Match of the Millennium

Description: Surely scheduling a match in a school furnace room is asking for things to reach boiling point in this match? The fighters are going to have to beware of damage from the pylons propping up the building, as well as each other! Nako's been in fine form throughout the Rivals competition. Can the mysterious Midori finally make her presence felt?

[NAKO]
The furnace room of Gedo High is perhaps an unexpected place to battle. It's not used very often, after all, especially this time of year - who needs a furnace in summer? It is at least a big room, filling much of the basement of the main building of Gedo, even if it is broken up by pylons; pipes climb some of the walls and crisscross the ceiling, mostly out of the way. Like some other parts of Gedo High, it looks almost industrial.

Nako's previous matches have been in nicer places: Taiyo's roof, Seijyun's gymnasium. She's never been sent anywhere unpleasant for a match. So what's her reaction to being banished down to the basement?

"It's soooo hoooot!" Nako whines.

Between the heatwave (it's like 105 outside!) and being in a room with an active boiler from decades ago before insulation was as good at it is now, because even if you don't need the heater you *do* need hot water, it's sweltering down here!

Nako has given up on wearing layers because of it. Normally she dresses to avoid flaunting her figure - a jacket, a ribbon, anything to break up her silhouette a bit. Modesty is important, she's been told. Not today! She has decided that not melting into a puddle is more important. (Not literally, probably, but given she doesn't know all her powers, you never know...)

To deal with the heat the curvaceous Darkstalker teen is down to a blue-gray tank top and a pair of denim shorts that have been modified for her tail. They've got a hole in the back just below the belt which her snake-ish tail pokes out of, with the gap covered up with a buttoned strap.

Well. And the sword. She's brought her bokken, which is a oak blade in the shape of a katana, blunt but still not something you want to get hit with! This isn't the clattery lightweight bamboo shinai that Hayato wields but a heavy practice weapon.

She's also brought not one but TWO bottles of water! One of them is open and she's drinking from it. The other sits behind a pylon for after the match.

All she needs now is her opponent!

[MIDORI]
Said opponent is, as anyone who has been keeping track of her strange appearances would likely expect, rather tardy to her scheduled bout.

Nearly an hour in the sweltering heat of the enclosed hot box created by the furnace passes, which seems to have been turned on for no other reason than to add some ambiance to the otherwise open space, before the soft tap of feet descending concrete steps announces the arrival of another person. A small figure tip-taps her way down into the depths, pausing halfway in her descent to shield her face against the sudden wave of heat that rises up to meet her.

Midori squints through the haze, her eyes adjusting to both the temperature and the dim lighting. Why is it that places like this are always poorly lit? You'd think they were going out of their way to give maintenance workers the creeps. As it stands, between the unpleasant heat and the strangely ominous pylons, she's starting to feel like one of the hobbits that just wandered their way into the mines of Moria. Now all they need is a fiery demon from the pits of Hell and the imagery will be complete.

As it turns out, her opponent is something much less fantastical than a Balrog, if no less intimidating - an attractive female. The little shut-in fights the rising urge to melt into the nearest pool of shadows that always accompanies imminent social interaction. Dealing with pretty girls her own age is always difficult because it makes her feel like even more of a gremlin than usual. Unconsciously, her lifted hand sweeps backwards to run its fingers through her greasy mop of hair as if a quick bit of rustling it about will somehow make her look like less of a train wreck.

Having been warned of the nature of the battlefield, Midori has likewise divested herself of her usual attire, though it was a decision of narrow margins. Melting into a puddle of sweat proved only slightly more undesirable than being out in public without her hoodie. She had as little desire to put her pale unhealthy body on display as anyone wanted to see it, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of options in her wardrobe suitable to such extreme temperatures. Most of her outfits involved long-sleeves and lengthy skirts, neither of which would be good choices. Her summer clothes included a few tank tops and couple pairs of shorts but they were meant for lounging around in her room, not engaging in martial combat; practically wardrobe malfunctions waiting to happen. She could potentially have worn some gym clothes had she been given a proper warning earlier. As it stood, her P.E. attire had been lounging in a duffle bag for the better part of three months - the last time one of the teachers had managed to drag her outside for physical activities - and the smell of opening that sealed time capsule alone had nearly knocked her unconscious.

All of which meant she had but a single option left.

The vague silhouette of the young student resolves as she makes her timidly down the last half of the staircase and into the dingy lighting of the raging furnace. Midori pauses at the threshold, awkwardly staring to one side as she allows her opponent to soak in the hot mess than has come to do 'battle' with her.

Clad in naught but her school swimsuit, it becomes clear that the diminutive girl has little to brag about in regards to - well, anything related to her physical appearance. Standing several inches shy of five feet, this walking stick figure hardly looks like she could withstand a stiff breeze, much less a solid punch. Even in the faint light her exposed skin seems unusually wan and unhealthy, clearly unused to the touch of the sun. Her body is thin and unflattering in its proportions, hardly seeming to have been touched by the onset of puberty in the slightest. Not a trace of muscle is to be found, her ribs almost visible through the dark fabric stretched over her small frame.

Long greasy hair hangs down to her waist, the messy raven lockes shimmering with sweat despite her arrival being only a few moments ago. A tangle of mismatched bangs droops down over her face in an unkempt veil, covering one emerald eye like some kind of opera mask while the other peers furtively about, laden with dark bags borne from constant lack of proper sleep.

As ridiculous as the idea that this scrawny loser could hold her own in a martial contest already is, the fact that she seems to carry no weapon pushes the notion into the realm of insult. Surely no punch or kick that this runt could throw would have enough impact to even register as an attack! And yet, despite her obviously unsuitable appearance, the girl has managed to push her way this far into the tournament's ranks. Of course, both of her previous fights were wins by default, as her opponents were both forced to withdraw under mysterious circumstances. Strange coincidence? Or is there something more afoot here than meets the eye?

"Um... h-hello..."

Seemingly unable to meet the busty cat-girl's gaze for more than a moment or two at a time, Midori shoots quick glances her way every few seconds, squirming like a worm on a hook with obvious discomfort. One hand fiddles with her right forearm, which is wrapped in bulky bandages from wrist to elbow, as if she'd suffered some sort of wound prior to the fight. She tugs at the wrappings with nervous energy, shifting the bindings back and forth between idle fingers.

"S-sorry... for being... um... late..."

[NAKO]
There's a new addition to the area down here: cameras! The tournament must be filmed! They're automated and mostly attached to pylons, because nobody wants to be down here and get in the way of the fight. And also nobody wants to be down here because of the environment... there's not even any fans or detractors!

Waiting for so long means that Nako has gone through the second bottle of water too and is wistfully wishing she had brought a fan or something. She has whined to thin air a few times about it, not that there was anyone here to see. She was beginning to wonder if she'd been given the wrong location or time - she's been the butt of that kind of mean joke before, and having her sit around in a hot basement would be just the sort of thing that could happen to her.

But, eventually...!

When Nako hears someone come down the stairs, she straightens up from where she was leaning against a pylon - which wasn't a great idea, since her tank top has a slightly grubby stripe down the back now, where she can't see it! She's not entirely sure who she was expecting for her opponent...

