Match of the Millennium

Description: Ryuko is your seemingly average high school student. Counted among her many interests are anime, texting, and Iaido. Unlike most girls her age? She possesses the burning desire to dispatch all of the V-Gage servers on campus. Teaming up with the number one rebel of the establishment, Yuri Sakazaki, they form an alliance to be reckoned with. Hideo does not like interruptions, especially when he is caught unawares while preparing the other teachers for their private lessons in the new Mishima-themed education. It's against the rules to be at school after hours, even if this isn't his school, and rule breakers are to be punished, or worse... Expelled.

[HIDEO]
It's late evening, and the streets are more or less empty at this hour what with the prevailing conditions and impending world wars going on. People are loathe to be out and about if it can be helped. Hideo Shimazu is one of those people who can't help it; he's been tasked by the school district to ensure that the new V-Tech servers are up and running before classes start in the morning. The other schools in the district are ready to go, but Shimazu had left Gedo for last given it's... colorful situation.

Finishing touches had just been completed, and the servers were receiving one last patch. Hideo did not need to be around for that. One last check of security, mostly checking lights and locks, and he could go home for the night.

[RYUKO]
The soft patter of slow but steady foosteps echoes through the hallways as Ryuko strides confidently but cautiously into the empty school's domain. Gedo was a dangerous place in broad daylight, both its students and teachers having grown harsh and unforgiving in the environment crafted specifically to be a holding pen for all of the delinquents and misfits society would rather pretend do not exist, yet is still obligated to offer some pretense of rights to proper education. The bland concrete buildings were imposing and unwelcoming at the best of times, with the full light of day exposing them for what they are. Now, in the dark with none of the usual bustle and noise, she wasn't too ashamed to admit that the silence and emptiness made the place a little bit creepy.

Digging around in the pocket of her expensive blazer, the girl withdrew a pack of freshly opened cigarettes, the brand as high-class and expensive as her designer clothes, snapping one halfway out of the package with a practice flick of her wrist and bringing it up to her mouth. She lit it and took a long drag, exhaling a dense cloud of smoke into the air. The teachers frowned upon smoking in the buildings but that rarely ever stopped anyone. Normally, she was one of the few people to respect that rule, but tonight she needed something to calm her nerves and there wasn't anyone around to complain about it.

Another noise joined the small jumble of intrusive sound she brought with her into the silent halls, a faint mechanical whirring as the twin pair of fin-line antennae on the side of her head shifted and wobbled. The cybernetic sensors were more active than usual tonight, rising to the challenge of compensating not only for her missing eye but the dim lighting as well. They cast a web of intricate scans out into the gloom ahead of her, pulsing from within along slender lines with faint purplish neon light like something out of a cyberpunk movie. A small chime and a short readout, visible only to her mind, marked the path as clear ahead.

She had come here expecting to find others. While the school wasn't a particularly great place to be, many of the gangs that formed within its umbrella had come to claim various parts of the local grounds as their personal haunts. She'd passed one such group on her way in, buying passage with her spare pack of cigarettes and some of her patented Big Sister charisma, but the school itself was surprisingly free of protesters.

The V-Gage technology was an abomination, a violation of freedom and morality so fundamental that she simply could not accept that anyone present within Gedo's student body would ever willingly accept it. Personal choice and the desire to live by one's own rules were of paramount importance to those who had been shunned by society. Something was very wrong here and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

At that thought, her grip on the object in her left hand tightened slightly, as if reassuring herself that it was present. Almost anyone in the world would be able to reconize the familiar shape of the curved sword which rested in the heavy sheath, the katana having become perhaps the most famous blade in history thanks to popular culture. Hers was of a very personalized design, carved and molded from a block of steel that had once been part of an antiquated Japanese warship. It was a little piece of history that she carried around with her, a personal slice of national pride that she indulged in. She had yet to give the weapon a name, having not yet come across a situation that warranted such a momentous event. Maybe tonight would change that.

Taking another long drag on her smoke, she steeled herself, smoothing out her expression to one of teenage casual boredom and strode forward into the darkness to find her answers.

[YURI]
It's been a while since Yuri's last fight. She was beaten pretty badly by that kid calling himself 'Sean.' Yuri didn't know much about him, but she did find out the hard way that he packed a powerful punch. She was laid up for a little while, but being the spunky warrior she is, Yuri recovered fairly quickly and resumed her training to try to get to the bottom of this whole thing. And now it would appear that she's gotten her stamina back and is back in this investigation for real!

If Ryuko were to listen carefully, she'd hear the sound of Yuri's Chuck Taylor sneakers padding lightly on the floor of the school corridor. Unlike Ryuko, though, Yuri's a bit on edge about this whole thing. It's a bit dark and ever since what's happened during 'after hours,' Yuri's more on edge than ever. Although after a moment, and a stop at a water fountain which seems to be working just fine, she regains her courage and her nervous look is replaced by one of determination and strength. Her nervous eyes turn into angry eyes as a slight scowl forms on her face. Her crooked mouth turns into a smile, teeth slightly showing. And her fists are clenched as she smooths her gi top a little, before tapping her fists together and continuing on her way down the corridor, towards the direction where Ryuko is.

