Clio - Reunions
[Toggle Names]Description: Clio St. Jeanne has yet to reconnect with her friend and coworker in the Library, Makoto Nanaya. Finally agreeing to meet, to talk of the way life has happened to them, and to share information and opinions on the goings on in Southtown. Their conversation is a deep, thought provoking look into the minds of. . .Actually no, they end up brawling for fun.
[CLIO]
A need to meet with teammates, a need to meet with friends. Sometimes life gets you in a lucky enough position that both of those needs can be met at the same time. With NOL still operating under the radar of the Mishima Zaibatsu and under their neutrality agreement, Clio hasn't been doing a whole lot in uniform while out and about lately. That isn't to say she hasn't been working, she's done plenty of that.
Work is entirely why she asked Makoto to meet her in the downtown area just as the sun was starting to fade on another night. The night brings with it a greater degree of awakeness and comfort for Lt. Clio St. Jeanne. And she shows it by actually smiling in a half-lidded way as she leans against a business' wall to watch the people who, despite the nature and stress of destruction still must live their lives. Her hood is up, keeping much of her face hidden. Not that she doesn't stand out anyways with the rest of her outfit and the long length of chain wrapped around her waist. The end of it hanging from her backside. She picks at her fingernail and looks up to the night sky. A lot of buildings with a lot of light, but little stars is a bit more boring a nightscape for her to look at than she appreciates.
Her other hand lifts a coffee cup to her lips for her to slurp from. Makoto should be here shortly, and, well, Clio is doing every bit her best to keep herself calm for this. A strange thing, feeling nervous like this to do a job you've had and meeting someone you went to school with. Clio muses on the thought while laughing at herself and staring up at the blank night sky.
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto Nanaya has been meaning to regain contact withClio for some time. It's more than just orders - though it's some of that, too, of course; Makoto wouldn't dream of ignoring them. The change to make a team to hunt down whoever hurt Noel? She's all over that.
But, like Clio, she's decided it's always good to see a friend. Especially with the world the way it is right now; you never know what's going to happen next, and not in a good, fun way.
Makoto's approach may surprise Clio, because it doesn't come from a direction she's looking, out at the people walking around the street. Instead, she slips out of the alley closest to Clio, dressed casually - she could be a university student or something, mostly, if it wasn't for - well, her. Tank top, jeans, and (because it /is/ winter, even in Japan) a windbreaker, which she has concealed her tonfa in. Mostly concealed. Clio can spot them if she looks.
As soon as Makoto is visible, she starts to attract the odd double take, and dirty look if they realize her tail is real and not some kind of weird prop for a weird person. Darkstalkers are not in vogue right now in Japan, not with the Gears' attack - nobody has accused her of being one yet, and most places don't just throw her out immediately, but people are on edge. That may be why she took the alley route.
Despite that, she's smiling, a little. "Hey, over here!" she calls to Clio, but doesn't make her come to the alley; she walks right out, towards Clio. She doesn't salute, of course, or call Clio by rank, but she does say, "Looking like you've been doing good since classes!"
[CLIO]
People watching isn't as good as star gazing, and Clio's growing bored and languid the longer things take. But relief comes in squirrely form when Makoto approaches from the shadows like casual day Ninja. And Clio grins before actually joining her friend and coworker. Even with the tail and ears, the way Clio's dressed could in fact mean it's just the night for strange folks to hang out and chat. Because ultimately, Clio St. Jeanne likes strange things. And people. Mostly because she is one of them.
"Mako," she says, holding back, and holding back and looking Makoto over for the first time since possibly graduation now that Clio thinks on it. How long ago a short time can be. "Metro City is home," she admits, "But the branch out there isn't my style." She nods and puts her hands in her hoodie's pockets. "It's good to see you again. Glad to be working with people I can trust. Southtown's in rougher place than I thought. How've you been?" She looks over her shoulder and back to Makoto.
