Match of the Millennium

Description: The third round of the Metro City arc of the New Fighting Generation Project sees Ichika face off against Ayala for the third time - at least, by the schoolgirl's reckoning. Not interested in entertaining the fashion choices of Drippin' Style or reaching out to mend the misunderstandings of the past, there is only one thing that both fighters can agree to seek - a truly epic clash.

[AYALA]
Ayala arrives in the botique, looking a little mystified by the strange stylized decor against the backdrop of cheering onlookers outside. Sure Ayala was probably to some nicer to look at than she was an accomplished fighter, but so far she had carved out a decent niche for herself in the NFG. Clothing stores had always seemed strange to her--especially ones this big. How many people made all this stuff? One typically mended their own clothes back where she came from, it seemed almost silly to not know how to do that yourself, but with all of the clothing around here, well... she could sorta see.

"Hola, greetings--it is Ayala, come to fight..." she blinked a little as she peered around. Hey some of this stuff might actually be sorta cute...

[ICHIKA]
"No. I will not be wearing your merchandise."

Ichika's repeated rebukes have really put the poor staff out, but it had taken her days of work to pin down her style. It is more than just an outfit; it is a uniform that sums up her devotion to her team, to herself and to her principles. Changing even one detail about it for the sake of the NFG's sponsors? It's hard to think of something that would be a greater betrayal of her fans!

Besides. She wasn't obligated to. Unlike the costume theme rounds, there was nothing in the contract about this.

A tiny green imp cowers as the shop staff storm off, and looks for a moment as though he is about to say something to Ichika - but then, catching sight of her eye, he seems to think better of it. The girl instead simply moves to stand before the cameras, trying to steady herself as she looks at her fur-clad opponent.

"It is good to see you again, Feldspar-san." She says, flashing a smile. "By my count this will be our third clash. I took the first. You took the second. Shall we see which of us has come on the furthest since then?"

[AYALA]
Ayala hadn't almost seen the little imps before they had run off--she had seen them before, but wasn't sure what the deal with them was. Due to her time in the Expanse and Makai, she knew creatures like that existed, so perhaps hilariously she wasn't surprised by their presence at all.

"Ichika!" Ayala sauntered up to the somewhat shorter girl with apparently no fear. "Ayala still not know why you and Chevy broke into Frost camp," Ayala gave her a bit of a shrug and a stare, as apparently no one else had bothered to either. Since Ichika had decided to bring it up, she wasn't afraid to talk about it here. "Bet you think Ayala was just simple," the cavewoman cracked her knuckles, shrugging, then waggled a finger at her.

"Just remember, Ayala never hold back," she stepped back from the sword-bearing girl and got into position where they were supposed to be fighting--which apparently was right on the open floor of the establishment.

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

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0            Ayala

COMBATSYS: Ichika has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
"I did explain it repeatedly at the time." Ichika says, her voice betraying a little irritation. "Your psychopath sponsor, Juri, kidnapped someone. If you had let us confirm she wasn't there, we would have left in peace."

Normally, she might disagree with the accusation that she thinks the other woman is simple - but she had spent quite a lot of time in that fight trying to get across to both of them the extremely simple reason they were there and what they needed to do to avoid a fight. Neither Ayala nor Daisuke had accepted it. So, who is she to disagree with Ayala's assessment of herself?

"I would expect nothing less, Feldspar-san. I will not hold back either."

[AYALA]
"Ayala don't remember that," the blonde frowned, tilting her head, was she not there when this was said to Daisuke? Then again, would they have dared Juri's wrath to do so? It was a complicated question, to be sure.

"Ayala would have helped, if she knew--don't matter now, Ayala guess," she shrugged, turning her head tilt into a joint pop, and getting herself ready for the incoming brawl here.

"Can talk later, if you want--right now, we fight," another crack of her knuckles and Ayala is charging the sword-user, one of her hands raised to be brought down in a very quick but sizeable haymaker against her opponent!

COMBATSYS: Ichika blocks Ayala's Quick Smash.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
"Indeed. What's done is done."