"If anyone is here," Yuri comments to herself, "They'd better not get on my bad side, lest they want to receive a Haoh Sho Ko Ken that'll send them halfway across the world!" Yuri's evil smirk turns into a grin as she runs a hand through her braided brown hair. "They're gonna regret messing with the queen of Kyokugen Karate!" She chuckles, but then stops as she sniffs something in the air. "What's that?" Yuri wonders aloud, sniffing again.

Cigarette smoke.

"Wait, someone's been smoking here?" Yuri raises an eyebrow as she looks around. "H-hello? Is someone else here?" Yuri calls out, not knowing that Ryuko is already ahead of her.

[HIDEO]
It should come as now surprise that the first person Hideo discovers is the one being the loudest. The school teacher simply appears directly behind Yuri. What little lighting there is reflects off of the older man's glasses, serving to mask his expression somewhat.

"It's after hours," the teacher says sternly. "You should be at home." He is silent for a moment before examining Yuri a little more closer. "In fact, you shouldn't be here at all! You're not even a student here!"

With no further preamble than that, Hideo reaches for the back of the girl's gi at the shoulders and attempts to hurl the young woman out the door!

COMBATSYS: Hideo has started a fight here on the top side.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-------

COMBATSYS: Ryuko has joined the fight here.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Yuri has joined the fight here.

                 [ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Yuri

[RYUKO]
She hasn't gone more than a few dozen feet down the hall when Ryuko hears the sound of footsteps echoing through the empty air. She comes to an immediate stop and listens, letting the advanced machinery on her head do the work of triangulating its source rather than rely upon her own ears. It takes only a few moments for the direction of approach to be analyzed and the delinquent swiftly rushes ahead, further away from the sound, ducking around a corner into another hall.

Ryuko presses herself up against the wall and leans sideways to poke her head out just far enough to peer back down the long dark passageway. The glow of the moonlight outside provides a scant amount of illumination, enough for her to spot the dark silhouette of another person when they appear near the doorway. She freezes, moving not a muscle. The long ear-like antennae whir softly as she mentally commands them to fold backwards, muffling their faint but quite obvious neon purple glow behind the wall to avoid being seen. She waits, watching to see which direction the person will go.

Instead, they call out to her. Ryuko frowns slightly upon hearing the voice of a young woman, rather than the deeper tones of an adult. She'd expected there might be a teacher or two still lingering around at night, maybe a janitor, but what reason did another student have to be here? A few obvious answers to that question pop into her mind - she's part of a club that meets late, she was forced to stay for a long detention session, she came to vandalize something, she's having a secret fling with one of the staff - all possible but that information doesn't help her.

However, there are two more options that could alter how she'd respond here. If this girl is one of the students who has already been affected by whatever the V-Gauge is doing to people, she could be a threat; even if she can't fight, she can scream and alert others. On the opposite side of the coin, she might be someone else who has come to investigate the problem, just like Ryuko. Unfortunately, she's being a bloody idiot about it, shouting and making herself a clear target. That sort of 'help' she can do without.

Ryuko turns away, preparing to sneak quietly further into the bowels of the facility when another voice joins the first. This time it /is/ one of the teachers. The young samurai scoots back to the edge of the corner and peers down the hall at the pair of them, recognizing the voice of Hideo as one of the local instructors, though not one she's ever met in person. It quickly becomes clear from the tone of his voice that he's not happy to see the other girl.

Good. Let her serve as a distraction. Maybe a few days of detention will teach the fool to be less obvious next time. Ryuko prepares to turn away yet again but the sudden outburst of rage and violence changes the entire scenario. Gritting her teeth, the teen glances down the hall behind her, blissfully free of commotion or interrupts. She could still make a break for it, let this other student's misfortune be her lucky star. But then, since it was just loudly announced that the girl isn't from Gedo, there's no guarantee that she knows how to defend herself.

Ryuko rolls her eyes up towards the sky and makes a 'why me' gesture, expecting no answer and receiving none for her trouble. Being everyone's big sister is a lot of work. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she swaps the katana to her other hand, holding the sheath in her right while grasping the hilt with her left. The soft creak of supple leather grinding together touches her senses as she tightens her gloved fist around the elaborate tsuka, centering her mind.

Go time.

Ryuko whips around the corner without a word, dashing down the long corridor towards the pair of struggling figures, their dark silhouettes gradually taking distinct shape as she draws closer. She curses upon seeing that the student under assault is wearing a karate gi - she probably could have handled herself - but, it's too late to back out now. While she isn't exactly the stealthiest person around, the samurai girl doesn't announce her presence like Yuri, moving up from behind with only the click-click-click of her designer shoes on the cheap linoleum to announce her presence.

Not yet willing to draw blood, she does not bare her steel against the teacher's back, instead swinging the katana, sheath and all, at him like a club. Despite the extra weight, her weapon has no trouble scything through the air with great speed as she attempts to clout him on the back of the head, once and then again, hopefully putting an end to this problem in a single fell swoop.

COMBATSYS: Hideo blocks Ryuko's Tenryuko no Kagizume.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|------=
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Yuri

COMBATSYS: Hideo successfully hits Yuri with Medium Throw.

