School Special.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Yuri             0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0           Yamada

[YURI]
Yuri doesn't want a bear hug, especially from someone like that! But at the moment, it seems she has no choice but to go along with this as the man squeezes her like a boa constrictor! Yuri starts to gasp for air, before she's suddenly slammed against the wall and then beaten with the baton! Police brutality, anyone? Oh wait, these aren't normal policemen.

Once the beating is finished, Yuri drops to the ground, albeit landing on her feet, but holding her stomach in response to the awful beating she just received. She groans a little before looking at Yamada with a fierce scowl. In spite of the pain she's in, she seems to put it out of her mind for the time being.

"Now you've made me mad! I'm gonna show you what happens to people who piss me off!" She doesn't bother giving herself any space for her next attack, since she figures if it hits, it'll give her some space. She circles her hand backwards and then shoots forth a small fireball at Yamada. "Ko'ou Ken!"

[SAKURA]
Crap. Overextended. Well... not too far at least; she's not so out of position that she's going to be wrecked. That baton does find the back of her neck and Fujisawa's knee does end up being a perfect fulcrum--perhaps a little too much, as she goes over it and manages to tumble instead of landing flat, rolling once then kicking out her left leg to come to a halt.

"Heard guys like you were all about doing it as fast as possible, must be why I was told to keep away..." She probably doesn't even really know what she's saying, just takin' on some classic Peter Parker-styled banter as she assesses the situation for a moment.

Of course he isn't a pushover, she wasn't expecting that. This is Southtown, the fighter's town, and anyone who picks up a weapon here, or puts up their fists, knows that they've got to be good for it or they're gonna get carted. A distinct possibility for Sakura as well.

"C'mon, man, take a moment," she says, as she does--crouching herself, not fully but going to a sort of half-crouch, as if building tension and potential kinetic energy in her lower body for another run. But instead of running, lashes of blue-white energy begin to rise up around her feet, a glow surrounding her legs up to mid-thigh or so, casting a strange light upwards.

COMBATSYS: Sakura taps into her inner strength!

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Yuri             0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Yuri successfully hits Yamada with Ko'ou Ken.
-* WILD HIT! *-

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Yuri             0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0           Yamada

[HONOKA]
As fast as possible? Keep away? Fujisawa glares back at Sakura, the upper right side of his lip peeling upwards in a sneer. "Maybe so, but we're gonna play all night long once we're--"

Yamada growls, backpedaling away a few steps from Yuri. "Knock it off, Fujisawa -- they stole Violet Systems property and attacked us." His deep growl brooks no disagreement from his brash subordinate, hushing him into silence...
Just before Yuri cries out the name of her Ko'ou Ken attack, a freight train of concussive force that slams into Yamada's chest, tearing him right off his feet and sending him pirouetting backwards in a ballet spin he is very very grateful that there are no body cameras to record. He's flung into the reinforced window, flattened against it, and begins to slide down to the floor...

"Right!" howls Fujisawa, observing his flattened co-worker out of his peripheral vision. "So this is purely in self-defense!" Whatever gouts of energy he can see pealing away from Sakura, he doesn't have any idea -- but he firmly believes they're going to hurt, so he does everything he can to knock the girl out cold before she can land the strike! Fujisawa leaps forward, aiming to crack the baton across the schoolgirl's head!

Meanwhile, Yamada staggers forward, clutching tightly at his baton as if it were a samurai sword hilt. Dizzily, he tries to focus on Yuri -- and charges at her, clumsily leaping into a two-footed dropkick!

COMBATSYS: Yuri dodges Yamada's Fierce Kick.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Sakura           0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Yuri             0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0           Yamada

[YURI]
If Yamada thought he was threatening, he'd better think again. Yuri only scoffs at the sight of that so-called drop kick as she effortlessly dodges out of the way while shaking her head. "Where did YOU learn to fight, huh?" She asks. "If you tried that in a real fight, you'd be laughed out of the area!" She chuckles a little, but the chuckles stop after a moment. "But I'm getting tired of this! Either you learn to fight for real or I'm outta here!" Although she has no idea where she'd actually go.