...but Midori isn't it. Isn't she fighting someone from Seijyun? Nako's BEEN to Seijyun. She's pretty sure Midori wouldn't even be allowed inside without a bath, or something. And she's tiny! Nako is sometimes not great at guessing age, but Midori seems younger than she is (not that Nako actually knows her own age either, but she's been assuming about seventeen, which fits her second-year placement). She's certainly shorter. And scrawnier. Does she even work out? Nako also wasn't expecting a swimming suit and is glad they did not ask her to wear one. Down here? Ugh.

"Um, hello," Nako says, still managing a smile. "It's okay! I guess you're my opponent! If, um." Nako looks at the wrappings on Midori's arm. "If you're up to it...?"

Did she get hurt in one of the other matches? Nako thinks back to herself, trying to remember anything about them. She doesn't think she's seen anything about any of them. Wait, is she the girl who hasn't fought at ALL? Nako really needs to do more research! Her serpentine tail flicks - she's more than a catgirl, she's some sort of snake-cat-girl. Or, as it was put in an earlier match, neko-naga. Unfortunately she hasn't been able to shake *that* description!

Midori has one thing right, though: Nako still manages to look good, even down here. It's like she doesn't care about the fact that she's roasting. "Let's do it quick though, I need a shower so bad already." ...but, clearly, she does!

[MIDORI]
To be fair, absolutely no one would mistake the pathetic wretch cowering before her as one of the elite upper class at first glance. Even Gedo students usually bother to bathe and groom themselves on semi-regular basis. If this little sweat goblin has seen the inside of a shower in the past two weeks it was probably via pictures on the Internet.

Midori doesn't miss the judgement in the gaze that takes her in, nor does she seem offended by the darkstalker's obvious hesitation. She's used to being the pariah. Most of the other students at Seijyunn hardly even acknowledge her existence, much less make efforts to include her in anything. She's the school's dirty little secret, allowed to wander the prestigious academy's storied halls by virtue of her parent's influence and generous donations.

The question soft-balled at her causes Midori to follow the other teenager's gaze down to her bandaged arm, only just now seeming to realize that she's picking at the wrapping out of idleness. Flushing with embarrassment, she quickly tucks the injured limb behind her back.

'Not really', she mutters in answer, though her voice is low enough that it's mostly to herself.

But it's not like she has a lot of choice in the matter. Her parents have extended the rare ultimatum and forced her to participate in this sideshow. Failure to comply would result in the termination of her allowance for the rest of the semester and that would be complete disaster. Catastrophe, even! There's far too many games and figurines on her wish list coming out in the next few months for her meager savings to cover everything. If she wasn't able to get her hands on a first edition print of the new Pretty Magic Ninja Sentai Soldiers beach edition she'd be the laughing stock of the fan forums!

A fate worse than death, truly.

So, begrudgingly, Midori has dragged herself out to each of these battlefields one after another. But, seeing as the last two matches have turned out to be duds, she's starting to wonder if there isn't some angel of fate watching over her from on high. Perhaps even the kami realize what an injustice has been foisted upon such a poor fragile princess such as herself! Which makes her wonder what sort of convenient accident will intervene to prevent her from having to get beat up this time. Will the roof cave in? Has the boiler been so poorly maintained that it explodes? Maybe there's an uneven spot on the floor that this busty chimera will trip over and knock herself cold.

Sadly, her lengthy delay seems not to have provided enough of an opportunity for misfortune to strike down her foe. And after quietly staring at Nako from the beneath her bangs for nearly a minute in awkward silence, waiting for providence to strike, it starts to become more and more likely that she might actually have to participate in this battle.

Midori's shoulders slump and she lets out a disappointed groan. Surrendering to the inevitable, the little teen shuffles her way over to a spot opposite the cat-snake and assumes something that might vaguely be interpreted as a fighting stance. Mostly she just looks tired and resigned, her baggy eyes half closed in a lazy stare, two tiny hands raised in loose fists that probably couldn't menace a piece of wet paper.

"I... um... r-ready, I guess..."

COMBATSYS: Midori has started a fight here.

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

COMBATSYS: Nako has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Nako             0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0           Midori

[NAKO]
It is perhaps ironic that Midori is up against, and apparently intimidated by, Nako, when she is one of the few other fighters who could probably hold a conversation with her about video games! Nako, after all, was confined to a house for almost a year, when her adoptive parents were at first trying to hide that they had rescued some sort of amnesiac Darkstalker teenager. She played a surprising number of games.

(Nako never got interested in the figurines as much, though... though that may have been partially that she really would not have had anywhere to put them!)

But Nako has no idea why Midori has chosen to do battle. Only that she's here, however grudgingly. She really doesn't look like she wants to be here, and Nako isn't sure she blames her! Nako actually enjoys fighting - the physical activity, the challenge, even the actual violence though she doesn't like to admit that part. To sign up for something like this when you DON'T is a completely different story!

Sadly, no divine providence immediately appears, despite Midori's best wishes. The floor *is* uneven in places - this is not a finished basement, after all! - but Nako has not yet put a foot wrong on it enough to stumble. The pylons are thick and sturdy and are holding up the ceiling just fine. As for the boiler... well, it seems to be doing its thing just fine for now. No act of god or devil strikes Nako down where she stands, looking a little sheepish, her purplish cat-pupil eyes meeting Midori's at least some of the time.

And Nako is feeling more and more awkward about this whole thing as Midori fails to respond. She's picked up her bokken but isn't really doing much with it. The second-hand embarrassment is palpable. Her ears go slightly flat as she... well, she feels bad for Midori. She's got sharp ears. She just about made out what Midori said to herself.

But when Midori finally, finally indicates she's ready, Nako nods slowly. "OK!" she says, smiling again. "I'm sorry about this, but, um. I can't give up either. Not for me or Taiyo. So... good luck!" She gives a little bow - the sort anyone would in a martial arts match, a standing bow from the hips.

When she rises up she's in business, switching her grip on the bokken to an actual combative one instead of holding it loosely. She takes a one-handed stance rather than something kendo-approved, and she opens with a fast thrust, using the blunt weapon to poke at Midori's stomach with more speed than force. It's testing! She's not going to open up on someone without knowing what they can do, at least a little bit, but she's deliberately not going for that wrapped arm either.

COMBATSYS: Midori blocks Nako's Quick Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Nako             0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
Abandoned by her parents, now by the gods. Truly, she is destined to live a cursed life of suffering.

With such thoughts in her mind as the agile chimera rushes her, Midori braces herself and manages to hold resolute in the face of the wooden blade - for about a second and a half. As the tip of the weapon is thrust in her direction, the girl's lazy expression rapidly morphs into a look of panic, like someone who was taking a casual stroll through the park only to suddenly find themselves being accosted by a swarm of bees.

"Eeek!"

Her defensive response is much the same as someone trying to ward off a hostile swarm of tiny insects. The girl's arms flail about in a wild frenzy in front of her, slapping at the air with both eyes squeezed tightly shut in a blind attempt to swat the incoming strike aside. And despite the absurdity of it all, by some impossible stroke of providence, she accomplishes just that.

A hard thwack echoes through the vast empty space as Midori's palm makes contact with the side of the bokken, striking the tip just as it was about to make contact with her nylon-coated midsection. The teen recoils as if she has just touched a hot stove, seeming more surprised at her own success than her opponent is. The quick thrust banks off her palm and manages a grazing blow along her waistline, a cut would have still been potentially deadly had the weapon an actual edge. As it stands, all she ends up with is a bruised hand and a minor abrasion on her stomach.