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Sometimes Makoto wears a hat to cover the ears, but she's yet to find a disguise for the tail that she can wear for more than about five minutes without hating it so much it has to come off. Such is life.
"Never been!" Makoto has been to a few places in the world, but she's only been to the States a couple times and it was Sunshine City both times. "But it's good to see you here instead of there, anyway. I'd rather work with you than a bunch of other people I don't know."
The question gets a rather expressive shrug. "Oh, I'm fine, but Southtown isn't. It's... kind of a mess here, with everything that's happening. But I bet you knew /that/ if you were willing to come here, right? Have you talked to everybody else yet, or is it just me and Tsubaki?"
[CLIO]
"I like the hat," Clio says, keeping her hood up against the chill of the wind that blows down alleyways. "It looks cute on you. And you need to get to Metro sometimes. You can, um, get into a few good run ins with some scuzzy people if you know where to look. Bad neighborhoods and that. Feel good fights.
She moves herself, just a bit, as if she could shield Makoto from being seen by the public, or at least Makoto's tail. Just something that might help her friend stay out of sight. "And it is a mess here. That's why I'm here. Yeah. Transferred and everything. I'm going to work under Commander Kagura. But he wants me to help captain Hazama with this chain guy situation."
She sighs and puts a hand to her belly. "Been in a few fights already, and let me tell you, there's a lot more going on here stacked against us than just a chain guy or Ragna the Bloodedge. Hell, I think we have Bloodedge copycats running around on top of a lot of big time enemies."
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto Nanaya automatically curls the tail around herself to make it less... protruding. It sort of works, with Clio also standing right there.
"I'll wear a better one next time," Makoto promises, with a wink. "And I'd like to go, but it's really not travelling time. You're under Kagura too? Well... watch his hands, that's all I'll say. He's not so bad, though, if you're good at that. He really looks out for his subordinates." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "And at them."
Makoto is not well-suited for standing in one place. She's the sort of person that has to move, and here she does; shifting her weight slightly from foot to foot, she eventually paces just slightly. "Chain Guy, Ragna the Bloodedge... I didn't hear much about any copycat but there's a whoooole lot of problems right now. Some of them are from the UN, some aren't, but of course there's one more. Why wouldn't there be?"
[CLIO]
Clio laughs, but she has a knowing glare in her eye at the talk of Kagura. "He did the door thing. Loomy loom," she explains. "But his majordomo keeps him on a short leash." She gets a little look of her own in her eyes. "Cute nursing staff though."
"But yeah, there's a CopyEdge walking around. His name's Naoto. He hits like a truck, has some form of healing capability and is looking for a girl named Raquel. Tested him for fun the other night so I know he's legit." She rubs the back of her neck, pushing her hood down with it. "Same with a gear I couldn't stop from taking this cute little coffee shop. And that creepy soldier guy looking for Captain Hazama. I think I threw him off the trail, but he was definitely looking for the captain and he wasn't happy."
Clio gives her head a shake and sighs. "But seeing Noel the other night was nice. She's just as sweet as ever, huh?"
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto thinks back to the nursing staff /she/ saw when she visited. 'Cute' is not the word she would have used. They must have seen different people.
"Ma~an, you've been busy and you just got here! Don't overdo it," Makoto says, before grinning. "Leave that to me. We're a team, right? Let me fight some of these people. I haven't fought /nearly/ as many people as you." Though if she follows her /second/ set of orders, she's going to have her hands full and then some. They're a little older, though.
More seriously: "Naoto, huh? I'll remember that. Maybe he'll lead us to Ragna the Bloodedge if we don't have any leads to hunt him down again... do you know who that Raquel was?" Makoto doesn't, but maybe archives do. She doesn't have the whole set of reports memorized.
And then her grin broadens. "Don't tell her," she says, "she'll feel bad. But yes, she is."