"You wanna see a real kick? THIS is a real kick!" Yuri jumps into the air, does a swift somersault, then attempts to strike Yamada with her foot as she comes down.

COMBATSYS: Sakura instinctively blocks Fujisawa's Corporal Punishment.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Yuri             0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0           Yamada

[SAKURA]
Drawing power like this, it kind of.. -sets- you. It's a tradeoff for gaining the potential power. Sakura wathes Fujisawa come at her. "Yeah, self-defense!" she parrots, and without even looking she darts forward, catching Fujisawa's descending hand at the wrist--an impact that still hurts, because the rod continues on, but it hits her shoulder, not her head where her tenderest, juiciest brain-meats are.

And this close, it should be hard--almost impossible--to get anything going, but she's got the momentum. She bullrushes into Fujisawa's chest to try and unbalance him and transitions from that into a spin on her left leg, as she pushes off with her right.

The impacts would continue to drive him back as she literally goes up almost into the ceiling, coming just shy of it, her right leg out and scything around several times as she looks to leap past him and clear some distance before she lands, those Converse All-Stars squeaking on the linoleum floors that schools all have.

COMBATSYS: Yamada endures Yuri's Medium Kick.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Sakura           1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Yuri             0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Fujisawa with Shunpuu Kyaku.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0         Fujisawa
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Yuri             0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

[HONOKA]
As his overcommitted kick crashes into the wall, Yamada relents, keeping the property damage to some small scuff marks. The groggy Yamada twists about as he rolls, landing on his belly and then pressing himself back to his feet. "You brats just don't know when to keep your mouths shut, do ya?" Cracking his neck left and then right, he cautiously scans the space above him as Yuri careens down from overhead. And when her foot cracks down into him...

He smirks. And takes it head-on, even maintaining the smirk as the sneaker slams into his nose -- bursts blood vessels -- and spurts blood all over the tread of Yuri's stylish canvas shoes.

But, again, he smiles. And makes a grab for Yuri's ankle, now that it's right up next to him. "Hold on, princess, we're goin' for a ride."

Should Yamada get hold of Miss Sakazaki's ankle, he'd whip back sharply. And then he'd whirl about with her in a wide circle, and her as the hammer to toss. Once she reaches critical velocity, he'd let go -- sending her flying squarely into the grid-reinforced window glass.

Fujisawa, though... he's left to tangle with Sakura's defense. And her quipping mouth. Grimacing, he tries to pull away, but he's still too close -- and that leaves him open for an unbalancing shove. And he's then set up for the whirlwind kick that follows.

Slammed backwards repeatedly by the buffeting kicks, he's unable to think of anything else. The dizzying blows batter him backwards, eventually forcing him to collapse to the floor if he doesn't want to vomit from the sudden nausea. But when he rises -- it's all he can think of to wheel a kick around in a scythe not unlike Sakura's own, aiming to sweep her legs right out from under her! "Teyaaa!"

COMBATSYS: Yuri blocks Yamada's Suspension.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0         Fujisawa
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Yamada

[YURI]
The moment Yamada gets a grip on Yuri's ankle, she immediately tenses up. "Get off of me!" She exclaims, ignoring the fact that there's blood on her shoe. As soon as Yamada tries to throw her, Yuri breaks free and lands on the ground, slipping a little due to the blood on her shoe. "Dammit, now look what you did to my nice sneakers!" She shakes her head. "Maybe you oughta see a doctor about your nose? Because I'm about to do a LOT worse!"

Indeed, Yuri has far worse intentions in her mind as she rushes at Yamada quickly, attempting to deliver a spinning uppercut as she leaps into the air. It's her own version of the Dragon Punch, given a customized touch, to make it truly her own!

COMBATSYS: Sakura parries Fujisawa's Fierce Kick!