Such a weak probing blow would hardly have given a dedicated fighter more than a moment of pause. Midori, however, takes the deflected strike like one of those inflatable clowns used for boxing practice. She spins sideways as the bokken glances off her hip, teetering backwards with arms flailing akimbo once again in a display of comical lack of grace. After a second or two she manages to recover her balance by pitching herself forward but all this does is set her center of gravity in the opposite direction.

Now propelled into a head-long rush, the tiny teen turns her furiously flapping limbs towards Nako. Punch after noodle-armed punch rains down upon the cat-snake in a torrent of wild unorthodox strikes. There is no form to be discerned here, no strategy or tactics. It's like she's being assaulted by a little sister throwing a tantrum more than a supposedly trained professional martial artist.

COMBATSYS: Nako just-defends Midori's Juuroku Shou!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Nako             0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0           Midori

[NAKO]
Suffering builds character! Or so Nako has heard.

While people have deflected Nako's blows before, usually it seems more... intentional than Midori's attempt! Nako isn't quite sure what Midori is doing until she does it, and she feels her bokken pushed out of line by Midori's palm, ending with a mere graze and a stinging hand.

Maybe this is her style?? Nako thinks, because she's still trying to feel this whole situation out. Can you have a chaotic style? Some sort of non-style...

She's overthinking things again!

Nako's tail stretches behind her when she thrusts, but now she bounces back, pulling herself upright from the thrust it snaps downward, nearly touching the floor with her tailtip. It really does help her balance, apparently! She's just as mobile as Midori, just... differently. Nako isn't flailing to recover her balance (this time).

But Midori chases her down, whether on purpose or accidentally. Nako puts her weight on her back foot, bracing against the impact and using both her bokken and her free arm to absorb the impact. Midori isn't really big or weighty enough to push her off balance when she's as steady as she is, so she takes it mostly with her upper body, each impact jostling her upper body but failing to break through her guard.

"Ah, you're fast...!" It's the one compliment Nako can give; Midori may seem untrained (she's not convinced about that!) and she's not that strong but the attacks do come pretty swiftly. Nako searches about to try to find a way out of getting slapped and - oh, she's got it!

Nako snaps her bokken forward suddenly, a sweeping cut that leaves a shining flash of purplish pink on impact, slightly dazzling to the eye. She uses impact (hopefully) to pivot, a dancelike step backwards as she spins once, returning her bokken to a defensive position afterwards. It moves her toward one of the pylons, but it also lets her get some distance from Midori - unless she can chase the catsnake-girl down, of course!

COMBATSYS: Midori fails to counter Fox Dance from Nako with Tenketsushin.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Nako             0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
Nako's keen eye does indeed pick up on details that many people miss. Despite all of her lazy demeanor and waifish appearance, her wild flailing is strangely on point. Several of the seemingly random swats and punches come at the larger girl with surprising accuracy, each hammering (or well lightly jostling) into her guard so quickly that even the feather-weight impacts make it difficult to escape, forcing the swords woman to focus on defense for the initial few moments of contact.

Fortunately for the cat-snake, she's not lacking in speed of her own. The bokken's sudden snapping movement manages to scythe through the windmill of limbs at an opportune time, avoiding another 'random' deflection as it carves a swift path across her opponent's forehead. The weapon makes contact with a solid thwap sending the tiny girl reeling even as her agile foe dances nimbly away.

While the fancy pirouette was both stylish and well-executed, it's likely that turning her back just at the moment of impact may have caused Nako to miss an important detail. Namely the subtle shift in cadence of the barrage of blows being directed at her. Even as her bokken lands a shiny strike against Midori's noggin', one of the girl's hands shoots out, two fingers extending from her balled up fist. She thrusts this slender protrusion at the dark stalker's forearm as if she were wielding a dagger instead of a couple of chewed up fingernails.

Alas, she proves but a heartbeat too slow. The speed of the flashy retreat yanks Nako's arm out of reach of those pokey fingers just in time, leaving her untouched and unaffected by whatever her diminutive foe had intended to accomplish. Judging by the effectiveness of her initial assault, she might well just have intended on tickling the older girl into submission.

[NAKO]
Nako winces reflexively at the impact of bokken against forehead, but all's fail in love, war, and televised NFG Rivals battles. It's not like she's cheating. It's just that head hits sting.

She's been trying to figure out Midori's style (without success, so far) and about all she's determined is that Midori has more of an idea what she's doing than she's letting on. She expects to get attacked when she spins away - it's why she evades at all!

And it's good that she did, because it keeps her just barely out of reach of Midori's fingertips. With her back turned for part of it, it's not even clear whether she saw it at all ahead of time, or simply was proactive about clearing out of the way. But whether it's for stabbing, hitting a pressure point, or ...tickling, she managed it, and the results will remain a mystery for now.

But you never know. It might work. Nobody has ever checked if Nako is ticklish.

As Nako comes to a stop, she focuses back on Midori. Her instincts are to attack the swimsuit-clad teen before she strikes back, and Nako is a pretty instinctive fighter... she thinks things through, sure, but she also tends to react on reflex.

Also, the faster she beats her, the faster she can cool off. Why couldn't they have fought somewhere with air conditioning? Nako has thought to herself several times. Even in her tank top and shorts she's cooking over here! Though, somehow she avoids looking all sweaty over it. Maybe it's a snake thing. Or maybe it's one of her Darkstalker powers (though, aren't those the same thing?)

So she follows through rather than holds back. With the additional distance gotten by her pirouette, Nako goes into a long lunge - but her bokken is still imbued with the pink chi from before! She's actually just a little too far away to hit Midori with it, except for one thing.

When Nako moves into position, chi gathers on the tip of the bokken, and when she thrusts it builds up, pulsing into a little spike. It only adds about another foot to her reach, the rest of the aura going down the length of the bokken, trailing behind the tip like a comet tail and surrounding the weapon in pink chi. But sometimes that extra bit of length is enough!

COMBATSYS: Nako successfully hits Midori with Serpent Fang ES.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Nako             0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
Considering that she's already at a rather sizable disadvantage thanks to her height, an extra foot of range for someone already carrying a weapon might as well be an extra mile. Still recovering from the blow to her head, Midori staggers back and forth a few times before finally finding her footing. She has hardly enough time to let out a pained groan and rub at the bruise already starting to form on her pale skin before the aggressive dark stalker comes at her again.

The neon pink energy casually tears past the girl's weak attempt to defend herself, barely giving her enough time to squeak in terror at the realization that she's already under attack again before the chi blade lances square into her chest. Midori's eyes go wide, bulging with surprise and pain, and she lets out an extremely undignified sound that makes it seem like she came close to losing her lunch. Fortunately for the squeamish who might be watching she manages to keep the contents of her stomach on the inside, if only just.

"I think... I'm gonna be sick...!"

Again, the question of precisely why this poor excuse for a fighter has been thrust into a martial tournament rears its head. So far, all she's done is flap her arms around and assault everyone's eyes with her greasy unwashed mop and vampire-like skin tone. This can't be what street fighting has degenerated into. Surely there must have been some mistake?

Mistake or not, Midori is here and apparently not yet ready to throw in the towel - even though she is in desperate need of one. She recovers from being impaled by Nako's rave baton after a few seconds of retching and gagging, though it's obvious that the swords woman's strike has whittled a large chunk of what little energy she had packed away in that stick figure of a body.