Ichika hardly sees the point in raking over that particular set of frustrating events. She hadn't acquited herself well in the fight against Daisuke; she'd let him enrage her far beyond what was reasonable. In the end, Coco had been recovered, may never even have been in any danger, and the whole thing was just a massive waste of time and effort. Better for them all to put it behind them, really.

The girl draws her sword as Ayala brings her fist down, and braces the back of her arm against the flat of the blade as she takes the blow, pushing into it to help deflect the worst of the impact away from her and into a position that she hopes will leave Ayala open to her counterattack.

Which in this instance will take the form of the girl twisting around in the opposite direction, blade slashing for Ayala's side as she darts into the racks of clothing she had been so scathing of moments before.

COMBATSYS: Ayala dodges Ichika's Evasive Strike.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
"Still pretty strong," Ayala seems impressed as Ichika takes the haymaker to her arm like a champ, her eyes going wide and mouth open as she has to duck down and roll out of the way of the sword slice that Ichika responded with. A few blonde hairs are left floating in the air as her head just barely cleared the sword's path.

"Lets see how Sword girl likes this--" the cavewoman then grabs a rack of clothes, who knows what it is--maybe bras, corsets, or other lingerie, tossing them directly at the sword-wielder. Ayala is able to lift the whole rack with what seems like superhuman strength, her bronzed muscles rippling!

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Ichika with Beast Toss.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Ichika           0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
The impromptu projectile strikes Ichika clean as her attempt to use the terrain to her advantage is turned easily against her. There's a grunt from her as the railing sends her sprawling to the floor, and for a moment she just lays beneath it, somewhat dazed. She'd never been in any doubt about Ayala's strength; the woman's brute force has always been her strongest asset. The question was whether she would be able to find a way to counter it as she had before, or whether raw power would overcome her strategy.

So far, strategy isn't off to a great start.

With some effort Ichika kicks the railing back off her and rises up to her feet again. The sword slides back into place at her side, and she takes a deep, steadying breath. She really doesn't see the point in trying to talk right now; Ayala hadn't listened before. Why would she begin now?

Instead, those bright blue eyes of hers focus on the woman. Calm. Challenging, as she lets the shouts of complaint from staff about damaged stock fade into the background.

COMBATSYS: Ichika calculates her next move.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Ichika           0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
Ayala rears back and almost cringes at the sight of Ichika disappearing under the rack of clothes, but made sure to pay attention in case a sword might zing out from the pile at her. It does not. When her opponent finally does appear again, Ayala is acutely aware that she's being stared at--sharingan'd at, almost. It makes her pause as she seems to quickly realize her opponent is waiting for her to do something, so Ayala counters with a bit of a staredown of her own. She doesn't let her jaws remain completely still, though.

"Maybe Ayala take Ichika shopping after this," she grins, though internally steeling herself for what is about to come. It's not likely to be pretty.

COMBATSYS: Ayala focuses on her next action.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Ichika           0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
"No. I don't think so."

Leaving aside her dire financial situation, Ichika really couldn't think of much she'd want to do less than go shopping with the fur-clad woman. As it becomes clear that the cavewoman isn't going to continue her assault, though, Ichika tightens her grip on the hilt of her katana. Very well. If Ayala wants to give the momentum of the match back to her, she will take it.

Ichika leaps through the air, and it'd be easy to presume that she's coming in for an overhead - except that quite suddenly, gravity seems to reassert itself for her and she hits the ground at a strange angle, rolling fast to come in from below instead. The sword flashes out as she rises, aiming to score a thin slash across Ayala's thigh as she comes up - and in a complete inversion of her opening gambit, she aims to stay inside the woman's reach, her unblinking gaze fixed on the primal pugilist.

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Ichika's Innovation Drive EX.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Ichika           0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
Ayala keeps herself still and ready when Ichika rolls in to bring that sword up--and draw it right across her leg. Ayala's foot comes up to try and parry the blow, to kick the sword flying up at her away--which seems to work, except for the very tip drawing a red line across her leg, missing most of the bronzed flesh.

"Oww!" Ayala cries, though even as she cringes in pain, she's seizing the opportunity to try and grab at Ichika's shoulders, due to their proximity, attempting to maul her more or less with her nails and teeth.