                 [  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|------=
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0             Yuri

[YURI]
Yuri is briefly startled by this encounter, but she regains her composure almost immediately. A stubborn scowl forms on her face as she folds her arms and hmmphs. "Of course I know it's after hours here! And you must think I'm stupid if I didn't know I wasn't a student here!" She closes her eyes briefly as she continues. "I have my own reasons for being here, but those reasons are none of your business!" She opens her eyes and grits her teeth. "Although, I have my suspicion that you might know something that I want to know!"

Just then, Hideo attempts to grab Yuri by her gi and Yuri widens her eyes in shock. Unfortunately, that's all she has time to do as she's picked up and hurled towards the door. She does hit it and goes through it, landing outside with a yelp. For a moment there is nothing, then there's the sound of groaning, followed by the call of, "OK, now I'm really mad!"

A moment later, Yuri comes RUNNING back in! Not walking, running. There's a fierce scowl on her face as she dashes towards Hideo, the bruises on her face and arm trivial to how she's feeling right now. "You made the foolish mistake of attacking a girl like me! Now you're gonna get it!" She attempts to grab Hideo and, if successful, will deliver a dozen or so rapid-speed slaps to his face, before uppercutting him away!

COMBATSYS: Hideo interrupts Hyakuretsu Binta from Yuri with Back Roll Throw EX.

                 [    |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|----===
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0             Yuri

[HIDEO]
"I do not /care/ if you are angry," Hideo says as he snaps a hand out simply /catch/ Ryuko's sword strike. He regards the woman... cyborg? with calm detatchment. At least /she's/ a student here. Yuri charges in, and makes the grab. She even slaps the instructor across the face. It... does not seem to faze him much, aside from knocking his glasses askew. He frowns.

He grabs Yuri quickly, spinning around so that his back to the door she just entered. "Leave. Now," he orders before pulling back and planting a foot in Yuri's stomach. The move is not all that fancy beyond that: he lands on his back, using the momentum to hurl Yuri back out the door. If she's not going to leave voluntarily, then he'll simply have to force the issue.

[RYUKO]
The overhead swing of the sheathed katana comes down hard on the teacher's outstretched hand, his rather ordinary looks belying the great skill that he possesses. Ryuko lets out an annoyed sound through her teeth but quickly steps back, yanking her weapon free from Hideo's grasp before he can attempt to grapple it from her. Fortunately, the loud-mouthed girl she'd stepped in to try and save manages to continue to be a distraction, giving the Gedo student a chance to back away and regroup.

Ryuko takes a moment to assess the situation now that her plan to put the watch dog out of action quickly has failed. In the dim light it is stil somewhat difficult to make out Hideo's features but a few moments of study assisted by the small but powerful computer in her head eventually brings up a match. She had studied each of the instructors who taught at Gedo High upon being accepted into its roster, learning as much as she could about them by asking around or accessing publicly available files. Gedo was rather notorious, not only for its rowdy students, but for the teachers who had to be able to handle them when they got uppity. She'd expected just this sort of conflict at some point, though not quite in this manner.

"Shimazu-sensei!"

Ryuko takes a step back and offers a quick bow to the older man, even going so far as to remove the cigarette from her mouth as she talks - high respect indeed. Perhaps she might defuse this situation with words, rather than violence. Certainly not all of the teachers here could be on board with what Violet Systems is doing. If he knew her purpose, mayhap this confrontation could be avoided. Hell, maybe he'd even help her.

"Listen to me a moment, please. I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want answers. The V-Gage - you can't believe what they say about it, can you? Brainwashing students into 'model' citizens? That's crazy talk! It's a violation of everything ethical and decent. But even disregarding that, something about this situation reeks. I need to know what is really going on with those machines."

The teen narrows her eye slightly, the antennae on her head wiggling back and forth like living things as they feed telemetry into her mind, preparing to engage in combat should her words fall on deaf ears. Her stance is casual, the sword resting loosely against her side, but the fingers of her hand are tight around its length. She doesn't want a fight but she's still ready for one.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko focuses on her next action.

                 [    |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|----===
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0             Yuri

[YURI]
Of course Yuri isn't going to leave voluntarily. She knows there's something going on here, and despite the fact she's been thrown out the door AGAIN, almost like it's some kind of lame comical device, makes her even angrier. "You may not care that I'm angry," Yuri says with a scowl as she comes back in, a bit more bruised and showing some signs of struggling as she does so. "But don't think you're gonna get lucky with me again! I'm just warming up!"

She hears Ryuko talking about the V-Gage, and almost immediately she knows that Ryuko is also here for the same reason. But now is not the time to talk about that. Now is the time to deal with this defiant staff member who simply wants to get rid of Yuri.

"You asked for it, now you're gonna get it!" With that, Yuri quickly launches a one-handed fireball aimed directly at Hideo. "Ko'ou Ken!" She calls out, as if emphasizing her attack's name.

COMBATSYS: Hideo overcomes Ko'ou Ken from Yuri with Seihaken.

                 [     ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|----===
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0             Yuri

[HIDEO]
HIdeo is about to answer some of Ryuko's concerns when Yuri demostrates more hotheadedness. This time it's in the form of a chi blast. Hideo has been giving a lesson in bigger fish, perhaps not by design, but definitely by result. The motion looks like, well, something Sakura or Ryu might use. Both hands cradling an invisible ball. Chi forms there, red and orange swirling around. "You should just leave," he intones as he brings in a fairly intense surge of chi before calling out, "SEIHAKEN!" Both hands thrust forward, the chi blasting clean through Yuri's blast. Satisfied that he dealt with the nuisance for the moment, he turns to regard Ryuko. "Miss Tenjin, it is after hours," he says calmly. "Your concerns are noted, but you need to go home. Now." Perhaps the lack of... attention levelled at Ryuko has a time limit?