Realizing that she has no chance of doing anything useful without closing the distance, the girl clenches her fists and lets out a squeal that seems more terrified than aggressive. Hurling herself into a dead sprint, she closes her eyes at the last second and hurls herself like a human torpedo at her target. Spindly arms spread wide and, should she make contact, wrap around Nako's midsection as she attempts to drag the larger and heavier girl to the ground with sheer... determination?

COMBATSYS: Nako blocks Midori's Strong Throw.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Nako             0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0           Midori

[NAKO]
Nako isn't all that tall by the standards of some of the fighters around, and she isn't the only swordfighter either, so sometimes she really needs that extra reach... she's not very used to fighting someone Midori's size!

Or fighting someone like Midori in so many ways. Nako pauses after her thrust, drawing back her arm and weapon, but she isn't sure whether to follow through or simply let Midori be sick! Her ears droop a little bit, as does her tail.

But it looks like she's still up, which is good. She'd feel bad if Midori actually WAS sick on camera!

Now, Nako isn't sure what to expect out of Midori. She expects that she needs to have a certain level of skill to be allowed to compete; she had to convince someone at Taiyo that she was worth trusting to carry the banner, and Seijyun is stricter than Taiyo! It never occured to her that, for Midori, it might be a punishment and not an opportunity.

So Nako expects she has hidden depths in there. Possibly very hidden, but there somewhere. And so she is expecting an attack, and she isn't disappointed when Midori rushes right at Nako. Nako, uncertain if she's being slammed into or grabbed, picks the wrong one; she braces, preparing to block a blow, but no blow comes, precisely. Instead Midori reaches out with both arms.

And she manages the grab! Just not the throw.

Midori wraps her arms around Nako's midsection just above her waist during her torpedo rush, which also means Midori's head is aimed straight at Nako's chest. For Midori, that's a soft impact, at least... though depending on how tight she clings it may be a smothering hazard instead.

The impact draws a squeaky "Eeep!" of surprise from Nako. She can feel her face starting to turn red as she staggers under the impact, barely managing to stay on her feet. She grips Midori with her free hand and slides the bokken underneath her stomach so she can lift her up with both arms, pivoting as she tries to fling Midori away from her rather than let her hold on!

Extremely red-faced, Nako huffs afterwards, "You didn't have to do that...!" Her tail sweeps, more like a cat's than the snake's tail it looks like, as she shoots a look at one of the cameras as if to check if it saw it. But the cameras see everything...

COMBATSYS: Midori counters Medium Throw from Nako with Aikishou.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Nako             0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1           Midori

[MIDORI]
And that proves to be the worst thing that Nako could have done.

Not that she would know the true nature of her opponent. How could she? Midori has spent most of her life cultivating the appearance of a pathetic slobby loser. And she's spent the entirety of this fight doing her best to make it look like she can barely walk straight, much less throw a solid punch. So why would the obviously more skilled fighter display an ounce of caution even when 'trapped' in the flimsy grip of such a worthless opponent?

With her face buried between the valley of Nako's mountains, Midori's shift in demeanor once more goes unnoticed. Getting squished by this busty bimbo wasn't exactly part of her plan and she can't help but blush slightly at the predicament. But her reaction is much less pronounced than it should be for an outcast who treats social interaction like a vampire treats holy water. Instead of muffled screams and flailing about the tiny sweat goblin latches onto Nako's waist with a sudden unexpected tenacity.

The wild spin meant to hurl her away instead provides momentum for what comes next. Midori's legs leave the floor for a few moments as she hangs on like a dug in tick and despite her apparent weakness she manages to cling fast. When her feet once again touch the ground, the spin which Nako began is turned against her as the tiny girl somehow converts that momentum into an even more powerful twist.

To her no doubt great surprise, it is not Midori who finds themselves launched airborne but the cat-snake instead. Hurled straight up into the air with the force that defies the little stick-figure's apparent strength, she slams into the hard concrete ceiling above with a shuddering thud only to rebound and come plummeting right back down.

The unpleasantness of landing on the pavement proves the least of her worries, however. Midori stares up at the meteor that is now descending upon her with wide eyes, as if she didn't even realize that the old adage 'what goes up must come down' applies in this situation. With a frightened squeak, she sidesteps out of the way and shields her face with one hand, the other lashing out in a blind punch out of sheer panic.

Once again fate seems to step in and turn the improbable into reality. Midori's tiny hand slams square into the falling dark stalker's midsection, landing an equally unlikely blow directly into the pit of her stomach. As any professional fighter can attest, getting the wind knocked out of you is unpleasant at the best of times. But in this case, this strike hits with such precise timing that even the noodle arm behind it manages to redirect her from a freefall into a sideways cannonball that sends her careening into one of the many concrete pillars filling the room.

[NAKO]
Nako was expecting Midori to go flying. She's bigger and stronger and even though throwing people is not her specialty she figured she could at least get Midori off of her!

But she wasn't expecting Midori to *cling* like that! She has a much better grip than Nako gave her credit for, pulling herself in tight enough that Nako just kind of tugs herself a little off-balance when Midori shifts rather than actually getting her away, adding momentum to the pair of them. "Hey - let go! Stop squeezing!"

(Nako would object to the 'bimbo' part if she'd heard it. Fortunately, it wasn't out loud!)

When Midori gets her feet down again, she successfully transmits all that momentum to Nako... straight up! Nako lets out another "Eep!" but this one isn't as squeaky, just surprised - and then a moment later her back smashes into the ceiling, knocking the air out of her.

But what goes up must come down, and for all her tricks Nako does not fly, float, or glide. She drops like a brick, though she does twist to try to get her feet under her reflexively like - well, like a cat. But the rotation leaves her stomach open to a follow-up strike...

If Nako had the air knocked out of her before, she certainly isn't getting a good breath now! A fist in her gut, followed by being thrown into one of the pylons with a thump of impact. She slides down the pillar, dropping to a slightly dazed sitting position, her bokken finally slipping from her hands and clattering on the floor before she manages to pick herself up, trying desperately to regain her breath. "Oww...." Her entire back hurts now.

At least the bokken is over here! Nako picks it back up when she stands herself, gritting her teeth - now she's taking Midori really seriously, too out of breath to talk much. She grips it, holding it backwards like it was sheathed before gripping it with her other hand, snapping it forward in an iai-like strike!

Normally, Nako's chi appears like a pink energy aura, or sometimes in mysterious clouds of smoke. But what actually comes out this time is bright pink *lightning* shot through with gold, a V-cut of chi that slashes through the air with the sound of a thunderclap! Little bolts of electricity spark along Nako's hand, which she shakes to try to get them off as they sting and burn her.

"What...?" She looks at her hand in confusion. She's sparked a little in her Rivals battles before, but not like that!

COMBATSYS: Nako successfully hits Midori with Cat's Claw ES.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Nako             0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1           Midori

[MIDORI]
Once again, despite her baffling display of random defense in the first exchange, Midori seems unable to contend with the pure energy being wielded by her opponent. It takes her a few seconds to finally gather up the courage to open her eyes and another second or two to peer curiously over towards the direction of the loud crash that her seemingly uncontrolled panic had created. What she finds isn't the crumpled body of the dark stalker conveniently knocked unconscious but a wave of extremely unpleasant neon lightning rippling through the air on a direct collision course!