[CLIO]
"Hey, I came down here for the fight, buuuut," Clio says, drawing out the word with a long and growing smirk, "I suppose I can leave some for you if you really want a few."
Clio laughs, but she's grateful to have someone like Makoto at her back for all the trouble going on around here. She runs her fingers along the chain that hangs from her oversized collar. "Not much detail, but I do know she's a teenager, blonde, and always wears a set of ribbons in the shape of rabbit's ears." She makes little ear shapes with her hands put to the sides of her head. "Other than that, nothing. The guy's been hustling street fight rings around here. Also told me he was basically homeless and jobless. But his clothes were too nice for it to be that simple."
"I'd be more concerned about this guy named Heidern. Commander of the Ikari Warriors, he says, he's got a real hate for us and Hazama," Clio says. "He grabbed my arm and had me to a wall. Would've had a fight on my hands but he didn't want to involve the public. Called us enemy combatants."
Clio's mouth presses to a thin line and she shakes her head. "The Gear was fun until she attacked, the copycat BloodEdge doesn't seem too bad. But this guy has ideals. That makes him dangerous." Clio is not one to be talking about idealism, but to each their own.
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto Nanaya shadowboxes with an even broader grin. "Damn straight you'll leave some for me!" She punches thin air a couple times for emphasis, which seems to burn off enough energy that she can settle down. For now.
"Rabbit's ears, huh?" Makoto's own ears (not ribbons) perk up slightly as she thinks, then relaxes. "Well, I'll keep an eye out too, because that might be easier than getting any answers from /him/, if he's like the real deal. Or maybe... well, it's not like I don't show up at street fight rings sometimes." That's part of her job in Intelligence, actually - Makoto sometimes finds out information by being able to show up at fights and tournaments. She's distinctive enough that she can't go and use a new cover every time, so why not establish a long-term one as a fighter?
"I know the Ikari Warriors," Makoto agrees, "but Heidern himself? Man, you do find the big names, don't you? He's been doing this since for-ev-er!" Longer than Makoto (or Clio) has been alive. "Well, I can watch out for that too. What's another threat?" Despite her words, Makoto is genuinely impressed by how many forces are active in the area - and how many she has to watch out for while doing her job.
[CLIO]
"I will, I will," Clio says with her hands up. "And maybe I'll see you at some of them sometimes," she adds. "I could use the practice. Coming here, the strength of all the people. I'm starting to feel outclassed and big time."
Clio paces a little bit and back to focusing on Makoto. Her fidgeting coming from a similar need to move as Makoto. "Seriously, I need some practice. They kept me close at hand back at home. Not a fan of attitudes and, well, doing the kinds of thing you and I do." Her feet start to shuffle, back and forth and back and forth as she mimics some of Makoto's movement, drawing a bit of Makoto's energy in the moment. "You make it real hard to be serious about all this, Mako," she tells her. "And yeah, creepy guys have been getting real close to me a lot since I got here. Thanks, Japan."
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"You just have to hit them a bit," Makoto confides, "and then they back right off. It's not a Japan thing."
Makoto rolls her shoulder. "There's a lot of strong people here, but that doesn't mean you're weak. Just means you might have to hit a little harder. And I'm perfectly serious!" She does her best Serious Look (it's not that bad, honestly). "I'm taking this entirely seriously. I really want to get that jerk back for going after Noellers, even if you ignored /everything/ else about it."
"If you really want some practice, I could manage, though." She looks around, though, at the evening light. "Though maybe right here and now isn't the best place...?" If Cleo is trying to be inobtrusive, it might not be. Not like that would stop Makoto though.
[CLIO]
"I'll keep that in mind when it's not guys that could probably hurl me into the sun," Clio points out with a wag of her finger. And then a sigh as she turns around and looks at the city just outside the alley way.