[RYUKO]
Ryuko frowns, annoyance spreading across her face. She lifts the cigarette back up to her lips and takes a long drag, filling the hallway with a thin hazy cloud of smoke when she exhales it slowly back out. Getting involved in this scuffle was a mistake. If she'd just kept going, she could be in the computer room already. Damn that noisy girl and her own desire to help everyone. The mostly used-up butt is tossed on the floor and she grinds it under the toe of her expensive sneaker. So much for decorum.

"Well, it was worth a shot. Sorry, teach, but I'm pretty determined to see what's going on around here. Something is rotten and I'm going to expose it. The future of this school, hell maybe the whole country, might well depend on it."

Well, nothing for it then. She'll just have to do this the hard way.

Ryuko shifts gears, converting her outwards agitation into a broad grin. If there's one thing she enjoys in this life above all others it's a good brawl. There isn't any particular reason that she can pinpoint for this rather unfeminine attraction to violence and competition, it's just a part of her that's always been there, like an invisible voice guiding her towards confrontation. She isn't going to be getting nominated for any yamato nadeshiko awards, that's for sure; but then, she isn't losing any sleep over it either. Fighting is fun, winning is even better.

Turning away from Hideo, Ryuko quickly drops into her combat stance, her blade held at the ready against her right hip, her left side facing the opponent. It is an unusual way to start a fight, exposing oneself to the enemy, but as a student of the arts himself the middle-aged teacher might well recognize the basic forms of an battoujutsu stance, often referred to as iaido in the modern schools. Strangely, this puts the girl's left eye, the one which she is missing, towards Hideo.

"Ha!"

When the attack comes, it's swift and without warning. Ryuko simply moves, her body flowing like water. Her sword is little more than an extension of her self in this state and it too inherits this smooth grace as she lunges forward in a blur of motion, swinging the deadly blade in a wide horizontal arcing swath through the space that Hideo currently occupies. The weapon leaves its sheath for only a split second, dancing out to strike and then vanishing once more into its holster so fast that there is little more than smear of dull grey and red color to mark its passage.

COMBATSYS: Yuri reflects Seihaken from Hideo with Saiha.
? Strange Hit! ?

                 [     ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0             Yuri

[YURI]
Yuri was NOT expecting Hideo to be throwing a projectile at her. He didn't seem like the type to be doing such a thing like that. But as Hideo has shown just now, looks can be very deceiving. Yuri's Ko'ou Ken is vaporized by Hideo's projectile, and Yuri must think fast. For a brief moment she goes wide-eyed, then...

Without warning, Yuri places her hands in front of her and summons forth a barrier of chi. The barrier works better than she anticipated it would either. Instead of just absorbing Hideo's projectile, it now sends it back towards him. When Yuri looks again, she finds that she's got her opponent on the defense now. "Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine, hmmm?"

With that, Yuri pretends to wipe the sweat off of her forehead as if taunting the staff member. "Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

COMBATSYS: Yuri successfully hits Hideo with Reflected Seihaken.
-* WILD HIT! *-

                 [         ||||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0             Yuri

COMBATSYS: Hideo interrupts Strong Strike from Ryuko with Jicchokken.

                 [           ||||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|=======
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0             Yuri

[HIDEO]
Welp, this devolved a little too quickly. Hideo, however, is not all that concerned. The returned projectile is too fast for the teacher to counter, and shoves him back towards Ryuko. The young woman swinging an actual sword at him. He steps a little closer to the Gedo High student, which puts him on close. The blade strikes his shoulder, closer to the guard which denies more than a little of the cutting force as he drops into a crouch.

"JICCHOKEN!" Hideo leaps skyward as he drives a fist directly into Ryuko's jaw. He lands lightly on the balls of his feet, settling into a ready stance of his own: left fist low, right fist slightly raised in a closely guarded stance. "Looks like there will be one last class for today. School is in session once again."

[RYUKO]
Fortunately for Hideo, the crazy sword wielding girl never really had any intention of hurting him seriously. The edge that strikes him? The heavy blunt backside of the odd katana. It still isn't pleasant but he's not in any danger of getting eviscerated today. Ryuko might be a trouble maker with an unhealthy drive to stick her nose in other people's business like some kind of pesky meddler but she's not a killer.

The fist that crashes into her chin is something of a wake-up call reminding her that, yes, this is infact go time and she should probably get her act together unless she wants to end up in the nurse's office at Gedo giving these brainwashed robots time to do probably unpleasant things to her. Would her cybernetics protect her against that sort of thing? Not something she'd like to find out the hard way but certainly an interesting line of thought.

Ryuko staggers backwards from the force of the powerful uppercut, feeling the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. Shit, this guy isn't fooling around. The teenager swallows her pride, somewhat literally, answering that question for the viewers in the process. With the still very loud girl on the other side of Hideo, she opts to take a more tactical approach. Maybe she can get some use out of Yuri.