The little gremlin's eyes bug-out in sudden panic and she attempts to shield herself by throwing both arms pathetically up in front of her face as some sort of barrier. Surprising to no one, however, her twiggy little arms prove no obstacle to the electrically-infused sword wave. The crackling projectile hammers into her guard and shatters it immediately, exploding in a shower of pink sparkles and golden spiderwebs of static. Midori vanishes briefly, engulfed by the explosion of neon glitter. When she appears again it is in an undignified heap on the floor, the edges of her nylon swimsuit sizzling with tiny wisps of evaporated sweat and condensation.

"Nnnuguu..."

Dazed and only barely conscious, Midori spends a good few moments lying on the floor, various parts of her body twitching errantly as the lingering electric chi spitefully expends its energy with loud flashy snaps of gold. Eventually, however, she lets out a groan and rolls over onto her side, staggering with great effort onto her hands and knees. One shaky hand quests up to her chest, feeling the smoldering black smear on the front of her swimsuit with questing fingers. The entirety of her upper torso is either numb or throbbing, a discordant mixture of white haze and boiling tension that leaves her dizzy.

When she finally gathers her wits enough to tilt her head back and peer over towards the other student, Midori gives her an almost drunken smile. Her mouth parts, words forming on her pale lips, but all that comes out is a weak puff of black smoke followed by a single wheezing complaint.

"...ow."

The display is so thoroughly pitiful and comical that Nako might not be prepared for the sudden flash of movement. The girl's arm flicks out, blindingly fast, something shiny and metallic glittering between her fingers. She conceals the movement's purpose through a cunning display of acting, bringing the hand up to her mouth as she coughs noisily. But whatever was held in that hand is no longer there, her secret cargo having already sent on its merry way.

In the dim lighting, the dark stalker has little but whatever enhanced senses she might possess to pick out the tiny slivers of metal ripping through the air. Five steel needles, each one roughly the length of a finger, silently bear down on their target like a squadron of kamikaze bees on an attack run. Under normal circumstances these tiny projectiles would be all but invisible, their speed and the subterfuge used to deliver them leaving only the most perceptive of fighters with more than a few moments to prepare.

However, it seems today is anything but normal. In much the same way that Nako found her familiar technique suddenly infused with an unexpected source of power, Midori's stealthy projectiles erupt with unnatural light as they are consumed by a flickering sheath of sickly green flame. The brilliant, and very noticeable, flash of energy draws attention to the sneaky little needles while they are but halfway to their target, potentially giving Nako time to come up with a countermeasure - or scaring her long enough to drop her guard.

COMBATSYS: Nako parries Midori's Jouro Senbon!!

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Nako             1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1           Midori

[NAKO]
Midori may be disappointed that Nako's still conscious, but Nako is privately proud of her ability to stay up despite being bounced off the ceiling and a pillar. Sure, she hurts - Midori hit her way harder than she thought that she could! But this isn't over yet.

Though, for a moment, she's not sure if it is, when the lightning crackles over her skinny opponent. Nako's chi slash was deliberate but the electricity wasn't, and it was a bit more powerful than she'd intended - she'd even scorched her own fingers with it, golden sparks still popping off her bare arm for a few moments longer, arcs reaching toward her torso before the sparking finally starts to fade!

'Ow', Midori says, and Nako agrees. Ow indeed.

But she's impressed by *Midori's* ability to stay in it too. She might be scorched and a little smoky but she's still able to fight - she hasn't forfeited! Nako begins to walk forward on the uneven ground while she catches her breath, picking a path that takes her between pylons instead of next to them. She doesn't want to be thrown into another one! "Are you okay?" she asks, as if confirming Midori is still able to continue.

And Nako doesn't see the needles, at first. Midori is subtle, and Nako really isn't. It doesn't occur to her to watch out for a trap. A sudden attack as Midori rises, sure - that's just good tactics! But not invisible needles in the darkness.

It's only when they STOP being invisible that Nako reacts. Nako neither thinks about a countermeasure or panics - well, she's very obviously startled, but she lets her body react entirely on instinct, stepping even closer to Midori as she sweeps her bokken around in a looping arc.

If she was using real steel there'd be a series of ringing impacts, but since she's using wood it's more of a soft thud. At least one of the green-burning needles sticks in the bokken, continuing to burn and starting to make the wood smolder, but Nako is distracted!

She let her instincts carry her, and that means an attack too. Nako's free hand presses against her torso just beneath her bust, and then withdraws - as she pulls out a second sword, this one made of a glowing chi core (gold, not pink, today) surrounded by swirling smoke that becomes almost solid against the blade! She's drawn it out of her own body, and though usually she can draw the smoke out through her clothes, today it leaves a lightning-scorched hole behind, part of Nako's stomach just visible through the small gap.

Nako slashes thin air, because she's still too far away to reach Midori. Carving into the air with an eerie whistling sound, the chi blade leaves a smoke-lined slash in the air, which Nako steps into, vanishing entirely.

She reappears a moment later in an explosion of smoke just above Midori, diving down with a kick before she lands and sweeps the chi blade through a slash! If the smoking sword hits, there's barely any physical impact as it strikes at Midori's chi instead, drawing some of it out as she makes some of Midori's stored energy leak into the air in a wispy fog, leaving her feeling tired on top of everything else.

Her bokken is still starting to scorch. Nako realizes it about now and tries to beat it out against the floor before it really ignites.

COMBATSYS: Midori counters Wicked Bird EX from Nako with Shikomishindan.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Nako             0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
"What the...?"

Despite having thrown the needles herself, Midori seems just as surprised as the dark stalker when the tiny projectiles burst into noxious flame. That isn't supposed to happen! Did she screw up the formula? Or, more interestingly, did she just accidentally an atmospheric poison bomb? The prospects are equally exciting and terrifying seeing as the poison on those needles came from inside her own body.

But, even as she stares at her own hand in curious wonder, the girl isn't given long to ponder the possibilities. Keeping on theme with her own unusual infusion of power, the dark stalker moves with lightning reflexes upon being warned of the hidden threat. Her weapon knocks the dangerous but flimsy projectiles aside with a deft sweep leaving the path to a swift counter strike completely open as Midori continues to struggle with her own recovery. And swift it proves to be, even more than anyone could have anticipated as Nako carves a portal through space and time to unleash a mighty ambush from above!

This time, Midori no longer has the luxury of pretense. The strike comes so swiftly and unexpectedly that there is no way for her to play off her defense as some sort of strange stroke of luck or blundering accident. The time for games is over.

The teen's head whips up, eyes narrowing as the crafty cat-snake comes plummeting through her newly opened portal. The sweaty little nerd moves with startling speed for someone who is supposedly half-baked from the previous assault, her body almost a blur in the dim light of the furnace. Nako's foot slams into the pavement, missing its target by centimeters as it rolls away into a defensive three-point crouch at her side.

Her opponent flows from the first strike into the next but the dedication to carrying her assault through to the end proves to be her undoing. Midori's bandaged arm comes up, almost as if she plans to try and deflect the glowing blade with naught but her wounded flesh. The true intent of her actions quickly becomes unpleasantly clear, however. Darting her head forward, the girl uses her teeth to snag a small piece of rectangular plastic that was concealed within the wrappings.