While in the past some may have deemed something like this a 'cat-fight' sort of thing, but it goes above and beyond something like that, especially when the nail tips and teeth are playing for keeps.

COMBATSYS: Ichika just-defends Ayala's Tooth & Nail!

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Ichika           0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
Ichika moves smoothly with the new direction as Ayala's foot knocks her off her intended path. The result is that as she tries to grab her, instead, the flat of the katana finds the woman's elbows mid-lunge, and she carries the motion upwards, bringing Ayala with her so that her flailing arms and gnashing teeth remain below her. It's an acrobatic vault, and when it concludes, Ichika is standing atop a rail of jackets. She flicks the small trickle of blood from her blade, slides it back into its sheathe, and exhales.

It'd be easy to assume that she is pausing up there.

Except, suddenly, she explodes into motion. The sound of the railing crashing into the one behind it as it topples over is all the warning Ayala gets before Ichika is behind her again, sword extended out to the side, blade having carved a single, glittering arc from the top of the railing down to the floor behind the woman where Ichika crouches... hopefully, with the katana having sliced neatly through Ayala's side along the way.

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Ichika's Artful Slash.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
"Woaaah!" Ayala is surprised by the sword-wielder's ability to literally lift her up with her sword like that, her hands falling away from Ichika's shoulders. Ayala winds up landing back on the floor, breathing a little hard after that pretty exciting manuever there, kneeling for just a moment before bringing herself up. "Pretty fast--and pretty skilled," Ayala salutes, though she also tilts her head, noting her opponent doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. Oof. This will be an interesting one.

Before she knows it, Ichika is behind her, bringing her sword down--or rather, out to the side. Ayala is able to bring her elbows up and drop backwards, trying to duck under the blade again--this time it doesn't work so well, and Ayala has a line sword on her arm and is pretty off balance as she picks herself up.

As she picks herself up, she clasps both hands together and seeks to bring her fist down on Ichika before she can recover, trying to score a hit!

COMBATSYS: Ichika dodges Ayala's Hammerblow.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
The firm 'click' of the sword as it slides back into place at her side is Ichika's only response to Ayala's compliment. It is, perhaps, a little cold. But she knows how hard Ayala hits; that has always been the challenge when facing off against her. She can't afford to lose her focus for even a moment, because it won't take more than a few hits for the woman's superior physical strength to bring the schoolgirl down. By contrast, Ichika has speed and technical prowess - but her attacks aren't connecting as cleanly as they should. She needs to wear the woman down, create an opening, and exploit it if she is going to triumph again.

The hammerblow whistles through the air, and Ichika hops backwards. It's a cleaner dodge than the one she had managed against Ayame, but the motion from her opponent is so similar it actually brings a smile to her lips.

"Calm. Focus. Learn." She murmurs, "That's the key."

And she believes she sees it here - her opening to strike. So she seizes it, suddenly lunging forwards, the girl's katana glows with that beautiful blue light as she tears it from its saya, aiming to drive slash after slash into Ayala's arms and upper body with as much force as she can muster. Before, there had been thought given to defense; spacing and positioning clear and key in Ichika's mind...

None of that, now. Now is the moment to try and break the stalemate the pair have held, to gamble that she can weather whatever Ayala throws at her in return.

COMBATSYS: Ichika successfully hits Ayala with Lambent Assault EX.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Ichika           0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1            Ayala

[AYALA]
Ayala is surprised the girl can move so fast, then again--she was was one of those very reactive types--her earlier hit scored on her had likely been a fluke, of sorts. Or maybe her opponent had just gotten careless. After that, she isn't quite sure what happened--she gets the sword across her upper body, and there's definitely blood--but she is still able to move, even after getting hit like that and cut half throws her off balance and she stumbles--half turned around. Her eyes are wide in pain, because well--it really hurt. She touches over her chest where she's been sliced, and it comes away wet and crimson. For most people it'd likely be pretty shocking, and inspire fear--and it does both of these things to Ayala.

However, she's still able to pivot and bring her foot up in a crushing heel kick to the sword-bearer, refusing to give up the assault.