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Sakura           1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0         Fujisawa
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Yuri             0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0           Yamada

[SAKURA]
Normally, Sakura would be all about playing more. Fighting is supposed to be fun! That's what she does it for. For fun. She takes it serious but she doesn't like fighting 'for keeps'... and she can't help but think that this is what it is. Because if they lose, one hundred percent that they get stuck in those helmets... and there's no _way_ Sakura's missin' King of Fighters!!

The sweep is a strong kick, but a little slow, and Sakura takes a little risk--she hops it, but she doesn't go into a full jump. She literally jumps just high enough to clear it, barely even going off the ground at all, the cloth of his pants just barely brushing the soles of her feet. And... as she touches down she tries for style, because she has to, for a couple reasons.

One--she needs both hands for the next moment.

Two: It just makes things look cool.

She tosses the power cell straight up into the air, tumbling, just as she lands, and draws her hands back, palms facing each toher, fingers crooked. Immediately, power surges into them, once, twice, a third time in rapid succession. The power cell's reached apogee, and, tumbling lazily, begins to fall, as Sakura builds that power in a rapid wave, then slides her right foot back and thrusts her hands forward. Just as her right leg reaches the right point, she shouts.

"SHINKUU.... HADOUKEN!!!!"

The searingly bright, torso-width ball of energy launches at Fujisawa--and in the aftermath, Sakura turns her hand palm up for the canister to slap down into her grip.

COMBATSYS: Yuri successfully hits Yamada with Yuri Chou Upper.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0         Fujisawa
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Fujisawa with Shinkuu Hadouken EX.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1         Fujisawa
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

[HONOKA]
Yamada isn't -entirely- happy about Yuri being able to wriggle out of his grasp, but there's not a whole lot he can do about it! "Little brat -- You could'a broken my nose and you're worried about -shoes?-" Case in point, he reaches up and tries to set his nose back into place, unsure if it actually -is- broken. Hard to tell, in the heat of battle.

When Yuri approaches, he attempts to lunge to the side and out of harm's way.
It's at this point that he realizes just how -fast- Yuri is.
Because she clocks him right on the underside of the jaw. And sends him soaring skyward.

He glances off the ceiling, actually, jarring loose a ceiling tile and sending a small shower of plaster cascading to the floor alongside him.

Shaking his head dizzily, he springs back to his feet, wiping blood from his nose across the back of his hand. "Just what do you hope to achieve here? You think we're gonna go -easy- on you? Case you ain't noticed, there's two more of us in that room back there, and they ain't gonna be happy with how much you've wrecked..."

Yamada doesn't risk charging in close to the Sakazaki dynamo though. No, he pulls the broken ceiling tile from the floor, and hurls it at her, discus-style, with every intention of wiping the smug grin off her face.

Fujisawa, though, has Sakura to worry about. And she still has the power cell in her tiny noodle arms. Twitching, he has a small recollection of how much potential is actually stored within those cells. And when she tosses it upwards, his eyes go wide. "You some kinda idiot?! The hell d'ya think yer..." He glances up at the canister, then back at Sakura -- but the moment of hesitation means he's all the more unprepared for an outpouring of energy -way- more than the output of the canister he was worried about.

"GNNGH!" he howls, soaring backwards. Unlike his friend, well, =he= leaves a substantial Fujisawa-sized crater in the plastered wall, spiderwebbing cracks rapidly expanding outwards in all directions. He tumbles forward, changing his grip on the baton -- and then lunging forward sharply. It seems he's learned nothing from Yamada's folly -- he's attacking with wild abandon with no heed for his own condition. "NGYAAAA NGYAA NGYAAAA!"

COMBATSYS: Yuri reflects Schoolhouse Rock from Yamada with Saiha.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Sakura           0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1         Fujisawa
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Yuri             0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

[YURI]
Throwing tiles at Yuri? What is this, a joke?

Regardless, Yuri isn't laughing. She watches as the tile comes at her, and apparently she starts to gulp... then she raises her hands and calls out, "SAIHA!" Causing a dome of energy to form around her hands, reflecting the tile away. "Ha, you should know better than to throw things in school! It might come back on you!"