Falling back into her stance, the girl takes a moment to concentrate, gathering her chi around her and focusing it into the blade. The weapon flashes free from its scabbard one again but this time she remains at a distance, pirouetting a full 360 spin in place, swinging the blade like a golf club as she comes around.

"Shippuken!"

A miniature tornado of swirling blue energy erupts from the tip of her katana, growing in size as it crashes toward Hideo at breakneck speeds, filling the enclosed hallway with a brief but powerful zephyr that sets the various posters, bulletins, and paraphanelia on the walls aflutter. If she can push him back towards Yuri, or tangle him up in the door or something, she might be able to take advantage of it.

[YURI]
"Looks like I got you that time!" Yuri exclaims with an evil smirk as she cracks her knuckles triumphantly. "But you still want some more. I guess I'll have to oblige you!" She wipes her forehead again, only this time it's for real as she's starting to feel the effects of this fight taking their toll on her.

"Now, let me show you something else!" Yuri attempts to run in again, only this time she's going to attempt to deliver her own personal version of the Dragon Punch, given the Yuri treatment!

COMBATSYS: Hideo blocks Ryuko's Tenryuko Shippuken.

                 [            |||||||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            1|-------|=======
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Ryuko            0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0             Yuri

COMBATSYS: Hideo endures Yuri's Yuri Chou Upper.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            1|-----==|=======
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Ryuko            0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0             Yuri

[HIDEO]
Hideo braces up against the incoming tornado just enough to resist blowing him away, but not enough to break him like an overly proud tree. The blast of wind washes past him, allowing him to step in towards Yuri's punch. "Is that all," he asks. "You need more training." With that, he leaps. Not at Yuri. That'd be too obvious. "Shimazu..." he intones as chi wraps and swirls around his body as he braces against a wall. "RAIEISHU!"

He /launches/ at Sakazaki, chi wrapping around his left foot, which is driven at Yuri's head with extreme force. He will kick /through/ the girl, whirling to deliver a second, and then a /third/ such flying kick at Yuri. He needs to bring this matter to a close, and quickly. The two youngsters are starting to get the better of him.

COMBATSYS: Hideo successfully hits Yuri with Shimazu Raieishuu.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-----==
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Ryuko            0/-------/---====|=======\=======\1             Yuri

[YURI]
Those kicks hurt. Far worse than anything Yuri's generally endured.

Yuri cries out as she gets hit, unable to defend herself in time. She stumbles and staggers against the kicks, hurting so much that she feels like Hideo may have actually kicked a hole THROUGH her! Thankfully he hasn't...

Still, Yuri's not going to last a lot longer. She's stumbling around and trying to stay up on her feet, but it's no use. She's about to go down... or so it seems.

Just as Yuri drops to one knee, she stands up suddenly and lets out a battle cry, before bringing her hands behind her and throwing not one, not two, but THREE huge fireballs at Hideo!

...And then she falls flat on her face.

COMBATSYS: Yuri can no longer fight.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-----==
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/---====|

[RYUKO]
Well, good news - her plan worked. The old man is now focusing his efforts on Yuri, and what's more, she can see that their combined efforts are starting to wear him down. Bad news - he seems to be pulling out all the stops and that twiggy little girl doesn't look like she can take the kind of punishment that's likely on the other end of those glowing kic---nope, she's down. So much for back up. On the upside, she isn't talking any more.

Ryuko feels a slight pang of guilt at taking pleasure in watching Yuri get pummeled - but only a slight one. She doesn't know the girl at all and her resentment is stemming entirely from the fact that her foolishness is what led the cyclopean samurai to intervene on her behalf. Something something, roads and good intentions. She'll deal with that later. Right now, she needs to make sure this teacher takes a nice long nap so she can do her investigating.

Ryuko rushes forward even as the massive waves of energy erupt from her ally of convenience, hopefully keeping Hideo's attention long enough for her to close the gap and strike him from behind. There are a lot of weird conceptions people have about honor, such as backstabbing somehow not fitting into the picture, which is patently not true - whatever lets you win on the battlefield is honorable. You think samurais never stabbed each other in the back in the middle of a pitched battle? The chaos of fighting is part of the package you sign up for when you become a warrior. She read it on the internet so it's obviously credible.

Regardless of whether or not her ancestors are frowning down upon her for her actions, Ryuko darts in to take advantage of the situation while she can, unleashing a series of quick but precise slashes at Hideo's joints, smashing at his knees and elbows in an effort to throw him off balance and make any reprisal he might have for her that much more difficult.

COMBATSYS: Hideo endures Ryuko's Medium Strike!

                 [                    |||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|---====
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Hideo blocks Yuri's Denjin Haoh Sho Ko Ken.

                 [                      |||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

[HIDEO]
Hideo turtles up by ducking his head, hunching his shoulders, and bringing his forearms vertical to block the incoming projectile. The chi blast splashes against Hideo, shredding the sleeves of his shirt but failing to bring down the instructor. He turns towards Ryuko, allowing the strikes to land... almost where she was aiming. Every time, the joint aimed for was just not there. That's not to say that the blows missed entirely; Hideo takes every single hit. He is, in a way, allowing Ryuko to cut the flesh.

So that he could break the bone.