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Ichika with Spinyshell Kick EX.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Ichika           0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
Ichika makes no attempt to directly defend against the strike. The myriad shining blue arcs her sword has cut through the air still hang in beautiful tableau as Ayala brings her leg around, and Ichika is still focused on the offensive, bringing the blade around for another slash - when the heel kicks her and she is forced momentarily back from her relentless offense. The light that had suffused the sword snaps out with the interruption to her offensive...

"Haaa..."

And then she raises the sword between herself and Ayala. Taking a double handed grip, she steadies her feet against the ground. This is a move that Ayala has seen twice before; it is just possible that the cavewoman might be ready for it this time.

Then again. It is something it is hard to be ready for.

Because Ichika summons all of her strength, and the shining cerulean energy reignites powerfully all around her. When she brings the sword down, the power tears out of her towards Ayala in a cresting wave of power as tall as Ichika herself, aiming to smash into the woman and hurl her back into a mannequin display.

COMBATSYS: Ayala dodges Ichika's Illumination Wave.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Ichika           0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1            Ayala

[AYALA]
Really scary scary, Ayala would have described this fight, in private. To be fair, it is--she didn't want to think what might have happened if that last sword swipe had been aimed at her head or neck area. She's surging with adrenaline when Ichika raises her sword up, her eyes wide, reflecting the light from the sword beam that suddenly shot toward her. Marshaling her speed and strength, she's able to duck down on all fours and half scamper, half roll out of the way of it, the edge of the blade catching a few hairs from her scarf.

Ayala has a confused look on her face for a moment, looking back at where it went, before she jumped up again--as if not believing she was able to escape that.

Somewhat unsteady, she jumped back toward her opponent--this time her chi energy whips up the air around her as she twists and spins, trying to collide with Ichika! It's enough to make someone at least a bit unsteady where they are.

COMBATSYS: Ichika instinctively blocks Ayala's Tail Spin.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ichika           0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
There is a reason why Ichika's attacks are so carefully controlled. She aims for limbs and sides. She uses shallow slashes. It is rare for her to stab, and when she does it is at places the risk of hitting an artery are minimal. There's still risk, of course. There's just as much risk from a super-strong cavewoman inflicting head trauma as there would be from her sword doing the same. But she respects what the sword represents, and the one time where she genuinely wanted to use its lethal potential has lived with her as a shocking moment of shame ever since.

The blade snaps to the side as the wild kick comes in, and again Ayala's blow collides with the impenetrable shield that Ichika has made her sword into. For a moment they hang together there; Ayala suspended in the air, Ichika at an awkward position to attack.

And then her jaw clenches, and one gloved hand wraps tight around the upper section of the blade. If Ayala had been baffled before, this might seem even more confusing...

Until Ichika suddenly pivots the katana downwards. The sudden shift in the effective length of her weapon comes at a cost; her own blood trickling down the blade's edge, but she does not hesitate to seize the opportunity she sees to try and score another painful mark across the woman's leg before she can recover her guard.

COMBATSYS: Ayala interrupts Painful Truth from Ichika with Spin Kick EX.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Ichika           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
Ayala recovered from the spin against Ichika, she can feel the sword-user's defenses buckle slightly but by no means break, this was still anyone's game. A bead of sweat dripped over her forehead and she tilted her head to avoid it running into her eye, breathing hard.

Then she sees her opponents muscles twitch, she reacts.

Twisting her body again with all the strength she could muster, her leg brimming with reddish chi glow as she turns--her leg coming up to intercept the swordswoman before the blade can come down on her--the tip of it still scoring a line against her leg and side as Ayala passes close enough. She had gotten around the sword by twisting herself closer, but blood still flicked into the air as a result, the cavewoman finally landing a short distance away and into a roll.

"Hahh... hahhh... okay, sword-girl, your move," she held herself on all fours with her fists, very worn out after that.

[ICHIKA]
Ichika had expected many things. One of the things she hadn't seen coming was that Ayala would be able to twist her body around whilst she was being attacked in mid-air. This, it seems, is a big tactical blunder on Ichika's part, because the result is that as she tries to bring the sword down before the cavewoman can actually touch the floor, she mostly succeeds in cutting her own hand open and being kicked across the store - not one of her finer moments.