COMBATSYS: Fujisawa successfully hits Sakura with Field Day.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Sakura           0/-------/--<<<<<|=======\====---\1         Fujisawa
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Yuri             0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0           Yamada

[SAKURA]
Don't get cocky, Sakura. Don't get cocky, just because you got him to crater the wall. Don't get coc--

"HAH! Eat -that- you big dumb ox!" She got cocky. Tossing the power cell into the air again, she catches it, then turns to watch how Yuri's fight is going for a moment.

"We better finish up quick before--" And then she hears the terrible gnashing as Fujisawa comes on like that ox she mentioned, and she's caught flatfooted.

She has enough presence of mind to keep the power cell out of the line of fire, having seen how he reacted to it, but that's about all she manages, the last blow slamming her back into a support pillar.

"NGH!" she gasps, the impact made worse by her stubbornness in holding on to that power cell.

"F--fine," she hisses, before she catches her breath entirely and is able to speak more normally. "You wanna play tough guy, then you can play tough guy..." She plants her right foot behind her, then uses it to push off the pillar, adrenaline erasing her aches for the moment, throwing herself into a sliding kick--except the aim isn't to take him off at the ankles, but to flick her left leg up into his groin as she slides between his legs.

COMBATSYS: Yuri successfully hits Yamada with Reflected Schoolhouse Rock.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Sakura           0/-------/--<<<<<|=======\====---\1         Fujisawa
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Fujisawa with Aggressive Strike.
- Power hit! -

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Sakura           0/-------/-<<<<<<|=======\======-\1         Fujisawa
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Yamada

[HONOKA]
Well, it -wasn't- a joke.
Yuri's perfectly welcome to -take- it as a joke.
But he has lots to reflect on now, as the broken tile comes careening back to him.
In all his years with the, uh, 'force', he's never had something get thrown -back- at him so quickly. The tile smashes right upon his broken nose, bursting up a fine cloud of crimson-soaked plaster as he careens backwards, landing on his duff. "Girl..."

While Yamada's taking a brief moment to collect himself, Fujisawa's gloating more than little over his success at landing several blows on the nimble Ansatsuken Angel. "Gyahahaha! Yeah, tough guy just smacked your sassy ass down, girl!" He even twists his hips around to flash his rear end at the girl, smacking it just as a taunt. Just to show, nah, he's -got- this, even if Yamada doesn't!

That would be when Sakura slides down.
And slams her laces up between his legs.
Fujisawa lets out a most unmanly scream as he doubles over forward, face-first, into a most unreceptive Yamada.

"G'THE FUGGOFFA ME!" howls Yamada, rocking backwards. And raising both feet, he plants them right on the falling Fujisawa's shoulders.
And kicks sharply outwards.

Propelling Fujisawa as the most un-aerodynamic missile ever, sailing back-first towards Sakura.

[YURI]
Meanwhile, as Yuri is recovering from what just happened, she sees that the two men are attempting to gang up on Sakura! "No you won't!" Yuri says with a fiercer scowl than ever. "You want to bully my buddy? FORGET ABOUT IT!" She brings both hands back behind her. "I'm not gonna let EITHER of you bully her!"

The power gathering into Yuri's hands seems to be getting bigger and bigger. "I told you I wasn't playing around! Now let's finish this! HAOH SHO KO KEN!" Yuri shoots forth a huge fireball at Yamada. As for Fujisawa, that's anyone's guess.

COMBATSYS: Sakura parries Yamada and Fujisawa's Taiyo High School Rumble!

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Sakura           0/-------/-<<<<<<|=======\======-\1         Fujisawa
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Yamada

[SAKURA]
In a lighter moment, Sakura would be self-narrating, something like "AND KASUGANO MAKES THE WINNING RUN ON A STELLAR SLIDE!!" But this is a bit more serious. So she slides, and spins, and is still crouched low when Fujisawa comes flying at her like a gigantic bellyflopping thing or... or whatever he is. She reacts with grace. With instinct. And probably, even if she doesn't realize is, with quite the little-girl-shriek.