"SHINENKYAKU!" Hideo takes a very /small/ hop. It almost does not qualify as one, really. But it is enough. Hideo lashes out with a spinning kick aimed at the girl's head. Followed by a second one from the same foot, before being impossibly followed by a third kick with the same leg.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko blocks Hideo's Shinenkyaku.

                 [                      |||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/=======|

[RYUKO]
With his attention primarily on Yuri's parting shot, the teen closes in without incident, Ryuko's blade crashing home with every flashing strike, the dull surface of its rear edge bludgeoning at the instructor's weakpoints in an effort to finish him off. He proves to be a little tougher than she gave the old guy credit for, however, weathering her strikes in an attempt to manuever her into a favorable position for him to unleash his counter attack.

That little voice in the back of her head, the one that's always pushing her towards danger and into trouble, also has the convenient habit of telling her when she's about to do something really stupid or when someone else is going to try something funny. In this case, it's both, so the gut sensation that she needs to get the Hell out of Dodge is particularly strong. Ryuko cuts her attack short rather than press what appears to be an advantage, hopping backwards just as Hideo takes to the air to unleash his whirlwind of kicks at her skull.

"Hey! Watch the hardware, this crap is expensive! Atleast, I'm...pretty sure it's expensive!"

Prototype cybernetic implants sounds expensive, so she's going to go with expensive. Best to err on the side of not owing someone a few million dollars for breaking their toys.

The delinquent throws her arm up to intercept the first of his kicks taking the powerful blow on her bicep. Rather than resist the impact, she rolls with it, falling backwards into a controlled tumble that sees her clear of his follow-up strikes. Damn, that smarts. This old man really packs a punch. But she's pretty sure she's got him on the ropes. Now for the final push.

"Nothing personal, sensei, but I'm ending this!"

Lunging forward, Ryuko brings her blade out with another of her lightning-speed slashes, aiming the hard edge for the teacher's knee once again with a sharp downwards diagonal cut. This, however, is but a feint for the real attack. The sheath in which she has carted around her weapon all this time becomes a weapon itself, whistling through the air as she wheels around from the sword slash to bring the scabbard down from above in a smiting blow on Hideo's head!

COMBATSYS: Hideo just-defends Ryuko's Tenryuko Souken!

                 [                    |||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

[HIDEO]
Hideo reads the feint for /exactly/ what it is. He simply ignores it, raising his hand up to simply brush the incoming sheath aside even as he steps away from the strike. He then takes a short hop away from Ryuko. "You show skill, Miss Tenjin," Hideo says, praising the girl's technique. "Better still, you show promise. I do not wish to crush such things, especially since I would look forward to seeing more."

Hideo regains his stance, waiting for Ryuko to make her next move. "Come," he challenges. "Test your blade further against my fist."

COMBATSYS: Hideo gains composure.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|--=====
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

[RYUKO]
Ryuko's expression is a mask of calm as her attack gets casually deflected save for the slight narrowing of her eyes. She isn't the kind of person who gets riled up by a setback or two and she's far from giving up at this juncture. More than curiosity, she has determination driving her to find out exactly what is going on with her school. If the V-gage is doing what some people think it is, then she's going to smash every last one of the damn things and take a picture of it for posterity. But first, she's got to deal with Mr. Miyagi over here.

The girl considers his praise and his taunt, meeting them both with a casual shrug and an arrogant smirk like any teenager might. She doesn't need his praise, she knows what she's good at. Fighting is something she was born to do. More to the point, she doesn't want the praise of anyone willing to stand in defense of the V-gage or those who created it.

Taking a couple of steps back, the young samurai slides into her combat pose once again and closes her eye, letting the cybernetics take primary control of her senses for a few moments. The mechanical antennae whir and shift as they take in more specific data than simply feeding her information about her surroundings, focusing their potent array of sensors on Hideo himself.

"You want it?"

Ryuko's eye snaps open and she leans forward slightly, her hand tightening upon the hilt of her blade.

"Come get it."

COMBATSYS: Ryuko focuses on her next action.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|--=====
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

[HIDEO]
Hideo grins a little. This is Gedo, and for all of her... eccentricities, it is easy to tell that the school has made its mark on Ryuko. Or perhaps this was right where she belonged. "No regrets," he instructs Ryuko. Then he leaps, doing a far more... contained version of the series of kicks that laid Yuri out. For starters, it's only the one kick.

But it flies like a dart, directly at the center of Ryuko's chest. "CHEST!" he calls out.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko blocks Hideo's Raieishuu.

                 [                |||||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|----===
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/=======|

[RYUKO]
She is ready for him when he comes, the girls's hand whipping out, releasing the grip on her weapon. She spreads her fingers wide and catches the kick on the flat of her palm, its speed and power driving her arm back against her side and pushing the girl backwards a foot or two as she cancels its momentum with a direct and bold interception.

"Sorry," she quips, still sporting a knowing grin. "I'm sort of partial to not getting kicked in my delicate bits. I would probably regret that quite a bit."

Sarcastic teenage retort delivered, quota fulfilled.

Ryuko immediately lunges into her own strike, whipping the sword from its sheath. She harries the teacher from a distance, using her superior reach to keep him at arm's length while pressing his defenses, thrusting and smashing with the heavy weighted tip of her weapon, searching for an opening that she can exploit while hopefully wearing him down bit by bit.