She gets back up though. Rising to her feet, the girl's assessment of the tactical situation here is decidedly different to that of Ayala. She's losing; one clean hit was a risk she had been prepared to take. Two in rapid succession and she knows she won't be able to take a third like that. She's running out of options, and that is never a good sign. The path to victory is increasingly narrow.

'Your move', Ayala says. That draws a thin smile onto the girl's lips.

"Yes, Feldspar-san." She says softly, "My move indeed." She is not yet, as her friend Ota-san had reminded her, in Atari.

She flicks her sword to the side, her own blood and Ayala's splattering from the blade and across the ground. She wraps her injured hand once more around the hilt and takes a deep breath. Blood trickles onto the floor. And then, Ichika's sword erupts with blazing blue power. The girl's heavy boots shift along the floor as she changes up her stance, and as she stares Ayala down, the primal warrior can see that those bright eyes of hers are aglow with the same energy. Burning sapphires, as she makes her desperate play.

"I said we should show each other how far we have come." She says, and her voice is heavy with strain. "In the warehouse, I showed you the imperfect version. Now, I will show you the greatest art."

When she leaps back into the fray her sword carves a trail with that brillliant sapphire glow. The girl's blade no longer looks like the old and mass-produced piece of cheap steel it truly is; in this moment, it is the shining symbol that a Katana ought to be. The perfect Sword that strikes down Japan's enemies. Ichika asks the world to help her show Ayala the heart of what she stands for. The world answers.

And she uses that blade of shining energy to try and deliver one powerful strike, simply aiming to cleave right through Ayala's defenses. If she manages to connect cleanly, most of that energy will burn right into her opponent...

But either way, she no longer lets it detonate in an unfocused blast. In the aftermath of it, she will be left glowing as though outlined with the remnants of that shining power, drawing what she can back into herself to try and reclaim what she can, drawing on the power of the Kami to keep herself standing that little bit longer.

COMBATSYS: Ichika successfully hits Ayala with Tomorrow's World.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1            Ayala

[AYALA]
Ayala tries to move herself fast enough to bring up her guard against the incoming sword slash/beam, whichever it is--but she cannot--she is blown back, along with several racks of clothing and goes tumbling, before finally colliding with a wall, hard.

"Augh!" her cry is nearly deafened by the commotion and noise of the racks being pushed over around her.

Eventually, though--she pulls herself up and staggers back to where she's supposed to be fighting, limping, even.

"Ayala not given up yet," as if to say, she goes down when she finally relents. But it doesn't look like she is going to last too long, she's pretty beat up and bloodied, and it's not clear if her leg is doing so hot.

"Ayala not give up, not dead!" she raises her voice in a bit of a roar, then begins to steel herself again, a huge aura of chi energy surrounding her. She's focusing it, much like she'd seen her opponents do in the past!

COMBATSYS: Ayala gains composure.

[                  \\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Ichika           0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1            Ayala

[ICHIKA]
"Of course, Feldspar-san. I would expect nothing less."

Ichika slides her shining blade back into her saya. The wound on her hand is no longer bleeding, and as she steadies her breathing, she stares down the eruption of energy around Ayala. It looks like her supposition was correct; one more clean hit from the woman and she would likely be done. Nevertheless, she had shown the cavewoman the shining soul of steel that lives in her heart. She could be proud of that.

Ichika really does make a very dramatic-looking fighter as she dashes back in. The girl darts from one side to the other as she closes the distance, leaving a glowing afterimage of shimmering blue Ichikas in her wake as her chi aura struggles to keep up with her. And then, she has closed the gap.

The blade is drawn in a single clean strike - aiming to draw from Ayala's hip to her shoulder...

... but it is a testament to her respect for the woman's prowess that she is already reversing her grip on the blade, bending her knees ready to continue into the next strike. She's seen Ayala come back too hard too many times from a 'finishing blow' to trust that just one more strike, no matter how beautiful and forceful it might be, could be enough to finish her off.

COMBATSYS: Ayala interrupts Genius Loci EX from Ichika with Falcon Hit.