But it isn't just her chi manipulation that makes her a fighter; it's her instinctive reactions and her ability to teach herself moves based simply on what she's seen. She scoots forward, staying low, getting underneath Fujisawa--and, dropping the power cell, she reaches up and grabs him with both hands and then plants her legs in his belly and just like Ryu would...

She assists him in the whole 'heave-ho' even further down the hallway. Probably headfirst. Hopefully to see him for the last time.

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Fujisawa with Medium Throw EX.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Sakura           0/-------/-----<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Fujisawa
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Yuri             1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1           Yamada

COMBATSYS: Yuri successfully hits Yamada with Haoh Sho Ko Ken.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Sakura           0/-------/-----<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Fujisawa
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Yuri             1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1           Yamada

[HONOKA]
Fujisawa had no idea -any- of this was coming. "DAMN YOU YAMADA, I HAD THIS!" he howls as he soars towards Sakura, trying to 'swim' in mid air to regain some semblance of control. But that only puts him in a better position to be (a) caught off-guard by the Taiyo Prom King's most unkingly shriek ever, and (b) trebucheted down the hall by Sakura's gravity-assist maneuver. Can you even gravity-assist without leaving Earth's atmosphere? THE ANSWER IS NOW 'YES.'

Fujisawa continues sailing down the hallway, howling his lamentations about the world's worst case of rugburn as his button-down shirt is ripped, shredded, and torn en route. It is safe to say he is... not getting up from that. He'd rather curse under his breath.

Yamada, though -- well, he's in no position to dodge. Not to say he doesn't try to clamber back to his feet. Not to say he doesn't even manage to scramble sideways, away from the gigantic pancake we call a "Haoh Ko Sho Ken."

It's just that it's a huge freaking pancake of energy, that wraps around him like a big hug, if big hugs were made of fiery chi and seared every nerve ending on his heavily veined skin. Those business-casual shirts aren't very protective, after all.

"GNNNAAAH!"
Yamada howls, slammed backwards and glancing off the side of the wall, tumbling to the floor. What's left of his consciousness is spent trying to pat out the flames that stopped burning a few moments earlier -- that's how vivid the memories are!

It's... right about now that the first two guards poke their heads out of the Detention Hall to get a better look at how the fight's progressing. By their estimation, Yamada and Fujisawa should be done with the thieving students; they should be all ready to drag into the V-Gage room with the others.

"Sheeeeit," sayeth the first.

"Told you, dumbass. Sakazaki and Kasugano," sayeth the second.
And in what might be the first smart thing any of the four has done thus far, he raises his camera phone to the two figures standing in the hall, and snaps a picture.

COMBATSYS: Fujisawa takes no action.

COMBATSYS: Fujisawa can no longer fight.

COMBATSYS: Yamada takes no action.

COMBATSYS: Yamada can no longer fight.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           0/-------/-----<<|
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Yuri             1/-----==/=======|

[SAKURA]
Sakura's cheeky. So she actually flashes a V-sign at the guard when he takes the picture. Besides... she's kind of minorly famous at the school, they'd know who she is anyways, it would just be obvious. "C'mon, Yuri," she says. She's tired, but she's got enough left in her to power up for a modified Hadouken, slamming her left fist into the nearest window and blowing it out.

"C'mon!" she repeats as she boogies out and goes into a full out run, pumping arms and legs with renewed vigor... and mentally adjusting her to-do list. Now at the top: Dropping this power cell off at Interpol with someone she thinks she can trust and explaining what she saw. And giving them Yuri's name so they can find her and inquire with her, too.

[YURI]
Running off with Sakura (and hopefully the other cell) Yuri looks back briefly before taking off in a full sprint. She tosses the power cell to Sakura when she gets a chance, since she won't be able to drop it off with Interpol. Once they're safely outside, Yuri says, "Good job, Sakura! Now let's split before they split us!"

Log created on 16:22:30 08/09/2017 by Honoka, and last modified on 16:53:18 08/10/2017.