The corner of her mouth bends up into a wide grin for a brief moment, Midori's eyes flashing with sadistic amusement. Then she yanks her head to the side, tugging on the cord attached to piece of plastic in her mouth and unleashes the ace in her sleeve - well, bandages.

A sharp click followed by the high-pitched whistle of several objects moving rapidly through the air echoes through the room. Nako's body shudders involuntarily as half a dozen needles bury themselves in her exposed side, stitching a diagonal line from her hip up towards her shoulder. The deadly toxin on those needles goes to work in the span of a single heart-beat, paralyzing her entire body for a few moments as boiling agony washes through her veins.

The sudden loss of control causes the sweep of the dark stalker's blade to go wide, passing harmlessly over the crouching Midori's head who doesn't even bother attempting to dodge. She squats in place with a smug grin plastered on her pale face as Nako collapses like an over-cooked souffle, the trigger-string of her hidden weapon still dangling from her mouth.

Six tiny holes now dot the surface of her bandages, exit wounds left by the needles launched from the mechanism concealed beneath. But, the low illumination combined with the ambiguity of the situation make it almost impossible for the cameras to pick up on such tiny details. Everything just happened so fast.

"Um... a-are you okay?"

Midori's timid facade quickly settles back into place as she pushes back to her feet. She clutches her 'wounded' arm close, concealing the evidence of her trick from easy view as she steps close to peer down at the body of her unsuspecting victim. Fortunately for Nako the paralytic poison would disable her only for a few seconds. Already she would feel strength returning to her limbs, bit by bit, though it would take several hours for the effect to wear off completely.

But her devious little opponent has more than enough time to loom ominously overhead, the mocking grin that stood in stark juxtaposition to the timid worry in her voice hidden from the spectators by the shaggy bangs hanging over her face - but not from Nako.

"Oh dear, you must have tripped over something you didn't see," she says, her soft voice dripping with subtle venom. "You really should be more... careful."

[NAKO]
So fast! Far faster than Nako expected Midori to be, she rolls out of the way of Nako's descending kick, coming up into a crouch.

It says something about Nako's reflexes and catlike ability to land on her feet that Nako doesn't actually stumble when she hits the uneven floor of the unfinished furnace room rather than kicking off a moving target. She lands, sweeping the smoky blade with its glowing core at Midori... which is when everything goes wrong all of a sudden as a spray of needles hits Nako's side!

Midori might be worried for a moment because Nako doesn't drop quite as fast as she might be expecting. Whether it's because she's a Darkstalker, because she's a part *snake* Darkstalker, or some other reason, Nako actually manages to stay on her feet for one step. But just one step! On the second step, her leg is too numb to hold her up and she slips, falling to her side, her shoulder hitting at an angle so momentum rolls her onto her back. The smoke-chi sword breaks into just smoke as soon as her fingers loosen around it, though her actual bokken stays in her grip. The sudden cloud of smoke makes it easier for Midori to hide what she's doing, too...

So she's looking up at Midori when Midori comes to look down at her, her expression a mix of pain and confusion, even betrayal, that shifts toward anger when Midori mocks her.

Nako's fought before. Nako enjoys fighting, even! Her body *understands* fighting. She likes the challenge! She likes competition and adrenaline and all that. And sometimes you get beat up in a fight. That's normal too and Nako has taken her losses with grace. But she's never had to deal with someone being *malicious* about it before! She's never been taunted while she's on the floor, recovering from one of the most painful experiences she can consciously remember, barely able to move.

She guessed Midori was hiding something about her skills. They wouldn't throw someone who wouldn't and couldn't fight into the tournament... But she didn't think it was this!

Nako forces herself to try to get up, but mostly manages to twitch once as Midori looms over Nako (for the first time, given their relative heights). But she isn't going to let herself just sit here and be mocked. She's got to get up!

Nako draws in her chi, working on instinct again, but instead of either the smoky chi she drew out or the glowing pink radiance her used with her bokken, it's the golden lightning. It arcs across her body, silhouetting her with a crackle as she jerks upright, accompanied by a wordless yell! All she can manage is a rising punch as she regains her feet, so that's what she does - a powerful uppercut aimed at Midori's chin, still slightly twitchy as she burns off enough of the venom to stand.

COMBATSYS: Midori blocks Nako's Power Strike.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Nako             0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
The wild angry retort comes as no surprise to Midori. It's not the first time she's been in this scenario, standing tall over an opponent who vastly underestimated her capabilities. Most people would get angry at being taunted after such an underhanded trick. And dedicated martial artists often suffered from a foolishly naive concept of honor. So gullible. She almost feels bad; almost.

Sluggish from the poison and taunted into action, Nako's strike proves simple to intercept. Still putting on a show for the cameras, Midori lets out a girlish squeak and sweeps a hand through the air, 'accidentally' batting the uppercut aside. The dark stalker knows better now, though. Upon closer examination it becomes obvious that hidden among the trickster's apparent panic are precisely timed movements.

But, for all her gloating, Midori doesn't really have a good answer to that incredible energy flowing through her opponent. She hadn't seen any evidence of lightning chi in the cat-snake's previous bouts. Had she been holding back as well? The girl didn't seem the type, too brutally forthcoming and direct to be any good at subterfuge. But as a professional con-woman herself it'd be foolish of her to dismiss the possibility.

Regardless of why the lightning is there, it remains an issue. Even as she skillfully deflects the angry punch aside the energy sheathing that arm sizzles and pops against Midori's unprotected skin. She does her best to divert the chi as one would an actual electrical charge, pointing a single finger on her opposite hand at the metallic furnace nearby. A bolt of golden power erupts from her fingertip and lances into the less resistant material, the rubber of her pool sandals and swimsuit offering unexpected protection.

"Atatata...!"

Midori shakes her hand in the air, wincing with very real pain at the blackened fingernail. Much more of that and she's going to be joining the bimbo in her spazzing out!

Not that she really cares about winning. This entire contest has been nothing but a chance for the assassin-in-training to test out some of her personal concoctions on something bigger than rats and alley strays. And, oh, has it been a worthwhile endeavor! Every single match has provided wonderfully amusing reactions; and there's even a dark stalker in the mix now. She'll be sorting through the data and making adjustments to her formulas for months at this rate. So even if she gets decked, it hardly matters. Midori already got what she wanted out of this fight. Now all that remains is to try and last long enough to enjoy the show.

Which makes this a war of attrition. Sadly, the frailness of her body is not entirely an act. Having poison swirling through her veins at all times makes access to her weapon of choice convenient and her toxins all but impossible to detect but that practice exacts a price. The teen's body tenses up as she is beset with a sudden coughing fit, the massive upset to her nervous system from the electric chi throwing the delicate balance of her own spirit into momentary chaos. She plays it off as damage from the attack, wheezing pitifully for the cameras like a Hollywood actress trying to win an Emmy.

"Ooogh... I don't feel so... *cough*... good..."

But beneath that mop of bangs, she shoots another malicious smirk at the dark stalker, clearly taunting her to take the bait again. Is she willing to look like the unreasonable one, lashing out at a poor malnourished runt for her own mistake? Midori coughs again, a faint red hue staining her palm this time, but her challenging stare never wavers.

"You look a little faint yourself, neko-naga," she says, using the term given to her in previous matches. But at this point it's probably not that surprising to realize how much studying up the girl has done. "Maybe you should just... lie down for a while."