[                        \\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Ichika           0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0            Ayala

COMBATSYS: Ayala keeps on fighting!

[                        \\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Ichika           0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
"Hyyyaaaah!" Ayala's beastial roar rumbles from a place unknown, it's hard to see how she can do anything in this state against the agile and beautiful swordswoman. She is too fast for her to try and strike as one might any other opponent, and her ability to guard is too strong.

As Ichika dashes closer, that blade seeking her hip and torso, Ayala launches herself toward the swordswoman--fist extended as her fist crashes into her, the blade snaking a blood wound across her side. The cavewoman is airborne during this flying punch, coming down hard and into a roll as she lands, barely able to bring herself up into a kneel as she somehow manages to not just crash into the wall, splattering herself all over it.

[ICHIKA]
One more hit and she would be finished. That had been the calculation.

As Ayala's fist punches clean through her shield and throws her back across the floor, Ichika sprawls. It is only thanks to the gift from the Kami that she is still conscious. Thin cracks have spread across the glowing energy that surrounds her, but it still holds true. Just a little while longer, then. She forces herself back up to her feet and carefully slides her sword back into place at her side with a definite 'click'.

The schoolgirl rolls her shoulders back. Yes. She is hurting, she is nearing her limit, but she isn't - quite - done. Her eyes close, and she starts to move.

She's slower on the approach this time, and the fact that she doesn't open her eyes again until she is right on Ayala may seem odd. But when she does, there's a shocking intensity there. The girl's determination the only thing keeping her going as she twists around, and aims to plant one heavy metal boot right into the side of Ayala's jaw.

COMBATSYS: Ichika successfully hits Ayala with Light Kick.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Ichika           0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
As the boot comes up to plant into Ayala's jaw, saliva and blood flies from her teeth as she cringes, eyes shut as the attack connects. That's it for her, but she's going to take Ichika on one last ride before this is over.

"Now the last dance," Ayala attempts then to clap her hands against Ichika's should, pulling her with her as she begins to brim with green chi energy--eventually spinning them around before she erupts in a chi explosion--and when the dust clears, Ayala is down. For real this time.

COMBATSYS: Ayala can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Ichika breaks through Dance Floor from Ayala with Price of Progress!



[ICHIKA]
The last dance indeed.

As Ichika's boot touches back to the floor, the glowing girl's hand wraps around her sword for one last time. There was no way one small kick was going to be enough to finish Ayala off completely, she knew that... and she's proven right. Ayala's hand grasps her shoulder tightly, green power burns against blue...

And as she is hauled through the air, the sword comes slashing out.

The explosion of power meets her steel, the schoolgirl grits her teeth as the last of her shield shatters, bursting away from her in a shower of bright blue sparks. Sharp metal cleaves into the energy as Ichika rockets upwards in a corkscrewing slash that takes Ayala up into the air, the pair cresting through the top of that green chi. For a moment they hang there, and then.

"KIYAAAAAAAAAA!"

Ichika's loud shout, her voice finally raising from her calm, measured tone to a defiant yell, comes as she forces herself to see this through. Her muscles tear as the last of her energy tears from her, and the girl blurs out of existence, slamming into Ayala's back a moment later to hammer her to the ground with the hilt of her weapon, riding her all the way down like a tiny, loud meteor. They collide once more with the store's floor, and she staggers.

The girl's legs are shaking as she stands and steps away. Her hands, too. She has to steady herself carefully after cleaning the blade before she can slide it into place in its home. Every part of her hurts, clothing lays strewn all about them in a wild mess, and her usually-spiky hair is plastered flat by sweat and exertion. But she doesn't let herself fall. It took everything she had, every last scrap of her resources, but she just barely manages to stay standing.

The tiny green imp from earlier emerges from behind the cash register. "Is... is it over?"

Ichika gives a small nod. "Yes. I think it is." The girl murmurs, bowing low to her downed opponent "Thank you for showing me your strength, Feldspar-san. That, could not have been a closer fight."

Log created on 14:37:20 10/07/2023 by Ichika, and last modified on 11:19:35 10/10/2023.