With her back toward Makoto, she runs her fingers along the length of the chain. The markings on the chain come to visibility as they light up with the life energy Clio runs through it. Glowing with a dark violet hue around her waist and hanging down the mock 'tail' of the spiked end. "Whoever hurt Noel will be hurt, Mako. I'm one hundred percent with you on that one. I hate it when you get monsters like that, hurting innocent people and Noel's about the most innocent a person can get without giving you diabetes."
But as she stands and thinks on the matter. "Mako," she says, undoing the clasp on her collar and rolling the length of chain in slow twists of her arm. "Right here and now is a pretty bad place. But, when have the two of us really been great at letting us stop ourselves?" She looks over her shoulder, hip cocked, grinning brightly.
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto just hits them too.
"Right?? I don't know how anyone would want to do that to her! She's so - Noel!" All right, so perhaps that wasn't a very useful description, but it makes perfect sense to Makoto and probably does to Clio, too. "I'm going to find them, and pay them back, and they'll deserve every bit of it!"
She rolls her other shoulder, then tucks her hands inside her jacket. It's hard to see what she's doing besides 'something', judging by the rustling - but then a few moments later and she tosses her jacket into the alleyway, past Clio. She has her tonfa in place and a big grin.
"Well in that case, show me what you learned in Metro City!" Makoto raises her hands up, looking like she's about to start shadowboxing again - though this time she keeps more at the ready rather than attacking the poor, innocent air.
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
COMBATSYS: Clio has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Clio 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
"I'm from Metro City, but I'm starting to think I'm more home now," Clio says, turning back around on Makoto. She tosses the spiked end of her chain in her hand and looks down the alleyway. She makes a move to the side, a move to the other side. Seeming for a moment to gauge just what kind of movement space she has here.
And then she whips around toward Makoto with a lighthearted, "Catch!" the length of her chain spinning away from her, twirling in the air like a bolar rapidly approaching the fisticuffs loving squirrel girl.
COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Bolas Toss.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Fighting down the alley, most of the available movement is forward and back, with minimal to the side. But there's always up, at least, and it's not like it's impossible to sidestep at /all/ - it's just tighter quarters than, say, using the street would be.
Though at least in an alley you usually don't have to dodge cars.
Makoto was expecting Clio to act (she pretty much asked for it... literally) but she wasn't necessarily expecting to get tangled up so fast. Angled strikes, sure. Tangles... She brings her arm up to deflect the chain, but it wraps around her arm, pulling her slightly off-balance as Clio manipulates the chain. "Oh, that's a nice start... but I'm not going to just let you do it - practice your defense, too!"
Even off-balance, Makoto rushes. The chain is still tangled partially around her arm, but she has two fists and she uses the other; her left fist drives directly toward Clio's midsection with every ounce of her strength. Makoto has always been a pugilist, and... well, things haven't changed.
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya successfully hits Clio with Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
"Best defense!" Clio calls out, "Is a-"
Clio makes something of a hurking sound when Makoto slugs her in the midsection. She's still tender in that area from the punch from the copycat bloodedge. Maybe Clio should've rethought her strategy of take the hit to make the hit.
"Okay, okay," she wheezes a bit, spinning out and kicking off the wall, rotating in air and bringing a heavy kick down on top of Makoto. When she lands, she lashes out sharply, the chain having slipped off of Makoto and back into Clio's hands nearly magically. Or entirely magically, Clio uses armagus after all. The pressuring attack moving unrelentingly.
COMBATSYS: Clio blitzes into action and acts again!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Fierce Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Weapon Jab.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto might have forgotten about that tender spot. Surely she wouldn't hit it on purpose, right? Well, probably not, anyhow...
Clio's barrage of attacks manages to strike home. Makoto was more off-balance than she thought, especially after the sprint and using her off hand to strike, and Clio going off the walls works extremely well. The kick smashes Makoto down, wrenching her arm as it's still in the chain, and Clio manages a faster lash while Makoto is rising, staggering her almost to her knees again for a moment. That hurt a little more than she wants to admit. Is she going to lose?