COMBATSYS: Midori gains composure.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Nako             0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Midori

[NAKO]
To Nako, Rivals is a sport, and an opportunity. She's not accustomed to thinking of it as deadly even if it is violent; sure, it's dangerous, but her attitude is just different than Midori's!

And between that, and the taunting, Nako is coming to a conclusion: She dislikes Midori.

This is rare. Nako is kind of naive, and friendly. She thinks the best of people. Even people who she isn't friends with, she tends to be more neutral on. But Midori... the way she's acted, the way she's continuing to act. The way she hides her skills to make Nako look worse, the gloating, the cruelty...

She just doesn't like her. Midori just makes her angry. And that's something new.

Nako braces after her sparking swing, half to regain her footing and half because she isn't entirely sure she trusts her legs to work perfectly yet! She's never been poisoned before, and she still feels a little wobbly and unsteady.

She actually HAS used the lightning before... once, and not very effectively, as it came along with her smoke cloud and made it look more like a thunderhead. She's never used it on her sword or her body, and she doesn't really know what she's doing with it. If she did, she'd shoot a lightning bolt or something!

But instead what actually happens is that Midori taunts her again. Nako grips her bokken tighter, her arms shaking only a little bit... "Maybe you should!" is her response. "Before you shoot me again..." The cameras may not have caught it, but Nako did. And the proof's around the room; the burning needles earlier, the little wounds from where her side was shot more recently. She may not know exactly how the poison's made, but she at least knows it exists.

Midori wants her to attack - and Nako takes the bait. But she takes it in a way Midori might not be hoping for! Nako leaps into the air, and as she goes she's wrapped entirely in chi... but no electricity this time. Just her glowing pink-colored energy, lining her body from head to toe (and head to tail)!

When she comes down, it's in an undignified-looking belly flop as she tries to literally land on top of Midori. But she's completely surrounded in chi when she does it, a larger silhouette of Nako that EXPLODES off of her in a shockwave on impact - whether that's with Midori or with the floor!

COMBATSYS: Midori blocks Nako's Tanuki Drop ES.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Nako             0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0           Midori

[MIDORI]
Oh no, someone dislikes her. How ever will the unwashed greasy teenage avatar of social discomfort slash murderer-for-hire (in training) manage to cope with this unforeseen consequence?

Of course, most of that is by intention. Midori could be friendly and sociable if she wanted to; after all, being able to get close to the target sometimes means having to mingle a little. The whole smelly loser thing is mostly just a facade, something to keep people from -wanting- to be her friend. Kinda hard to keep a secret chemical lab full of experimental poisons concealed when you have nosy teenage friends rifling through your stuff on the regular. Also it keeps her from having to deal with awkward teenage rituals like sleep-overs and girl talk. Bleh!

But, as she is displaying at this very moment, her talent for manipulation goes both ways. She can be a likeable and pleasant friend - or an aggravating little shit that gets under your skin. Nako's epidermis seems to be particularly thin, the outrage writ plain on her face as the mask slips away to reveal her duplicitous foe's true nature. She chomps down on the bait in what almost seems to be a display of furious spite.

Midori continues to play her role, her eyes going wide as the dark stalker takes to the air with a glowing display of acrobatics. But despite her gasps of surprise and panicked expression, she once again skillfully deflects the deadly assault amidst a smokescreen of buffoonery. Throwing herself into a scrambling roll, the little assassin manages to bring her shins up to catch the edge of Nako's frog splash. The explosion hammers into her barrier of flesh, searing her tootsies slightly as she rides the shockwave into a chaotic tumble well clear of the actual blast.

"Ngh... hate to see what happens when someone cheats at Monopoly in your house," she mutters.

Though she managed to avoid the brunt of the flashy strike, Midori's frail body is visibly bruised and battered from the effort. She staggers to her feet, only partially hamming up the effort it requires and the pained expression said effort paints onto her face. Rather than rushing into an immediate counter strike, the girl ponders her options for a moment.

She could simply surrender.

Not only would it allow her to avoid further pointless injuries but it would no doubt annoy the hell out of her furious opponent by denying her the opportunity to take revenge. And while her parents would no doubt fully understand the logic of that decision from a tactical stand point, this contest was meant to be a training exercise of sorts. And ninja-in-training are not allowed to just give up without... consequences. As much as it would amuse her to blue-ball this freak of nature, it isn't worth the price.

A head-on assault would probably equally stupid. She had hoped the poison would slow her opponent down but either due to her alien anatomy or sheer force of will the chimera seems to be shaking off the worst of it for the moment. Which, assuming she isn't just outright massively resistant to said poison, is probably spreading it through her body at an accelerated rate. The hang-over from this crash out is going to be particularly juicy.

Which just leaves good old-fashioned skullduggery. Her favorite.

Reaching into the gap in her suit beneath one of her arms, Midori withdraws another of the slender poison needles. Again, her body blocks the camera from being able to see what she's up to but this time Nako has a clear line of sight to the wicked little weapon being brought to bear. She wiggles her eyebrows at the dark stalker, concealing the deadly spike in her fist, and then launches herself into another banzai charge.

Her approach isn't nearly as swift as she has demonstrated herself to be. If anything, she seems to run almost comically slow, her flip-flops plip-plapping on the hard concrete as she charges blindly towards her target. The needle-concealing fist raises high as she draws near, lifted in an obvious wind-up as she prepares to drive its hidden tip down in an awkward punch.

But the fist never swings. Instead, the final couple of steps meant to gather speed for her 'devastating' haymaker, are used to propel Midori into another full-body tackle. To the spectators it seems as if the girl trips over her own feet, her expression one of surprise and panic as she goes hurdling towards Nako's center mass once again. But the timing is too good and her aim too precise for it to be an accident.

The entire weight of the runty schoolgirl comes crashing towards Nako like a (small) pile of bricks. She twists in mid-air, shifting her posture just enough to extend one of her elbows out to create a battering ram aimed at the monster's ribcage - or more importantly, the chakra point just below it.

COMBATSYS: Nako dodges Midori's Crushing Throw.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Nako             0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0           Midori

[NAKO]
It's not just anger that Nako has a thin skin for! Nako is the sort of person who wears her emotions entirely on her sleeve. She's a little naive and very open. She overlooks some kinds of social weirdness because she only has two years worth of memory, and might have just forgotten. It could be normal and she might not know. But she also has buried instincts that she sometimes lets out without meaning to, acting strange herself.

In short, she's basically Midori's perfect target! That she gets all the extra data from poisoning a Darkstalker, as well as the extra fun from mocking someone who reacts to it is just a plus.

Nako bounces off the floor after her belly splash and somehow manages to tuck her legs up and get them under her after the rebound. She lands in a deep crouch, but on her feet... barely! The lingering effects are still making her a little less coordinated than usual, but Nako has figured out that if she lets her body do what it wants instead of thinking about it too much she does better.

(Where DID she learn all of her fighting skills, anyway? Speaking of things she doesn't remember...)

But Midori is right in that the poisons are still doing their work. Nako is on her feet, sure, but they're still slowing her down. Her tail is drooping. It's lost its usual upward curl at the end, and the tip is actually dragging on the floor when she stands up because the muscles aren't working right! And the crash is definitely going to be bad. Nako is mostly just trying to put it off just long enough to finish this.