COMBATSYS: Hideo blocks Ryuko's Light Strike.

                 [                   ||||||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|---====
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            1/-------/=======|

[HIDEO]
Hideo smiles a bit. The sword strikes come in, and Hideo blocks or parries every single one of them. Her aggression is becoming clear, and that is okay. Youth /should/ be spirited. However, he does not really have time to mess around, either.

To that end, he snaps a swift kick at the side of Ryuko's head, testing her speed a bit as well.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko intercepts Light Kick from Hideo with Tenryuko Senjin.
- Power hit! -

                 [                      |||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            1/-------/=======|

[RYUKO]
And this is precisely what she was waiting for - an opening to exploit. Hideo's kick, while quick and skilled, proves to be remarkably ineffective. That and the young warrior seems to get a hell of a lot faster all of the sudden - freakishly fast even. Even as his leg starts to snap up, she is already reacting, her body tucking downwards as if she knows precisely where his attack is going to go. In such a position, he has no chance to react when she bursts into action.

Ryuko's body becomes a streak of mixed colors as her clothes, skin, and hair all melt together into one congealed blob of motion. Only the sword, jutting out from the pastel mass of absurd speed, becomes distinct enough to make out though it does him little good to see it as by the time his senses can adjust to track the girl her blade has already struck home, biting sharply into his exposed side.

The student reappears some ten feet or so behind him, having somehow moved from directly in his path to further down the hall in the span of a second or less. She turns slowly to face him once more and offers the middle-aged man her patented big sister smile, radiating a sort of rogueish charisma even in her gloating.

"You're getting slow, sensei. Maybe you need to take a break."

[HIDEO]
The kick was aimed true. It /looked/ like it would connect. Then it didn't. Not really, anyway. /And/ he was cut. He glances down at his side, clearly impressed. He nods once. "I don't think I could have reached that speed even at your age," he says easily. "But there are ways around that."

With that, Hideo leaps back, energy surrounding open hands as he hurls a trio of those blasts he used against Yuri earlier in the fight in rapid succession. It does not leave Ryuko with a lot of room to manuever, the shots placed with some consideration for the girl's speed.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko dodges Hideo's Taikuu Seihaken.

                 [                      |||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|---====
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            1/-------/=======|

[RYUKO]
Ryuko's smile only widens at that declaration, lifting hand to make the universal 'bring it on' gesture. The trio of fireballs hurl down the hallway at great speeds but she is already moving, once more able to somehow predict exactly where his strikes will be before he even does them. She phases in and out of visibility, almost as if leaping through time and space itself, blinking back and forth in a weaving pattern that sees each of Hideo's attacks fly harmlessly past the place she used to be only a few moments before, drawing ever closer with each passing second.

The first thing that alerts him to the presence at his back is the soft hum of the machines on Ryuko's head as they suddenly light up with an inner glow of neon purple energy, drawing her latent power to the fore and concentrating it to deadly effect. She stands at his back, just far enough away to be out of easy reach should he wish to whirl around and strike at her in a moment of panic or desperation but still within the reach of her flashy katana. The girl has already hunched over into her distinctive combat stance, hand on the hilt of her weapon, shimmering blue chi flowing around her in a thin aura of strange power. She pauses, taking just enough time to flash him a wink, before unleashing her own small slice of Hell upon the man.

That damnable blade explodes into a flurry of motion, a hailstorm of slashes that start at his head and work their way down then back up again. The weapon moves so fast that it is completely invisible, only the tell-tale streaks of blazing blue fighting spirit that stain the air between them offering any sort of visual cue as to what comes his way. The assault is blinding and beautiful in a strange sort of way, like a flower of neon light being painted by the strokes of an invisible giant brush.

With the final strike Ryuko dashes past him once more, zipping back down the hallway as she cleaves into him with a single deep cut, her blade most of the way back into the sheath by the time she comes to a halt several feet away. The girl remains frozen in that stance for a few precious empty seconds, the passage of time seeming to hang upon her whim, until at last she snap the sword completely down into the holster once more with sharp click.

"Mokozan!"

Upon the declaration of her technique's name, the shimmering flower that had taken shape explodes in a violent eruption of shattered fragments. Hideo is subjected to that finaly deadly strike in an such rush of energy, time snapping back to normal with a sickening lurch.

Ryuko staggers as well, the massive expenditure of her latent powers drawn out by the assistance of her cybernetics leaving the girl momentarily drained. She collapses to one knee with a grunt, her vision swimming, but it will take her but a few seconds of concentration to shake it off. The question is, does she have those few seconds?

COMBATSYS: Hideo blocks Ryuko's Ougi - Mokozan.

                 [                        |||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|

[HIDEO]
Ryuko's speed is indeed impressive. However, he is starting to adapt to it. Each strike that comes in blocked cleanly, each impact lessened by superb technique. He nods once in appreciation of the technique. And then Ryuko crumbles from fatigue. So that's it.

The girl's back is to him, and Hideo decides to try something. He steps forward, planting one foot while lashing out with the other in a clean thrust kick that will strike with the outer edge of his shoe like a blade in the girl's back. No regrets, and little room for mercy; she won't stand down.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko wards against Hideo's Heavy Kick.