Worse... is she going to /look bad/ in front of her friend?
"I'm warning you, that's not going to be enough," Makoto blusters, though she's grinning so she's not really serious about being annoyed. She rushes again (this seems familiar), trying an uppercut to literally pick Clio up and launch her - but if she manages it, Makoto follows it, leaping up after her and smashing her back /down/ with just as much vigour as she went up with! "Come on~!"
COMBATSYS: Clio blocks Makoto Nanaya's Meteor Dive.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Clio 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
The thrill of the fight is a rush that picks up Clio's spirit with each slash and strike that comes and goes. She's basking in the moment and moving like a flash back and forth in the narrows of the alley. She's loving getting the chance to just throw down for fun with her friends.
And then, she's got to throw her arms up when Makoto swings upwards with a vaulting fist. The chains wrapped around Clio's grip hand tighten around Clio's forearm. They serve as a mostly effective bulwark against Makoto's blow, but they do pick Clio up into the air along with the squirrel.
This is feeling awfully familiar to Clio and in that moment she tries the tactic again. With a heavy push, Clio disengages from Makoto to put her just a bit higher than her squirrely friend before Clio sends the spiked end of her chain down into the pavement below.
"Here I come then!" Clio shouts as she tugs the chain and the arcane weapon recoils Clio like a shot back down at Makoto, Clio's foot held out, her boot heel crackling with the dark fire of Clio's signature life energy.
COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Chain Bomber.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Clio 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Even half a punch is better than none. Makoto is, if nothing else, determined to land one of those blows solid - that's what she needs to do, and she knows it.
After her attack, Makoto drops to the ground, head tilting up toward Clio. Her hat threatens to fall from her head as she looks up at the other woman as she prepares to descend, though she ignores it as a distraction, preparing to defend herself from Clio.
Though Makoto brings up her arms to block, she expected to be guarding against the chain. It misses, Makoto lowers her guard, and then she catches a kick straight to the head. With anyone else, they'd be seeing stars, but Makoto's head is hard enough that she's only momentarily dazed, lurching backwards down the alley before turning it into a full-on slip away...
...and then forward, moving so fast she appears to blur, her tonfa drawing kinetic energy and helping her focus it at the end of her fist. "You learned a lot! But I'm not out of it yet!"
COMBATSYS: Clio fails to interrupt Shooting Star EX from Makoto Nanaya with Bad Moon Rising.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Clio 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
Success! Clio's driven through Makoto and takes her landing on the ground with a distinct grace. "Hah! I have!" she calls up as she winds her chain back up around her forearm, staying low and slowly clinking up the links of her chain.
Clio plans on showing off for Makoto just what she did learn. That she does have tricks and sneaks up her hoodie sleeves. "Three, two, one," Clio looks up ready to gauge and set up the perfect incoming result against Makoto.
Failure! Clio got cocky and now the squirrel girl has blurred out to a speed above what Clio was able to do. The fist hits and Clio is sent caroming off the wall and bouncing off the ground. She's still getting to her feet and shaking off the effects of the blow, leaving Makoto with a free chance at another shot.
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto hits like a truck and her tonfa have only amplified this. Despite her common proclamation that she doesn't know how to pull her punches, she actually is... just a fraction, but she doesn't want broken bones, only a good old-fashioned alley fight.
Fighting to kill feels a little different.
Having launched Clio, Makoto chases her down, running with her fists raised and her tail trailing her like a banner. She doesn't give Clio a chance to get up before she's already on her, drawing her fist back for an instant and focusing her strength before driving it in a series of repeated, kinetically-empowered punches, left-right-left-right-left... "What's the matter? Keep going!"
COMBATSYS: Clio blocks Makoto Nanaya's Impact! EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Clio 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
That was a hammering. Clio's barely back to the land of the living when Makoto is on her. Chain and arm raise to take the violent pummeling that comes Clio's way. She withstands the blows raining down on her with constant thudding hammers. "I'm not done yet, Mako."