"How would I know? I've never played Monopoly!" There's a lot of things Nako hasn't done! Like a sleepover. Nobody invites HER to a sleepover, or girl talk. Midori doesn't want things like that, but Nako certainly does! Sometimes, when you're different, all you want is to be treated as normal...

Midori charges her, having slipped another needle out from under her suit. (Nako wouldn't want to keep them THERE. How do you avoid poking yourself??) But this time, Nako is actually watching, her feline-pupiled eyes narrowing slightly. The bad light down here is actually not too bad for her - maybe that's her other advantage?

So when Midori 'trips', Nako doesn't even need to consciously realize what's up - her body is already moving. Getting slammed in the ribs once was enough for one day! She starts to move before she thinks about it and that's what saves her.

Nako backs up, and then steps backwards again, putting her back to one of the pylons. At the last moment, she twists from the hip (accompanied by a little hopping recovery to keep her balance, given her current state) in the hope that Midori drives her elbow into the sturdy stone pylon functioning as a piller instead of her solar plexus.

After her little hop, Nako strikes - an arcing strike aimed at Midori's *back* as she keeps trying to push her against the pylon and prevent her from pulling out another toxic trick! There's a little popping spark of brightly-colored gold lightning chi as she does. It's not nearly as large or wild as before, but it does add a little extra to the mix!

COMBATSYS: Midori fails to counter Random Strike from Nako with Tenketsushin.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Nako             1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Midori can no longer fight.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Nako             1/-------/=======|

[MIDORI]
Talent, trial and error, and endless practice.

Such is the life of anyone born into the elusive ninja clans that yet exist in the modern day. It takes incredible amounts of discipline and training simply to exist for such an individual as Midori. The burden of carrying on her family legacy has almost killed her more times than she can count, from enduring the harsh physical and mental training thrust upon her almost since she could walk to surviving the introduction of deadly poisons to her body so that she might utilize the clan's secret techniques.

On top of that, the young assassin had to learn how to conceal her obviously unusual activities from scrutiny. Under normal circumstances someone who looked as she does, her skin waxy and pallid, her eyes sunken and dark, her demeanor that of a timid rabbit, would draw all manner of concern and inquiry. But slap on an easy to understand excuse for all of that - such as the mask of a pathetic socially awkward otaku - and her flaws become assets. Needless to say, for someone who has suffered as she has, getting poked by a few needles is hardly a concern.

That endless calculation and preparedness shows itself again as Midori's feint fails to find purchase. Just as Nako hopes, her last second evasion leaves little hope of the tiny ninja redirecting her angle of attack. However, the result of that collision proves both disappointing and probably no small amount of alarming for when the girl's elbow collides with the solid stone it is the concrete that breaks instead of her. A small crater divets the pillar's surface, followed by a spiderweb of cracks that spread out in all directions as if it had just been struck by a sledgehammer.

Midori, on the other hand, hardly seems to notice an impact that would have sent most people to the ground in overwhelming agony. The so-called 'funny bone' tended only to be amusing to spectators. Clicking her tongue in mild annoyance, she glances over her shoulder to quickly analyze the situation.

Nako is proving faster than she hoped and quite talented at moving and striking in quick succession. Despite being a ninja herself, the damage to her body inflicted by her uniquely toxic form of training has left the girl lacking the incredible reflexes of her peers. She relies on those poisons to bring skilled warriors down to a level she can deal with though preferably she'd never get into a direct confrontation at all. This entire situation is not to her advantage.

While she's not entirely screwed, she is in a position where no good assassin ever wants to be - locked into a fair fight. But there is precious little time to gripe about that now. She has a to make a decision and hope it's the right one. As far as she can tell, things could go either way.

With needle still in hand, Midori rebounds from the pillar and whips her arm down. The deadly little weapon glints ominously in the dim light as it catches the glow of the furnace on its tip. But once again the advantage of reach proves to be the deciding faction in this contest of reflexes.

Nako's bokken slams into the small girl's back, crushing her against the pillar with a soft crunch. The golden chi bursts with a spark of power that sends a jolt through her body. The effect is flashy and brief but proves just in time to throw off Midori's aim. Her knuckles graze the side of the dark stalker's arm as her fist sweeps past, missing by an inch, only to go limp at her side as her fragile endurance hits its limits.

With a harsh cough that splatters something wet and sticky on the concrete in front of her, Midori slowly sags against the pylon and sinks to her knees. There is a soft almost imperceptible snap as she crushes the unused needle in her fingers, reducing the flimsy weapon to little bits of indistinct debris that she flicks into the darkened room.

But even in defeat, the devious little teen unleashes a final attack. A pathetic squeak of pain explodes from her mouth as she's struck in the back and she collapses onto her side, curling up into a defensive ball at the angry dark stalker's feet. She quivers with fake emotion and looks up at Nako as if she's been cornered by some kind of horror movie monster.

"Stop! D-don't hit me any more, it hurts!"

Another fit of coughing interrupts her whimpers and she hocks up an entirely real wad of spittle and blood onto the floor.

"T-this was just supposed to be..." She pauses, tilting her head ever so slightly so that cameras can't get a good view of her face for a few brief moments as she mocks the older girl with one final sadistic grin. "...for fun."

[NAKO]
Compare Midori's training to Nako's.

Nako must have had training at one point. Her style is not the wild flailing of someone who is just guessing. And surely even Darkstalkers aren't born (or hatched, or whatever) with the knowledge of how to pick up a sword, and use it, complete with chi!

Was she trained like that? Did someone push a young Nako, from before the time she can remember? Those are the reflexes of someone who's held a sword for a long time...

...well, this isn't really the time to think about it! It's not like Nako can remember or anything. It's just that, even though Midori's tricks keep surprising her, deep down part of her seems to expect a fight kind of like this! In general, if not in detail, anyway.

Even when Midori's elbow cracks the pylon's surface, leaving it looking like stone struck by a hammer, Nako remains ready to react. She's breathing hard now and it's a struggle to keep going, but she doesn't drop the bokken as she delivers what turns out to be her last strike of the battle, Midori's fist just barely skimming across her arm.

Midori falls. Nako *still* expects a trick! She doesn't look as angry anymore, mostly pained and determined, though in the bad and flickering light (made worse by when Midori hit the pylon; the lights are attached to those) it might be harder to tell, especially when she leans forward slightly to loom over the fallen Midori in a manner much more menacing than she actually means it to be with her bokken in hand!

In good light, Nako might just be a teenager who happens to have a snake's tail and cat ears. Even if she's not human, she's still Taiyo's mascot, though whether cute or sexy depends on your personal opinion (she does have a surprising number of male fans, though...). But in the dimmer light here, her purple-red cat-pupiled eyes gleam, and her tail, held out behind her, casts a long shadow across the floor. Even her nails - painted red today! - look a little more like claws.

But when Midori mocks her one last time, Nako tenses - and then lowers her bokken.

She steps away from Midori without a word. But Midori's taught her a lesson - she doesn't turn her back when she does it, moving to a different pillar and leaning against it, trying to catch her breath, head lowered slightly. She knows the cameras saw the end of the match. She doesn't know how much else they say, but she'll be out of here soon.

It *was* supposed to be fun...

Log created on 15:29:24 08/12/2025 by Nako, and last modified on 10:23:29 08/30/2025.