                 [                       ||||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/-----==|

[RYUKO]
Breathing heavily, Ryuko struggles to regain her footing. She might have overdone it a bit that time. That was easily one of the bigger displays of her power to date. It had meant to finish the man off but he is proving more tenacious than she'd anticipated. It is both annoying and exciting at the same time, the promise of victory hovering just out of reach while she balances on the edge of a knife.

Hideo's approach from behind her is hardly subtle and even without the aid of her implants she'd have heard him coming. Digging deep for a little bit more energy, the girl whirls around and brings her arms up in a cross, catching the kick on the braced center of her forearms. The heavy kick is painful and powerful, sending her tumbling backwards into a less graceful version of the controlled roll she had displayed earlier in their encounter. It takes her a few moments longer than before but the girl rises to her feet and eyes her opponent, trying to figure out how to proceed.

She's basically out of gas here. Any sort of attack she throws at this point is going to look pretty damn pathetic. But, she might just have enough left in her for one last hail mary. Putting on her best game face, Ryuko takes a deep breath and starts to move forward, closing the gap between herself and Hideo with measured steps. Her approach is cautious, her hand gripped tightly about her weapon, as if prepared to strike at any moment.

Instead, when she finally draws close enough to potentially be a threat, she does what any teenager worth her salt would do - she screams at him.

"GAAAAAAAAOUUUUU!"

The roar she unleashes is both simple and deafening, the sound of her voice amplified dozens of times over by a shimmering burst of blue light that expels outwards from her body in a circular explosion. The sonic chi wave hits the walls like a sledge hammer, shattering deep cracks into their stony surface. A small crater erupts in the linoleum beneath her sending shards of cracked tile flying about like shrapnel in all directions. Hideo finds himself almost at ground zero to the audial blast, slammed with the same wave of force that is definately going to give cause for some emergency maintenance work on the interior walls.

COMBATSYS: Hideo overcomes Tenryuko no Hoko from Ryuko with Seihaken EX.

                 [                        |||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|-======
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Ryuko endures Hideo's Seihaken EX.

                 [                        |||||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|=======
[                       \\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/----===|

[HIDEO]
Hideo's not exactly in top shape either. The young woman is proving difficult to pin down. But she /does/ right up in his face. The blast is... he knows what it is, what is behind it. Hideo decides that now is a good time for a science lesson. He provides a good example of what an outside force does in the case of a force in motion.

He collects still more chi in his hands and simply blasts /through/ the scream, hopefully hitting Ryuko dead-on.

[RYUKO]
Ryuko doesn't have much of anything left with which to react to this sudden reversal. She had intended for it to be a make-or-break final strike and it had failed her. The orb of energy blasts a hole right through her wide-spread and weakened wave of sound, slamming the girl square in the chest with no effort what-so-ever on her part to avoid it. She just can't.

The student staggers as her expensive blazer jacket is blasted open, its fancy buttons no match for a direct impact of that sort, revealing her equally high-quality white dress shirt and tie underneath. Ryuko rocks backwards from the blow, her feet shuffling as she fights to keep from being bowled over, knowing that if she goes down she isn't getting back. Somehow, she regains her footing and pulls herself upright once more, forcing that arrogant grin of her back into place on her youthful face.

"Didn't... hurt..."

Clearly struggling, she lurches forward, drawing her sword with an almost glacial motion compared to the speed she put on display earlier and lashes out at the teacher with what energy she has left to muster. It isn't the prettiest or the most elegant strike she's ever made, but the sword is still metal and heavy and it'll do the job if he doesn't manage to get out of the way.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko successfully hits Hideo with Quick Strike.

                 [                          |||| ]
                 Hideo            0|-------|------=
[                       \\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/----===|

[HIDEO]
Hideo is struck cleanly. He hears an odd ringing in his ears even as he reaches for Ryuko...

COMBATSYS: Hideo can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Ryuko blocks Hideo's Rolling Slam.

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

Hideo grabs the front of Ryuko's clothing, pulling to haul back and fling the woman into a wall or floor or maybe both, but instead simply slumps to the ground unconscious.

[RYUKO]
The wild strike lands true and Ryuko is quick to capitalize on this somewhat surprising development, winding up to deliver a powerful two-handed overhead strike. Hideo lurches forward in his stupor and grabs at her already tattered jacket, dragging the both of them to the floor as having his bell rung one final time puts him down for the count.

The teenager slowly rolls off of Hideo and flops onto the floor, eventually building up the strength to push back to her feet. Now that she isn't fighting for survival, she has the necessary time to rest for a few minutes and recouperate, which she does so in the nearest girl's bathroom so as to avoid being spotted by anyone else who might be around.

Seeing as there aren't any alarms going off by the time she feels capable of pushing onwards, Ryuko hurries back to where she left both Yuri and Hideo, dragging each of them into their respective bathroom - just in case. The dents in the walls she can't really do much about at the moment. Maybe no one will notice.

With that done, she sleuths her way up the stairs to the second floor, heading towards the now somewhat infamous computer lab of Gedo. What will she unearth there? What secrets wait to be uncovered? It's time to find out what's really going on with the V-Gage.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:51:09 10/15/2017 by Hideo, and last modified on 12:10:36 10/23/2017.