Truth is, she is waning, she made a major error and now it's costing her everything. She can feel the fatigue setting in. She knows she's looking at a hill to climb, but she has to do what she has to do to make sure she can look good for Makoto. And that's put on the pressure. With a quick leap, Clio is off the walls again, putting herself on the other side of Makoto. And then she comes forward. It's slow at first. She whirls the chains, their glancing off the pavement sends showers of sparks into the air, a cascade of light both chi energy and regular old friction sparks showering before Clio.
"C'mon!" is her call as she rushes forward. The spiked end lashes out through the sparking shower, the weighted end spins out horizontally. And from above comes Clio herself, moving so quickly as to seem to come from three different sides with a single assault.
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya blocks Clio's Cerberus Rush.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto skids to a stop after her series of punches. She doesn't /look/ tired, but looks are sometimes decieving; she's worked hard and she's beginning to feel it. Not so much that she wants to stop, mind you, but enough that she notices it.
But she's pretty sure if she just doesn't let up on Clio she has the advantage here. She essays a quick strike, but Clio has gone up the walls of the alleyway and over her, and so Makoto turns it into a whirling parry, turning what would have been a hook punch into a sweeping guard.
That saves her. Makoto knocks aside the chain with her tonfa-braced arms and is already nearly in position when the fast-moving Clio - and duplicates - come in from above. This is a trick she knows, if only because she can do it too; she just has to watch for the right one -
Makoto braces against the impact. She slides backwards, her tail puffing up reflexively as she slides toward the entrance of the alley. "Nice! But my turn~!" she calls, shaking her hands out to try to eliminate the tingling from the force of the blow. Or that's what it starts as; she turns it into a windmill of one arm as she winds up, up, up!
Makoto strikes, a blurringly fast uppercut to launch Clio right back upward the way she came. But that's not the end; Makoto leaps, streaking past her before punching down, driving Clio towards the ground - and a gigantic chi fist smashes after her, trying to keep her pinned there while Makoto descends after her blows! "Had enough?" She's still grinning.
COMBATSYS: Clio dodges Makoto Nanaya's Particle Flare.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
Strike the duplicates, go for rushing feints. All sorts of things to keep track of in Clio's desperate rush down strike. It may not hit as true as it could, but it does mean one very, very important thing.
The Clio St. Jeanne that Makoto swings for is not the Clio St. Jeanne that is actually there. Makoto's fist swings through the air and she carries through with her massive chi assault. But it drives no one to the stars this evening. Just a rush up to the sky and a Makoto landing back down to earth.
"I like stars, but not that much, Mako," Clio says, winding her chain back up around her hand. The rampant energy she had built up flickers and it appears that Clio is calming down. "No, not had enough. You're too much fun, Mako. Why did I ever leave this?" she asks as she takes a quick skip forward and swings a sharp kick for Makoto's mid section.
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya dodges Clio's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"Damn! You're faster than I remember." Makoto is actually pleased by this. It's always nice to see a teammate grow. She hopes she's done as well at improving herself...
She has no real answer for Clio's question - well, it was probably rhetorical anyway, she tells herself. But she's having fun too; it's been a while since she could let loose like this, even in practice. Drills aren't quite the same as live combat.
Makoto leaps when Clio skips a kick at her. She actually leaps over Clio in much the same way that Clio went over her before, ending deeper into the alley so that she's facing out instead of closer to the exit. This is because if she launches Clio she doesn't want to do it directly at a wall - probably better to give her some empty space to get thrown into.
And Makoto sure does make an attempt at launching Clio. She strikes, sudden and strong, before going into a rather long flurry of blows. High, low, low, high... there's no real pattern to them and that makes them harder to dodge. At the end, she holds her strike for a moment, focusing through her tonfa, and there's a flash of kinetic energy as she releases it all at once in another uppercut. "Ha~a! Event... Horizon!"
Yeah she's into this.
COMBATSYS: Clio dodges Makoto Nanaya's Event Horizon.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Clio 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[CLIO]
Whiffed. Damn it. But it's good to see that Makoto hasn't entirely forsaken her speed in the name of strength. Clio carries the momentum of the kick to a roundabout position to face down the darker side of the alley backways. A look behind her to the streets outside the little private dance going on between the two girls. "You're stronger. And have you been fluffing your tail?" she jokes, the fight's a laugh and this is a good time with friends.
At the same time, it's still a live fight and Clio has to be on her game. She stretches the length of her chain and assumes a slight crouch when Makoto barrels at her like a freight train. Good ol' Makoto. Those furious lines will eventually his Clio, but in this moment, Clio isn't up and off the wall so much as she is down and nearly on her knees to sliiide her way past the Event Horizon.
Slipping just under the rapid fire combination, Clio rolls back to her feet and starts her chain into a wind up. Around and around it windmills, the air in its wake making a sucking noise with each wooshing pass. And then she lets the end click against the ground. Lines of chi running along the chain when it clicks a second time. And then, the third time it sparks a wave of shadowed chi sparks and fire that rolls toward Makoto in a flashing wave.
COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Whipflash.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Clio 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Makoto Nanaya
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto is actually pretty quick when she tries. Speed and strength - well, it's as good a way to go as any, right? But if you want a shield, you should probably ask Tsubaki instead.
She doesn't actually say anything in response until after she's already missed, moving past Clio without slowing down much until she aggressively brakes herself, turning her forward momentum into a whirl to try to keep Clio in her sights. "I have not! That's all natural," Makoto shoots back, with a flick of said tail, uncurling it for a moment before letting it maintain its usual lazy arc.
It's the rolling wave of chi that catches Makoto. She's bowled over by it, launched back several feet and head over heels; she comes to rest near the entrance to the alley, looking slightly disheveled as she has managed to land face-down, with her tail draped over her back.
She pushes herself up with a laugh, though it's covering a bit of stiffness - she'll bruise, but it was worth it. "I yield, I yield! You /have/ learned a lot," she says, before letting out a puff of air as she rests in a half-crouch. Give her a moment, she'll be back on her feet, but she does need that moment to recover - that was a surprisingly intense fight, given they're allies and friends.
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Clio 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Clio 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Clio has ended the fight here.
[CLIO]
Clio has to wind down the speed of her chain. Still standing there, slowing it down and slowing it down until she can hold the spike in her hand without the weapon being scorching hot. She stays standing down the alley, waiting, just in case another shot comes. Makoto is Makoto, after all, and there may always be one more swing.
But no, Makoto yields and Clio clips the end of her chain on her collar and whips the end of it around her like a belt once more. "So have you," Clio tells Makoto, feeling the dead ache still reverberating through her body after being bounced off the wall.
She walks over to Makoto and crouches down, putting a hand on her friend's back and giving it a gentle pat before offering Makoto back her hat. "That was a blast, pun intended. It's good to be back here with you again, Mako," she says with a little laugh. "Hey, when you're feeling better, want to go see if there's anyplace still open around here that has ice cream? I know it's winter and all, but that fight warmed me up and I want something sweet."
[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto pushes herself back up to her feet, accepting her hat and batting it against her knee a couple times to knock the dirt off. Only then does she put it back on.
"Ditto," she says, with another one of those broad grins. "Well, I've been trying. If I want to keep my position I'd better be qualified! - Oh, you want ice cream? I know a few places that might still be open, if they haven't decided to get out of here given - well, you know, everything." She hasn't checked, given the attacks and... well, everything going on in Japan.
But she's perfectly willing to try. Makoto likes sweets, too.
log/submit 1
log/list
Log created on 17:45:56 12/16/2017 by Clio, and last modified on 22:52:36 12/16/2017.